NASA Archives - WPTF-AM

NASA pushes back astronaut flights to the moon again

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA has announced more delays in sending astronauts back to the moon more than 50 years after Apollo. Administrator Bill Nelson said Thursday that the next mission in the Artemis program is now targeted for April 2026. The lunar fly-around with four astronauts had been planned for September 2025. Officials said the investigation into heat shield damage from the capsule’s initial test flight two years ago took time and other spacecraft improvements are still needed. This means a moon landing by two other astronauts is off until at least 2027. Astronauts last walked on the moon in December 1972 during Apollo 17.… Continue Reading

NASA astronaut remains at hospital after returning from an extended stay in space

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts are back on Earth after a space station mission that lasted almost eight months. A SpaceX capsule carrying the crew parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast before dawn Friday. The three Americans and one Russian should have returned from the International Space Station two months ago, but were delayed by Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule and weather. Shortly after splashdown, NASA said one of its astronauts had a medical issue. The space agency says the unidentified astronaut is in stable condition and remains at a Florida hospital as a “precautionary measure.”… Continue Reading

NASA spacecraft rockets toward Jupiter’s moon Europa in search of the right conditions for life

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A NASA spacecraft has blasted off on a quest to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa and reveal whether its hidden ocean might hold the keys to life. SpaceX launched the Europa Clipper on Monday from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. It will take 5 1/2 years for Clipper to reach Jupiter. Once there, the spacecraft will orbit the giant gas planet, sneaking close to Europa during dozens of flybys. The $5.2 billion mission won’t search for life but rather the conditions necessary for it. Scientists are almost certain a vast, deep ocean exists beneath Europa’s icy crust.… Continue Reading