News about Bill Nelson

Jared Isaacman, 41, (left) led the four-member team who landed in the ocean at 3.37am, a webcast of the splashdown showed, with a recovery team deploying in the pre-dawn darkness to retrieve the Dragon spacecraft and crew. The capsule was lifted from the water and onto the recovery vessel half an hour later. After brief medical checks, a smiling and waving SpaceX engineer Anna Menon was the first of the crew to exit, followed by engineer Sarah Gillis, pilot Scott Poteet and commander Isaacman. A helicopter was due to transport them to land. The team launched on Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Center, quickly journeying deeper into the cosmos than any humans in the past half century as they ventured into the dangerous Van Allen radiation belt.

NASA decided Saturday it's too risky to bring two astronauts back to Earth in Boeing's troubled new capsule, and they'll have to wait until next year for a ride home with SpaceX.  What should have been a weeklong test flight for the pair will now last more than eight months. Their empty Starliner capsule will undock in early September and attempt to return on autopilot and touch down in the New Mexico desert

The return of two astronauts who are 'stranded' on the ISS now sits at an undetermined date. Experts have revealed the reason why NASA and Boeing are delaying the return and other options that could be on the table. Starliner had a known helium leak when it launched on June 5 at 10:52am ET from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The capsule then encountered five failures of its 28 maneuvering thrusters, five leaks of helium gas meant to pressurize those thrusters and a slow-moving propellant valve that signaled unfixed past issues since launching. When Starliner arrived in the space station to dock on June 6, the five thruster failures prevented a close approach by the spacecraft until Boeing made a fix.

Boeing's long-delayed Starliner capsule has finally docked with the International Space Station (ISS) after a journey plagued by helium leaks and engine failures. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams safely entered the space station after a 26-hour flight aboard the capsule. Starliner docked with the ISS at 1:34 pm ET (18:34 BST) yesterday evening after an earlier attempt was called off when some of the shuttle's thrusters failed on approach. However, after mission teams performed a 'hot-fire' test four of the five failed thrusters were enabled and the crew were able to complete the precision docking.

After years of delays, Boeing has finally launched its first NASA mission carrying two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). At 10:52 ET (15:52 BST) the Boeing CST-100 shuttle took off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The shuttle, and astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams (pictured top right), are expected to arrive at 12:15 ET (17:15 BST) on June 6 after a 25-hour flight. If successful, this test flight will give NASA a second commercial shuttle alongside the SpaceX Dragon and end Boeing's run of failed launches.

China 's Chang'e-6 has unfurled the first flag to be flown on the on the dark side of the moon, before beginning its return journey to Earth. Made from basalt fibres which could be used to build a future moon base, Chinese scientists say the flag could last 10,000 years on the lunar surface. Before departing the rover also collected the very first samples of rock and soil from the dark side of the moon. The ascender lifted off at 23:38 GMT and transferred the samples to a reentry craft which should land in the deserts of Inner Mongolia around June 25.

NASA warned China is using its civilian exploration program as a cover for its military programs claiming territory on the moon. The US now is in a race to put Americans on the moon before China has the opportunity to deploy its mission. Beijing keeps moving the launch date forward, with the latest announced for 2030, while the US plans to launch in 2026.

NASA announced it needs help bringing rock samples back from Mars that Perseverance Rover had collected in its search for signs of life. The existing plan would be 'too expensive' and take 'too long,' according to NASA administrator Bill Nelson. Rather than aiming for a new technological leap, the agency aims to cobble together existing tech to bring the samples home.

NASA is preparing to make a big announcement today that could reveal the future of America's next mission to Mars. The Mars Return Sample (MRS) aims to bring Martian soil back to Earth, but the progress of the mission has been uncertain since a damning report last year criticised the 'unrealistic budget'. However, the announcement today has sparked hopes that NASA might reveal the timeline and budget for the next stage of this challenging scientific mission. Excitingly, NASA says that the samples could finally help to answer one of the biggest remaining questions in space exploration - whether or not there is life beyond Earth.

On Monday, Thomas Stafford, the Apollo 10 commander, died at the age of 93. He ordered the dress reversal for the 1969 moon landing. Max Ary, director of the Stafford Air & Space Museum in Weatherford, Oklahoma, died in a hospital near his Space Coast Florida home. In four space missions, the retired Air Force three-star general served in four missions. He flew on two Gemini flights, including the first rendezvous of two US capsules in orbit, well before Apollo 10.

The Polar Resources Ice-Mining Experiment-1 of NASA is strapped to the craft's exterior, which will soon drill into the surface, gather regolith, and analyze lunar dust with a series of sophisticated instruments. The mission will help astronauts who will fly on the moon soon, allowing them to drink water for hydration, fuel, and even breathing, triggering a human presence.

The first time the United States has landed safely on the Moon since the Apollo era 50 years ago, a privately built spacecraft successfully landed safely on the moon, marking the first time the US has reached the lunar surface since the Apollo era 50 years ago. Last night, Odysseus, a $118 million uncrewed lander built by Intuitive machines, made a soft landing near the moon's south pole at 6:24 p.m. ET. Odysseus, or Oddie, slowed down from 4,000 kph (6,500 kph) to make a smooth landing in an area pockmarked with craters during its 73-minute descent. However, when the craft was forced to switch to an experimental navigation device mid-landing, it almost ended in disaster. I know this was a nail biter, but we're on the surface and we're broadcasting.' Steve Altemus, the CEO of Intuitive Machines, said, "Welcome to the moon."

The $118 million unmanned Odysseus, or Odie, is soaring through space, but this one, designed by Houston-based Intuitive Machines, is unlike previous voyages. The six-legged robot lander is supposed to touch down at 6:24 p.m. ET at a crater called Malapert A near the moon's south pole, having slowed down from 4,000 mph. On NASA TV, the landing attempt is being streamed live on NASA. About 15 seconds after the record was reached, flight controllers are supposed to announce landing.

On January 18, the Mars helicopter took flight but suffered damage that cracked one of its blades, which ended its three-year mission on the Martian planet. With the Perseverance rover, Ingenuity landed on Mars on February 18, 2021. The tiny copter was supposed to fly up to five experimental test flights over 30 days, but it met expectations with 72 flights and flew more than 14 times faster than anticipated, taking more than two hours.

The United States has been gripped by severe winter weather, including thundersnow, that has resulted in volatile weather and at least four deaths. An Oregon woman died in an RV fire sparked by a fallen tree; four others died, caused electricity outages, and disrupted travel across the country. Heavy snowfall in Buffalo, New York, caused the postponement of an NFL playoff game. Warnings of near-blizzard conditions, widespread power outages, and cancellations of flights were issued as a result of the cold blast.

Artemis II was supposed to be the world's biggest space mission of 2024, but it was postponed until September next year. Artemis III, on the other hand, will not appear until 2026. NASA cited safety fears as the reason for its delays in its Artemis program, the successor to the Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s. Four astronauts (left) aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft's Artemis II will fly around the moon before returning to Earth (depicted top right).

Video clips show fragments of a rocket launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center on December 26 falling back to Earth a few hours later, causing commotion on the ground. A rocket fragment fragment falls into a forested area of Guangxi Province and exploding in a spectacular orange fireball, as shown in a video clip (right). As terrified bystanders gather around a room, a video shows massive chunks of rubble right meters from a house. (left)

On Nasa's last lunar mission, astronom Gene Cernan paused for one last look at the Moon from the surface before scaling the ladder and closing the hatch. The commander of the Apollo 17 mission in 1972 had a solemn message from space for mankind: "I take Man's last step from the surface, back to home for a few months, but we suspect not too long into the future: "I believe that Man's destiny has forged Man's destiny of tomorrow." Cernan was angry that humans never mustered the political will to return and he was left with the name 'Last Man on the Moon'' until his death aged 82 in 2017.

NASA reports today that Ken 'TK' Mattingly, an American astronaut who landed on the moon in 1972, died on Tuesday at the age of 87. Mattingly was most well-known for his crucial role in ensuring the safe return of the Apollo 13 crew after he was forced to leave the crew due to exposure to German Measles. He later assumed the role of command module pilot on the Apollo 16 mission and was the spacecraft commander on two Space Shuttle missions. On October 31, NASA administrator Bill Nelson said: "We lost one of our country's heroes." TK Mattingly, a NASA astronaut who was instrumental in the success of our Apollo Program, and his shining demeanor will ensure he is remembered throughout history.'

After breaking the record for the longest continuous mission in space ever undertaken by an American, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio has safely returned to Earth. Rubio and his two Russian crewmates Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin arrived in Kazakhstan after spending 371 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and orbiting the Earth 5,936 times. Rubio became the first American to spend a year in orbit, beating Mark Vande Hei's previous American record of two weeks.

After finding strange black dust on the canister that returned the samples back on Sunday, NASA has suspended work on the Bennu asteroid samples. The finding has left scientists baffled. The samples were obtained from Bennu's surface in 2020 as part of NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission.

NASA's first asteroid samples were fetched from deep space and down into the Utah desert on Sunday, caping a seven-year journey.

Mark McInerney will be the head of research into unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAAPs), which are more commonly known as unidentified flying objects. In the fear of being threatened, NASA officials initially refused to reveal McInerney's identity, fearing that he would be harassed. Nicola Fox, NASA's associate administrator, told reporters about the new UFO chief after the agency's highly awaited report into more than 800 sightings, "they've been working there a while now to help be a point of contact." When asked specifically if she could identify the official, Fox replied, 'We will not give him out.'

NASA will announce the results of its highly awaited report into more than 800 sightings of UFOs over the past three decades today. Last year, the US space agency announced that it was reviewing evidence relating to unidentified anomalous events (UAAPs), also known as unidentified flying objects (UFOs). These are classified as sightings' that can't be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena from a scientific perspective.' NASA's independent research team shared their preliminary findings in May, showing that up to 99% of observed UAP sightings can be explained elsewhere. The panel added that just 2 to 5 percent are considered 'completely strange,' but a lack of high-quality data is restricting researchers' ability to apply 'rigorous scientific scrutiny' to the mystery-solving process.