KOAA.com

Tagged News

• CU-Boulder gets $36M NASA grant

  April 13, 2013 2:02 PM

  BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - NASA is giving the University of Colorado about $36 million to build and operate an instrument to gather data about the disruptive effects of space weather. The Daily Camera reports the instrument will weigh about 60 pounds and will launch aboard a commercial communications satellite. The... more »

• Tycoon proposes to send married couple around Mars

  February 27, 2013 3:34 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - A tycoon and space experts have announced an audacious but bare-bones private plan to send a married couple around Mars in 2018. They wouldn't land on the planet, just zip by and return. The mission announced Wednesday would last more than 16 months. Team member Taber MacCallum... more »

• NASA rover prepares to analyze Mars rock dust

  February 20, 2013 5:05 PM

  LOS ANGELES (AP) - Fresh off drilling into a rock for the first time, the Mars rover Curiosity is prepping for the next step - dissecting the pulverized rock to determine what it's made of. NASA said Wednesday it received confirmation that Curiosity successfully collected a tablespoon of powder from... more »

• Mars rover finishes first drilling project

  February 9, 2013 1:13 PM

  LOS ANGELES (AP) - To scientists' excitement, the Curiosity rover has completed its first drilling on Mars and is preparing to analyze a pinch of powdery rock. Images beamed back to Earth overnight showed a fresh drill hole next to a test hole the rover made earlier. The feat marked... more »

• Road trip on tap for NASA's Mars rover in new year

  December 29, 2012 12:44 PM

  PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - NASA's newest Mars rover is gearing up for a road trip. But first, it has to drill into a rock. Curiosity's first priority in the new year is to test out its drill. Mission managers had wanted to get it done this year, but they ran... more »

• Expert panel: NASA seems lost in space, needs goal

  December 5, 2012 12:39 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - A panel of outside experts says NASA is adrift without a coherent vision for where it should be going. The report is by the National Academy of Sciences. But the panel doesn't blame the space agency. It faults the president, Congress and the nation. President Barack Obama... more »

• NASA aims to send another rover to Mars in 2020

  December 4, 2012 8:12 PM

  LOS ANGELES (AP) - NASA says it wants to launch another mega-rover to Mars modeled after the wildly popular Curiosity. The space agency said Tuesday the spacecraft will be built from spare parts from Curiosity. It would also use the novel landing system that delivered the car-size rover to Mars... more »

• NASA Curiosity rover takes a bite of Martian soil

  October 30, 2012 8:23 PM

  PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - Scientists say the Martian soil at the rover Curiosity's landing site contains minerals similar to what's found on Hawaii's Mauna Kea volcano. The finding released Tuesday is the latest step in trying to better understand whether the environment could have been hospitable to microbial life. Curiosity... more »

• Private space station delivery set for Sunday launch

  October 7, 2012 12:15 PM

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - A private company is on the verge of launching another cargo ship to the International Space Station. On Sunday night, California-based SpaceX will attempt to send a California-based SpaceX to the orbiting lab. Liftoff is scheduled for 8:35 p.m. from Cape Canaveral. Forecasters put the... more »

• Preparations begin for NASA to look back in time

  September 25, 2012 2:35 PM

  NASA reports that the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland received the first two of eighteen 4-ft, 88-pound mirrors from Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colorado. These mirrors were specially designed to be used on The James Webb Space Telescope as it looks back in time to the origin... more »

• Dawn spacecraft continues to next destination

  September 5, 2012 7:49 PM

  LOS ANGELES (AP) - NASA says the Dawn spacecraft is journeying to its next destination after spending a year at a giant asteroid. The space agency said Wednesday it received a signal from the spacecraft confirming that it left the asteroid Vesta and is cruising toward the dwarf planet Ceres... more »

• Fellow astronaut remembers Neil Armstrong Play Video

  August 27, 2012 8:34 PM

  Since Neil Armstrong's death over the weekend, many of us have been looking back to the Apollo 11 mission where he was the first man to step on the moon. A former astronaut, now living in Woodland Park, had a chance to meet Armstrong years ago. Retired Brigadier General... more »

• Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon, dies at 82

  August 25, 2012 3:38 PM

  Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died today, weeks after heart surgery and days after his 82nd birthday. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, and he radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap... more »

• Storms spoil NASA's 2nd launch bid for satellites

  August 25, 2012 10:45 AM

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Thunderstorms have ruined NASA's second attempt to launch a pair of science satellites. For the second day in a row, NASA had to halt the countdown for its Radiation Belt Storm Probes. Lightning and thick storm clouds prevented the unmanned rocket from taking off early... more »

• 1st man to walk on moon recovering from heart surgery

  August 8, 2012 7:44 PM

  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, is recovering from heart surgery days after his 82nd birthday. A NASA spokesman talked to Armstrong's wife, Carol, and said the former astronaut was recovering Wednesday. It wasn't clear where the surgery occurred or where Armstrong... more »

• New Mars mission begins this weekend

  July 30, 2012 7:09 PM

  NASA's most ambitious and expensive Mars mission begins this weekend with the arrival of the smartest rover ever built. Like an Olympic gymnast, the rover must "stick the landing." It won't be easy. The touchdown for the rover called Curiosity is so risky it's been described as "seven minutes of... more »

• Sally Ride, first woman in space, dies at 61

  July 23, 2012 6:15 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, has died. She was 61. NASA confirmed her death Monday afternoon and President Barack Obama called her a national hero. Her office in San Diego said she died of pancreatic cancer. Ride rode into... more »

• World's first commercial supply ship ready for space station departure

  May 30, 2012 4:44 PM

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - The world's first commercial supply ship is closed up and ready for a Thursday flight back to Earth from the International Space Station. Astronauts sealed the hatch to the SpaceX Dragon capsule on Wednesday. It's loaded with 1,400 pounds of experiments and old equipment for... more »

• Rover on the move after surviving Martian winter

  May 9, 2012 9:02 PM

  PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - The Mars rover Opportunity is on the go again. After spending nearly five months conducting experiments in one spot, the NASA rover moved for the first time this week, rolling off the rock outcrop where it hunkered down for the Martian winter. The mission team received... more »

• Private company's 1st space station visit on track

  April 16, 2012 6:04 PM

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - A private U.S. company is on track to become the first commercial visitor to the International Space Station. NASA said Monday there's a good chance that SpaceX will make its April 30 launch date. More software testing is needed before a final "go" is given.... more »

• NASA extends planet-hunting mission through 2016

  April 4, 2012 8:50 PM

  MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. (AP) - NASA has decided to keep its planet-hunting spacecraft running for several more years. The space agency said Wednesday the Kepler spacecraft will search for alien worlds through fiscal year 2016. The $600 million mission was launched in 2009 to track down other Earths in a... more »

• Amazon CEO wants to raise sunken Apollo 11 engines

  March 28, 2012 9:23 PM

  LOS ANGELES (AP) - The huge engines that helped boost the Apollo 11 mission to the moon have been in the Atlantic for more than four decades. Now an Internet billionaire and space enthusiast says he used sonar to spot the artifacts and wants to raise at least one to... more »

• NASA's Dawn craft captures new images of asteroid

  March 21, 2012 8:27 PM

  PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - Scientists analyzing the surface of a giant asteroid are puzzling over bright spots that represent some of the purest materials seen so far by a NASA spacecraft. NASA on Wednesday released new images of the asteroid Vesta taken by the orbiting Dawn spacecraft that show some... more »

• Some counting down to NYE, NASA counting down to moon arrival

  December 31, 2011 11:01 AM

  LOS ANGELES (AP) - Revelers in Times Square and other places around the globe aren't the only ones anticipating the new year. NASA is counting down the seconds until its twin spacecraft make back-to-back arrivals at the moon over the New Year's weekend to study lunar gravity. If all goes... more »

• Mission to Mars

  November 26, 2011 8:10 AM

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - NASA is all set to launch the world's biggest extraterrestrial explorer. A six-wheeled, one-armed Mars rover is due to blast off Saturday morning from Cape Canaveral. The unmanned Atlas V rocket will put the spacecraft on an 8½-month trek to the red planet. ... more »

• Where did NASA satellite debris land?

  September 27, 2011 2:34 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. space officials have finally figured out where that dead NASA satellite fell back to Earth on Saturday. NASA now says satellite debris scattered over the south Pacific Ocean about as far away from large land masses as you can get. NASA says the U.S. Air... more »

• Falling satellite draws attention to growing amount of space junk

  September 21, 2011 8:04 PM

  A six ton satellite, the largest piece of space junk since the sky lab in 1979, is expected to fall out of the sky later this week. The Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite was in commission from 1991 to 2005, "NASA's models expect that it's going to break up into about... more »

• Track failed satellite as it plummets towards Earth

  September 21, 2011 12:21 PM

  NASA scientists are trying to pinpoint where a six-ton satellite will plummet to Earth later this week. Right now, scientists predict the earliest it'll hit is tomorrow and at the latest, on Saturday. NASA says no need to take cover because the satellite will first break into pieces, and scientists... more »

• NASA has new plans for a rocket

  September 14, 2011 6:27 AM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - NASA is unveiling its design for a gigantic new rocket, bigger than the one that sent astronauts to the moon. And it will go even farther away. NASA on Wednesday will detail its much-delayed plans for the rocket, called the Space Launch System, which will cost... more »

• NASA launching twin moon probes to measure gravity

  September 5, 2011 3:49 PM

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - NASA is returning to the moon four decades after landing men there. A set of robotic twins will measure lunar gravity while chasing one another in circles around the moon. The two spacecraft are each about the size of a washing machine and will... more »

• Minneapolis developer backs out of Colorado NASA park

  August 22, 2011 4:46 PM

  LOVELAND, Colo. (AP) - A Minneapolis developer chosen to create a new Colorado business park to cultivate innovative technology has backed out of the project. The Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology announced Monday that United Properties ended its exclusivity agreement for Aerospace and Clean Energy Manufacturing and Innovation... more »

• Two of NASA's space shuttles meet nose-to-nose

  August 11, 2011 6:36 PM

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - NASA's retired space shuttles are trading places. In a rare nose-to-nose encounter, Discovery and Endeavour met outside the shuttle hangar Thursday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Discovery moved into the hangar and Endeavour went to the Vehicle Assembly Building. The switch... more »

• Obama heralds launch of final space shuttle

  July 8, 2011 4:15 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - With the launch of Atlantis on NASA's final space shuttle mission, President Barack Obama says a proud country watched as "America reached for the heavens once more." Obama congratulated the Atlantis astronauts and space workers on what he called a "picture perfect launch" Friday from Cape... more »

• Remembering all their work before the final launch

  July 8, 2011 12:36 AM

  Colorado has one of the largest space related economies in the country, and there are a lot of local ties to the space program. The final shuttle launch will be bittersweet for many of these people. Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida just before... more »

• Finishing a legacy: preparing for final shuttle launch

  July 7, 2011 4:38 PM

  On Friday, people across the United States and the world will be watching NASA's final shuttle launch; the historic space transportation machine will be retired after the mission. Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to liftoff from Cape Canaveral just before 9:30 a.m. local time. There is concern about weather... more »

• NASA to choose between 2 Mars landing sites

  July 6, 2011 11:31 PM

  PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - NASA is deciding between two places on Mars to send its next rover. The space agency said Wednesday that the project team and outside scientists have narrowed the options to two landing sites. The nuclear-powered rover nicknamed Curiosity will touch down either in Gale... more »

• Last 4 shuttle astronauts arrive for countdown

  July 4, 2011 3:42 PM

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - The four astronauts who will close out NASA's space shuttle program are at their Florida launch site, eager for a Friday takeoff. Commander Christopher Ferguson and his crew flew into Kennedy Space Center from Houston on Monday, the Fourth of July. NASA staff handed... more »

• NASA sues ex-astronaut Mitchell over moon camera

  July 1, 2011 11:46 AM

  MIAMI (AP) - NASA is suing former astronaut Edgar Mitchell to get back a camera that went to the moon on the Apollo 14 mission. The lawsuit filed Thursday in South Florida federal court contends Mitchell recently tried to sell the camera at an auction. NASA says there's no... more »

• NASA prepping next Mars spacecraft for fall launch

  June 23, 2011 8:55 PM

  PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - NASA's next roving spacecraft to the surface of Mars has arrived in Florida after a cross-country flight to undergo final testing. A C-17 cargo jet carrying the rover nicknamed Curiosity took off from March Air Force Base in California and arrived Wednesday night in Florida.... more »

• Langley Research Center honored for 'space taxi'

  June 22, 2011 3:26 PM

  HAMPTON, Va. (AP) - Officials from a Colorado company are thanking current and former workers at NASA's Langley Research Center for their work developing a type of `space taxi.' Sierra Nevada Space Systems of Louisville, Colo. has won an $80 million contract to develop the Dream Chaser spacecraft. The... more »

• Out-of-this-world message to Gabrielle Giffords

  June 6, 2011 4:34 PM

  PHOENIX (AP) - Space shuttle Endeavour commander Mark Kelly delivered an out-of-this world message to a U2 concert after Bono dedicated the song "Beautiful Day" to Kelly's wife, Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Bono told the crowd at Seattle's Qwest Field on Saturday night, "Imagine a man looking down on... more »

• Locals looking at space travel after the shuttle is retired

  May 16, 2011 7:47 PM

  The Space Shuttle Endeavour is in space after a successful liftoff Monday morning. Now the United States only has one space shuttle mission remaining before the program is retired, then some serious decisions need to be made about the future of the space program and how we get Americans to... more »

• Shuttle program nearing the end, but a local group is working for the future

  May 16, 2011 4:26 PM

  As Endeavour launched into the new frontier of space Monday morning, the United States government is preparing for a new frontier of space travel without using the shuttle. The three-decade old human transport-module to space is being retired after the final launch of Atlantis scheduled for June. NASA has... more »

• Local response to the future of the U.S. space program

  May 16, 2011 12:04 PM

  America's second-to-last shuttle launch was a success. Shuttle Endeavour launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida just before 7 a.m. local time. NASA and the federal government will be looking for their next method of space travel. In the meantime it looks like the U.S. could be buying seats on the rockets... more »

• NASA clears Endeavour for final launch Monday

  May 14, 2011 7:49 PM

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - NASA's next-to-last space shuttle flight is set to blast off Monday morning. Mission managers gave the green light Saturday for the final voyage of Endeavour. Forecasters put the odds of acceptable weather at 70 percent. Endeavour will fly to the International Space Station... more »

• Endeavour's final flight may be delayed again

  May 4, 2011 8:14 PM

  The launch date for the shuttle Endeavour's final mission may have to be pushed back again. It was set for next Tuesday, but repair work on the switch box that caused Friday's scrub is taking longer than expected. A replacement was installed today, but more testing is still needed. more »

• AFA grad to pilot space shuttle Endeavor

  April 27, 2011 3:46 PM

  U.S AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - An Air Force Academy graduate will pilot the space shuttle Endeavour and carry an Air Force Academy physics experiment into space. The Endeavour is scheduled to launch this Friday at 1:47 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, from Cape Canaveral for NASA's STS-134 mission. Piloting the... more »

• Space shuttle commanders reflect on program

  April 12, 2011 11:28 PM

  Three decades ago, the Space Shuttle Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center for the very first time. Since then, shuttles have flown more than 100 missions. "It's a dream, and for me it's been a dream come true," remarks Richard Truly, NASA astronaut and former space shuttle commander.... more »

• Students will get a lesson in history and future at space symposium

  April 11, 2011 10:55 PM

  Bags full of NASA goodies won't be the only thing students get when they come to the 27th National Space Symposium this week at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. They'll be greeted by robots, they'll see a mockup of the International Space Station on a model-sized football field, and... more »

• Comet-hunting probe to shut down

  March 24, 2011 3:40 PM

  DENVER (AP) - NASA's comet-hunting Stardust space probe is performing one more experiment before it shuts down and ends its 12-year voyage through space. Engineers at Lockheed Martin in Denver, where Stardust was built, will tell the spacecraft to burn all its remaining fuel on Thursday. How long that... more »

• One last time for Discovery

  February 21, 2011 7:01 PM

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - NASA's countdown clocks are ticking again for space shuttle Discovery's final launch. Discovery is supposed to blast off Thursday afternoon to the International Space Station. The flight should have taken place four months ago. But the countdown was halted in the final hours by a... more »

• High-tech jogging machine takes the load off

  January 4, 2011 2:02 PM

  A new kind of treadmill developed by NASA seals the lower body in a pressure chamber. The machine can counter gravity, reducing the pounding a body takes while running. The "Alter G" treadmill was designed for astronauts in space. Originally it was used to add gravity. The company realized... more »

• NASA eyeing sites for high-tech park in Northern Colorado

  December 25, 2010 1:29 PM

  LOVELAND, Colo. (AP) - NASA representatives are sizing up areas in northern Colorado for a technology park it plans to develop. Don Marostica, the state economic development director, says NASA officials toured the old Hewlett-Packard/Agilent campus in Loveland Wednesday. The space agency is looking for a site that... more »

• Mars mission led by CU-Boulder gets green light

  October 6, 2010 8:31 AM

  NASA has given the go-ahead to a $438 million mission led by the University of Colorado-Boulder to investigate Mars and the likelihood that it once harbored life. NASA said Tuesday that a review team approved the plans and budget for the project, Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN.... more »

• NTSB releases preliminary report on Alaska crash

  August 25, 2010 8:29 AM

  Federal investigators say the plane carrying former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens had its emergency beacon separate from its mounting bracket when the aircraft crashed into a remote southwest Alaska mountainside earlier this month. The National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report on the Aug. 9 crash also says that the... more »

• Former astronaut Lisa Nowak's Navy career is over

  August 20, 2010 9:45 AM

  The Navy has ended the military career of former astronaut Lisa Nowak, who lost her NASA job over a bizarre airport attack on a romantic rival. A Navy panel of three admirals voted unanimously late Thursday to discharge Nowak and downgrade her rank from captain to commander. The... more »

• CU-Boulder chosen as partner in new space center

  August 20, 2010 8:57 AM

  The University of Colorado is one of eight universities and other institutions chosen to be part of a new center focusing on commercial space travel, launch operations and space commerce. The Federal Aviation Administration Thursday announced the selection of CU-Boulder to participate in the Center of Excellence for Commercial... more »

• Spacewalk 3: More repair work for station crew

  August 16, 2010 8:09 AM

  Space station astronauts have one more big spacewalking chore before they can declare success. Astronauts Douglas Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson will tackle the last of their cooling-system repair work Monday. It will be their third spacewalk in just over a week. This time, they will try to... more »

• Weather is a focus of crash probe

  August 11, 2010 9:36 AM

  Federal investigators say weather is one factor they'll examine as they try determine the cause of Monday's plane crash in Alaska that killed former Sen. Ted Stevens and four others. Rescuers managed to reach the site just hours after the crash, but they and the four survivors were forced... more »

• Former NASA chief survives crash

  August 10, 2010 3:56 PM

  A former NASA spokesman says ex-NASA chief Sean O'Keefe survived the plane crash in Alaska that killed former Sen. Ted Stevens. Glenn Mahone says O'Keefe's teenage son, Kevin, was also among the four survivors. The plane crashed Monday night near a remote fishing village in Alaska, killing five.... more »

• Sen. Ted Stevens confirmed dead in plane crash

  August 10, 2010 2:28 PM

  A spokesman for the family of Ted Stevens says the former senator has died in a plane crash in Alaska. Mitch Rose tells The Associated Press that the family had been notified that the 86-year-old Stevens was among those killed. Five of the nine people aboard the plane... more »

• Hundreds of NASA workers get pink slips

  July 28, 2010 1:48 PM

  The ax has fallen on about 1,000 Space Shuttle workers. They're the first large group to get pink slips because of the shuttle's pending retirement. As many as 7,000 others will follow with a ripple effect of up to 23,000 jobs. The last two shuttle flights are... more »

• Total solar eclipse this weekend

  July 9, 2010 10:13 AM

  A total eclipse of the sun will occur Sunday, but don't be so quick to take out your special viewing glasses. Unlike recent solar eclipses, this year's sun show will be visible only in a narrow slice of the Southern Hemisphere. The eclipse will begin at sunrise 1,200 miles... more »

• NASA shuttle workers get $15M grant to find jobs

  June 2, 2010 10:44 AM

  NASA workers facing the end of the space shuttle era are getting $15 million from the federal government to help them find new jobs. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis announced the emergency grant Wednesday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. She said the grant will assist about 3,200 workers... more »

• Touch down! Space shuttle back safely on Earth

  May 26, 2010 8:54 AM

  Space shuttle Atlantis returned to Earth with 6 astronauts, perhaps ending the flying career of this shuttle. Atlantis logged its 120-millionth mile shortly after midnight, accumulated over 32 flights. Only two shuttle missions remain, by NASA's two other spaceships. NASA is pushing for one more flight for Atlantis, which... more »

• Space shuttle Atlantis aims for morning touchdown

  May 26, 2010 8:24 AM

  Space shuttle Atlantis is about to wrap up its flying career. Atlantis and its six-man crew are scheduled to land Wednesday in Florida and end NASA's third-to-last shuttle flight. Mission Control says rain could interfere, however, and keep the shuttle in orbit an extra day. The lead flight... more »

• Space shuttle Atlantis on last full day of final mission

  May 25, 2010 8:08 AM

  The Atlantis astronauts are getting their spaceship ready to come home. Atlantis is scheduled to land Wednesday morning in Florida. Commander Kenneth Ham and his crew will spend Tuesday morning checking critical flight systems. The shuttle and its six astronauts are returning from the International Space Station. This is... more »

• NASA clears Atlantis for final liftoff on Friday

  May 12, 2010 12:09 PM

  Space shuttle Atlantis has been cleared for liftoff. Mission managers on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for the countdown to proceed toward Friday afternoon's planned launch. It will be 32nd and final flight for Atlantis. Everything is looking good for an on-time launch at 2:20 p.m. Managers are tracking... more »

• Atlantis to launch for final time Friday

  May 11, 2010 4:36 PM

  NASA is counting down to the final launch of space shuttle Atlantis. Atlantis is set to blast off Friday afternoon on its last trip to the International Space Station. The countdown clocks began ticking Tuesday. Forecasters put the odds of good launch weather at 70 percent. The six astronauts... more »