Launch Delay

SpaceX has delayed its next rocket launch until Tuesday.

The company will try again, after the launch, to soft land the rocket.

Mock Mars Mission

A mock Mars mission run by The Mars Society to test technologies and techniques that might be used in actual Mars expeditions begins today in Utah.

All seven crewmembers of the mock mission are astronaut candidates for the Mars One project.

Moonless Earth

A new study finds that even without the Moon to help stabilize it as it spins on its axis, Earth could probably still support life.

So, Earth-like exoplanets with no large moons could still be abodes of life.

FAA Green Lights Bigelow

The FAA has said it will support Bigelow Aerospace and the effort to commercially develop the Moon, a big first step.

The agency also said, however, that the current U. S. regulatory regime is inadequate for such a task.

NASA To Europa

Included in the proposed new Federal budget is White House support for a mission to Europa, Jupiter's ice covered moon that might harbor life in a water ocean beneath its ice shell.

NASA currently envisions a mission to Jupiter that would include 45 flybys of Europa that could launch in 2022.

Super Saturn

Astronomers have found a world 433 light years away that is larger than Saturn or Jupiter and has a ring system about 200 times larger than Saturn's.

There is also a possibility it has a moon as massive as Mars, or even Earth.

Columbia

Twelve years ago yesterday, Columbia and its crew were lost during re-entry.

The tragedy proved to be a turning point in manned spaceflight.  The space shuttle was put on the road to retirement, and America is still trying to decide its future in space.  Commercial efforts may well lead the way from now on.