Space Shuttle Program

Two veteran NASA astronauts were headed for the International Space Station on Saturday after Elon Musk's SpaceX became the first commercial company to launch a rocket carrying humans into orbit, ushering in a new era in space travel.

California-based SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule carrying astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken and its Falcon 9 rocket is due to lift off at 4:33 pm EDT on Wednesday (02:03 am IST on Thursday) from the same launch pad used by NASA's last space shuttle mission in 2011.

The first US astronauts chosen to fly aboard a SpaceX capsule built for NASA shrugged off a spate of design and test mishaps, saying such setbacks were "part of the process" and the new technology was far more advanced than the space shuttle program that ended eight years ago.

Schierholz added that having Russian and US vehicles flying simultaneously will provide "redundancy in crew transportation" to the ISS.

SpaceX's mission will be the first manned US launch to the orbiting research laboratory since the space shuttle program was retired in 2011.

Five years after Atlantis completed the space shuttle program's final voyage, NASA is still at least a year away from launching its astronauts from US soil.

George Mueller, a coolly decisive, hard-driving engineer, scientist and administrator who was given much of the credit for enabling NASA to meet President John F. Kennedy's manned moon landing timetable, as well as for initiating the Skylab and space shuttle programs, died Oct. 12 at his home in Irvine, California. He was 97.

The United States has been dependent on Russia for ISS access since it ended its space shuttle program in July 2012.

While the United States and Russia traded sanctions this week in a burgeoning crisis over Crimea, astronauts from both nations rose above the discord in their sanctuary hundreds of miles from Earth.

NASA readied the space shuttle Endeavour for its final mission with liftoff set for 8:56 am (1256 GMT) Monday

Space shuttle Atlantis is back on Earth, and the shuttle era is over. Atlantis and its four astronauts glided through the twilight on Thursday and landed in Florida shortly before sunrise. Hundreds gathered near the runway to welcome Atlantis home - and to bid NASA's 30-year space shuttle program goodbye.

NASA astronauts and engineers fended off tears as Atlantis made its final approach toward Earth on Wednesday, bringing an end to the 30-year shuttle program and closing a chapter in human spaceflight.

Two veteran NASA astronauts were headed for the International Space Station on Saturday after Elon Musk's SpaceX became the first commercial company to launch a rocket carrying humans into orbit, ushering in a new era in space travel.

California-based SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule carrying astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken and its Falcon 9 rocket is due to lift off at 4:33 pm EDT on Wednesday (02:03 am IST on Thursday) from the same launch pad used by NASA's last space shuttle mission in 2011.

The first US astronauts chosen to fly aboard a SpaceX capsule built for NASA shrugged off a spate of design and test mishaps, saying such setbacks were "part of the process" and the new technology was far more advanced than the space shuttle program that ended eight years ago.

Schierholz added that having Russian and US vehicles flying simultaneously will provide "redundancy in crew transportation" to the ISS.

SpaceX's mission will be the first manned US launch to the orbiting research laboratory since the space shuttle program was retired in 2011.

Five years after Atlantis completed the space shuttle program's final voyage, NASA is still at least a year away from launching its astronauts from US soil.

George Mueller, a coolly decisive, hard-driving engineer, scientist and administrator who was given much of the credit for enabling NASA to meet President John F. Kennedy's manned moon landing timetable, as well as for initiating the Skylab and space shuttle programs, died Oct. 12 at his home in Irvine, California. He was 97.

The United States has been dependent on Russia for ISS access since it ended its space shuttle program in July 2012.

While the United States and Russia traded sanctions this week in a burgeoning crisis over Crimea, astronauts from both nations rose above the discord in their sanctuary hundreds of miles from Earth.

NASA readied the space shuttle Endeavour for its final mission with liftoff set for 8:56 am (1256 GMT) Monday

Space shuttle Atlantis is back on Earth, and the shuttle era is over. Atlantis and its four astronauts glided through the twilight on Thursday and landed in Florida shortly before sunrise. Hundreds gathered near the runway to welcome Atlantis home - and to bid NASA's 30-year space shuttle program goodbye.

NASA astronauts and engineers fended off tears as Atlantis made its final approach toward Earth on Wednesday, bringing an end to the 30-year shuttle program and closing a chapter in human spaceflight.