Space, NASA and Science News

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SpaceX sends up Space Coast’s 90th launch of the year

A Falcon 9 on the Starlink 10-37 mission carried up another 29 of the company’s internet satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 with liftoff at 12:35 p.m.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/10/29/spacex-set-for-space-coasts-90th-launch-of-the-year/?

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SpaceX knocks out overnight launch bringing sonic boom to Central Florida

If you were in a need a reminder to turn your clocks back at 2 a.m. Sunday, it could be a boom you heard less than an hour before was able to assist.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/01/spacex-launch-could-bring-overnight-sonic-boom-to-central-florida/?

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25 Years in Space

Yesterday marked 25 years of a continuous human presence in space—including at least one US citizen.  President Ronald Reagan commissioned the project that would become the International Space Station in 1984. (The idea of living in space dates back further, with author Edward Everett Hale imagining a fictional ISS in his 1869 tale, “The Brick Moon.”) Canada, Japan, Europe, and ultimately Russia joined the project. On Nov. 2, 2000, the Expedition 1 crew became the first group to reside on the ISS. Today, the station is the largest space vehicle ever built—as large as a football field, including solar arrays—with a habitable volume larger than a six-bedroom house.  More than 280 people from 27 countries have visited the station, typically to conduct scientific experiments in six-month rotations (see breakthroughs). The ISS will be deorbited in early 2031 and driven into the Pacific Ocean.

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Watch Live: SpaceX up for 1st launch, ULA up next while full supermoon rises

While SpaceX has managed the lion’s share of launches this year, it’s set to be a team effort with United Launch Alliance as the two companies have lined up a pair of launches Wednesday that would tie the annual record for orbital missions from the Space Coast. And all of that will happen as the year’s biggest supermoon rises.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/05/spacex-ula-line-up-double-launch-night-that-would-tie-space-coast-record/?

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Early Sunday launch from SpaceX ties Space Coast record

After a one-day delay, SpaceX knocked out a routine Starship launch early Sunday to tie the Space Coast’s annual orbital launch record.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/09/early-sunday-launch-from-spacex-ties-space-coast-record/?

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Amid new FAA restraints, SpaceX goes for record launch tonight

The government shutdown’s strain on air traffic control has not only led to limitations on airlines, but spaceflight too.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/10/amid-new-faa-restraints-spacex-goes-for-record-launch-tonight/?

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Aurora borealis blamed for Blue Origin’s latest scrub, a concern for more launches this week

CAPE CANAVERAL — Bad weather on Earth was blamed for the first launch scrub of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket Sunday, while bad space weather was the reason behind a scrub for a planned Wednesday attempt.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/12/blue-origin-back-today-for-new-glenn-launch-attempt-for-nasa/?

Solar storms delay the launch of Blue Origin’s big new rocket with Mars orbiters for NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Intense solar storms responsible for breathtaking auroras across the U.S. delayed the launch of Blue Origin’s big new rocket Wednesday.

https://apnews.com/article/blue-origin-mars-nasa-solar-storm-87946ca6bb47601055642740e80b7dd4?

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Blue Origin rides high with launch, first-ever New Glenn booster landing

CAPE CANAVERAL — The shouts on the beach were just like a stadium crowd celebrating a touchdown. That’s because that’s exactly what they were doing.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/13/blue-origin-retargets-for-thursday-afternoon-launch-of-new-glenn/?

Space Coast launch parade: 4 missions from 3 companies in 2 days

Blue Origin knocked out a historic launch Thursday. United Launch Alliance served up another just over six hours later. Now SpaceX has a pair of launches slated for Friday night to cap what would be the busiest two days in Space Coast history.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/14/space-coast-launch-parade-4-missions-from-3-companies-in-2-days/?

Blue Origin launch

Blue Origin, the rocket company founded by Amazon multibillionaire Jeff Bezos, launched a landmark Mars mission on Thursday. The company's New Glenn rocket was carrying a pair of satellites that are now on a long journey to the red planet to study its radiation conditions for future explorers. The two spacecraft are expected to reach Martian orbit in September 2027. Blue Origin also landed the first stage of the rocket back on a seafaring platform for the first time, a key step toward making New Glenn reusable and more cost-effective as it competes with Elon Musk's SpaceX.

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Sierra Space Dream Chaser’s landing chops tested at high speed down KSC runway

Contrary to appearances, the vehicle that looked like a little space shuttle was not broken down when it was being hauled down the runway at Kennedy Space Center.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/17/sierra-space-dream-chasers-landing-chops-tested-at-high-speed-down-ksc-runway/?

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Blue Origin’s 1st recovered New Glenn booster arrives to Port Canaveral

CAPE CANAVERAL — There are tall, pointy metal tubes aplenty at Port Canaveral, but one is extra large.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/18/blue-origins-1st-recovered-new-glenn-booster-arrives-to-port-canaveral/?

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SpaceX launch marks 100th mission from Space Coast in 2025

The Space Coast only had to wait two days, three hours and twenty-six minutes between rocket launches as SpaceX knocked out the 100th orbital liftoff of the year on Thursday night.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/20/space-coast-set-to-witness-100th-launch-of-the-year/?

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NASA cuts missions for Boeing Starliner contract, next flight will have no crew

The next trip to space for Boeing’s beleaguered Starliner spacecraft won’t have a crew on board after NASA announced changes to the commercial crew contract that also slashes the total number of missions to the International Space Station.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/24/nasa-cuts-missions-for-boeing-starliner-contract-next-flight-will-have-no-crew/?

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Telescope in Chile captures stunning new picture of a cosmic butterfly

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A telescope in Chile has captured a stunning new picture of a grand and graceful cosmic butterfly.

https://apnews.com/article/butterfly-nebula-telescope-space-2810ed49f9f4ee3c9a9ab58e878b5b7c?

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Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope last month. Image: NASA, ESA, STScI, D. Jewitt (UCLA), M.-T. Hui (Shanghai Astronomical Observatory). Image Processing: J. DePasquale (STScI)

☄️ Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS made its closest approach to Earth early today, getting within 168 million miles. It's the third such object discovered in our solar system, giving scientists a rare chance to study a visitor from beyond our cosmic neighborhood. Go deeper.

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Paraplegic engineer becomes the first wheelchair user to blast into space

A paraplegic engineer from Germany blasted off on a dream-come-true rocket ride with five other passengers Saturday, leaving her wheelchair behind to float in space while beholding Earth from on high.

https://apnews.com/article/blue-origin-wheelchair-rocket-launch-e1b993bc7a66a1d587d94a0fb37aff8f?

Catch the Ursid meteor shower as it peaks just before Christmas

NEW YORK (AP) — The last major meteor shower of the year, known as the Ursids, peaks soon, bringing glowing streaks to nighttime and early morning skies. Compared to other meteor showers, it’s more subdued, but experts say it’s still worth a glimpse.

https://apnews.com/article/ursid-meteor-shower-december-a5503c090a6d9628902866ccff3ab217?

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• ?‍? NASA may bring a group of astronauts home early from the International Space Station amid a health issue affecting one unnamed crew member. Go deeper.

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NASA, in a rare move, cuts space station mission short after an astronaut’s medical issue

NEW YORK (AP) — In a rare move, NASA is cutting a mission aboard the International Space Station short after an astronaut had a medical issue.

https://apnews.com/article/nasa-spacewalk-postponed-1a6f794035be86582025c196f8f9e7b5?

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WATCH LIVE at 12:44 p.m.: SpaceX rocket launch from Florida coast

BEVARD COUNTY, Fla. – SpaceX is aiming for a Monday launch of a Falcon 9 rocket that will sent 29 more Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from the Space Coast.

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2026/01/12/spacex-readies-for-another-starlink-launch-from-florida-coast/

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Ailing astronaut returns to Earth early in NASA’s first medical evacuation

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.

https://apnews.com/article/nasa-space-astronauts-crew-medical-spacex-d89651fb83a8eb32d8619052424a5cb8?

• ? U.S. astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov returned safely to Earth today after their International Space Station mission was cut short due to a medical issue with one crew member — a NASA first. Go deeper.

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? 1 fun thing: Fly (your name) to the moon

The Artemis II rocket rolls to Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Saturday. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images NASA's upcoming moon mission has room for one more thing: your name, Axios Houston's Shafaq Patel writes. NASA is inviting the public to add their names to an SD card aboard Orion, the spacecraft slated to orbit the moon during the Artemis II mission possibly as soon as next month. Over 2 million people have signed up. ? The big picture: Artemis II is scheduled to launch as soon as Feb. 6 and no later than April, carrying four astronauts — and millions of names — into lunar orbit. It'll be the first mission to fly astronauts to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.   NASA astronaut who was stuck at the space station for months retires within a year of returning CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Suni Williams — one of two astronauts stuck for months at the International Space Station — has retired. https://apnews.com/article/stuck-astronaut-nasa-suni-williams-59b361c3a823ac0dbbf6c63eb403776e?

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Astronauts say space station’s ultrasound machine was critical during medical crisis

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The astronauts evacuated last week from the International Space Station say a portable ultrasound machine came in “super handy” during the medical crisis.

https://apnews.com/article/nasa-astronauts-medical-evacuation-crew-11-d501e91736371525e81d13794d5e9f01?

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• 🚀 NASA's Artemis II moon mission has been delayed until March after problems arose during a "wet dress rehearsal." Administrator Jared Isaacman, on X: "With more than three years between SLS launches, we fully anticipated encountering challenges." Go deeper.

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A Scientific Breakthrough in Human Aging

Feeling tired or moving slower can feel like an unavoidable part of getting older. But it doesn't have to be. In fact, long before you notice the changes on the outside, your cells are already working harder to keep up.   By your 30s, your mitochondria (the energy centers of your cells) begin to show signs of wear and tear. As time goes on, your cells become less efficient at repairing that damage. The result is a gradual drop in energy production that can affect strength, vitality and quality of life. Luckily, new clinical research is changing how we think about this process.    Developed over more than 18 years, Mitopure® supports the renewal of aging mitochondria and helps generate new, healthier ones. By improving cellular function at the source, Mitopure has been shown to boost cellular energy and muscle strength — even without changes to exercise routines. The best part? You can try Mitopure for 40% off while supplies last.

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NASA hopes fuel leaks are fixed as it launches another countdown test for the Artemis II moonshot

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA began another practice launch countdown Tuesday for its first moonshot in decades with astronauts after making repairs to fix dangerous fuel leaks that already have bumped the flight into March.

https://apnews.com/article/artemis-moon-nasa-astronauts-74c4461e3242a39313864baad856f139?

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NASA targets March moon launch after latest rocket fueling test.

The successful test comes after a first fueling test earlier this month was plagued by liquid hydrogen leaks. Now, NASA says it could launch four astronauts to the moon as soon as March 6. The three Americans and one Canadian slated for the trip were put into a two-week health quarantine last night in preparation. They're poised to be the first astronauts to fly to the moon since 1972.