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Because SpaceX’s next crew rotation mission to the International Space Station will use a new Dragon spacecraft that won’t be ready by a previously planned February launch date, NASA announced Tuesday that it has opted to delay the launch now until no earlier than late March.

What that means is an even longer stay for the two NASA astronauts who flew up last June to the ISS aboard Boeing’s beleaguered Starliner spacecraft. They launched on the first crewed mission of Starliner on June 5 from Cape Canaveral atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V arriving to the ISS on day later for what was supposed to be as short as an eight-day stay.

Because of concerns with Starliner’s thrusters and helium leaks on its propulsion module, NASA elected to play it safe and keep Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board the ISS while sending Starliner home without a crew.

Their ride home is now set to be aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom, which flew up to the ISS and docked in September, but with only two crew on board instead of the normal four so that Williams and Wilmore would have a ride home. read more

By DEE-ANN DURBIN

The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday said it will soon require hotels, vacation rental platforms and live event promoters to disclose any fees up front when they list prices.

If you’re sitting on a pile of travel or credit card rewards with no immediate travel plans, donating them to a charity is an easy way to have a positive impact. And it’s a popular way to give: In 2021, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members donated around 94 million miles to charities at an approximate cash value of $2.6 million, according to the airline.

In a span of less than 22 hours, SpaceX managed three Falcon 9 rocket launches and one landing of a Dragon spacecraft.

It flew a Department of Defense mission from Cape Canaveral on Monday night and on Tuesday knocked out a National Reconnaissance Office mission from California, the landing of the latest cargo Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Florida and the final topper of a busy day with a launch from Kennedy Space Center.

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/BhsixEo7Vw

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 17, 2024

The final launch saw a Falcon 9 on the mPower-E mission lifting off from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A at 5:26 p.m. with a  payload of a pair of satellites for Luxembourg-based communications company SES headed to medium-Earth orbit.

This was the first launch of the first-stage booster, which made a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic.

Falcon 9’s first stage lands on the Just Read the Instructions droneship pic.twitter.com/XuyNyggQBq

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 17, 2024 read more

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — While the puzzle pieces have been laid out over the last two years, a picture is beginning to form for NASA’s pursuit of the first human spaceflight of its Artemis program to the moon.

While the launch of Artemis II is still officially more than 16 months away, its massive Space Launch System rocket core stage went vertical inside KSC’s cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building this week while the four crew set to be the first to fly to the moon in more than half a century say they’re ready to go.

Amid the clanging echoes of work in progress across the building that spans eight acres, the three NASA and one Canadian Space Agency astronauts were on hand to let everyone know they’re on board with NASA’s decision to move forward without replacing the heat shield on their ride to the moon, the Orion space capsule.

“My wife, when the announcement was made, she looked at me and she said, ‘Well, what do you think?’ I said, ‘I think it’s safe and I think it’s go time,” said NASA’s Victor Glover, the pilot for the mission. “I always tell my family, don’t pay attention to launch dates until I tell you to do so. And this is the first one — you know, there have been several since we’ve been assigned to this mission — and this is the first one I said, ‘Hey, put it on your calendar and and be ready.’” read more