A Soviet-era spacecraft has plunged to Earth, more than a half-century after its failed launch to Venus.

A half-ton spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union 53 years ago is expected to fall back to Earth this weekend.

A Soviet-era spacecraft meant to land on Venus in the 1970s is expected to soon plunge uncontrolled back to Earth.

The engine for a flagship new small Japanese rocket has burst into flames during a combustion test, but there was no injury or damage to the outside, officials said.

Japan’s first moon lander has survived a third freezing lunar night, Japan’s space agency said after receiving an image from the device three months after it landed on the moon.

Four astronauts from four countries are back on Earth after catching a ride from the International Space Station with SpaceX.

Japan’s first moon lander responded to a signal from Earth, suggesting it has survived a second freezing weekslong lunar night, Japan’s space agency said Monday.

A Japan space agency official says an unmanned spacecraft that landed on the moon last month has captured and transmitted data analyzing 10 lunar rocks, a greater-than-expected achievement that could help provide clues about the origin of the moon.

A Japanese moon explorer is up and running Monday after several tense days without the sunlight it needs to generate power.

Japan’s space agency said Thursday that its first lunar mission hit the tiny patch of the moon’s surface it was aiming for in a successful demonstration of its pinpoint landing system — although it appears to be sitting upside-down.

Japan has become the fifth country in history to reach the moon.

Japan has landed a spacecraft on the moon, an attempt at the world’s first “pinpoint lunar landing.”.

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Four space station astronauts are back on Earth after a quick SpaceX flight home.

Japan’s space agency has aborted the inaugural launch of its next-generation H3 rocket after the auxiliary booster engines failed to ignite.

A years-long project to replace the aging power system aboard the International Space Station continues.

SpaceX and NASA plan to launch the next crewed mission to the International Space Station next week, but it’s being pushed back a few days because of Hurricane Ian.

NASA officials said The Space X Crew Dragon capsule splashed down off the Florida coast at 10:33 p.m. on Monday.

The Crew-1 mission astronauts arrived back on Earth early Sunday morning.

The splashdown return to Earth for Crew-1 has been delayed again.

The astronauts are set to undock from the ISS Wednesday and splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico.

The four Crew-2 astronauts will arrive at the ISS Saturday morning.

Live countdown updates leading to the Crew-2 SpaceX launch.

Each member of the SpaceX Crew-2 mission brings a unique set of skills, interests and favorite foods to the orbiting laboratory.

Part of planning a historic mission to space means accounting for every minor detail, including the tunes.

A breakdown of the timeline on launch day which actually begins Wednesday night ahead of Thursday morning's liftoff.

SpaceX has launched its third crew in under a year for NASA, this time using a recycled rocket and capsule.

With anticipation building for Friday's launch of four astronauts to the International Space Station, families are making plans along the Space Coast to secure a spot for watching the liftoff.

SpaceX has bumped its next astronaut launch by a day because of dangerously high waves and wind offshore.

For the first time, NASA is putting its trust in a recycled SpaceX rocket and capsule for a crew.

Tokyo police are investigating cyberattacks on about 200 Japanese companies and research organizations, including the country’s space agency, by a hacking group believed to be linked to the Chinese military.

Four astronauts are set to arrive at Kennedy Space Center ahead of their launch next week.

NASA has chosen SpaceX to build the lunar lander that will eventually put the first woman and person of color on the moon.

About 3 grams (0.1 ounce) of the black granules are from Ryugu's surface and were gathered when Hayabusa2 touched down on the asteroid in April 2019. AdBased on near-infrared spectrophotometer analysis of data transmitted by Hayabusa2, JAXA scientists found that the asteroid was exposed to extremely high temperatures both on its surface and underground, possibly caused by an internal source of heat or planetary collisions rather than heat from the sun. Kohei Kitazato, a University of Aizu planetary scientist working with JAXA, said his team found indications of heat exceeding 300 degrees Celsius (572 degrees Fahrenheit) both on the asteroid surface and underground. AdJAXA is continuing an initial examination of the asteroid samples ahead of fuller studies next year. Following studies in Japan, some of the samples will be shared with NASA and other international space agencies for additional research.

The members of the SpaceX Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station. Picture from left are NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet. The NASA, European Space Agency and Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) crew are slated to launch atop the Falcon 9 rocket from launchpad 39A no earlier than April 20 and travel to the International Space Station, where four other astronauts, who also arrived via SpaceX, will be waiting. The mission known as Crew-2 will include NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet. Additionally there is another Russian Space Agency Soyuz launch slated for spring with three astronauts headed to the ISS, meaning at some point there could be 11 astronauts on station together at the same time.

(JAXA via AP)TOKYO – They resemble small fragments of charcoal, but the soil samples collected from an asteroid and returned to Earth by a Japanese spacecraft were hardly disappointing. The sandy granules the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency described last week were from the spacecraft's first touchdown in April 2019. The larger fragments were from the compartment allocated for the second touchdown on Ryugu, said Tomohiro Usui, space materials scientist. “One possibility is that the place of the second touchdown was a hard bedrock and larger particles broke and entered the compartment." JAXA is continuing the initial examination of the asteroid samples ahead of fuller studies next year.

TOKYO – Japan’s space agency said Monday it has confirmed the presence of black soil samples inside a capsule that the spacecraft Hayabusa2 brought back from a distant asteroid last week. The pan-shaped capsule, 40 centimeters (15 inches) in diameter, was dropped by Hayabusa2 from space onto a spot in a sparsely populated Australian desert on Dec. 6. It arrived in Japan last Tuesday for research that will hopefully provide insights into the origins of the solar system and life on Earth. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said its scientists opened the capsule and found an unspecified amount of sandy black particles. Following studies in Japan for about a year, some of the samples will be shared with NASA and other international groups for additional research beginning in 2022.

Japans space agency said Monday it has confirmed the presence of black soil samples inside a capsule that the spacecraft Hayabusa2 brought back from a distant asteroid last week. “We have confirmed a good amount of sand apparently collected from the asteroid Ryugu, along with gases,” JAXA Hayabusa2 project manager Yuichi Tsuda said in a video message during an online news conference. “The samples from outside of our planet, which we have long dreamed of, are now in our hands.”Tsuda called the successful return of asteroid soil and gas samples “a major scientific milestone." Sawada said he was “almost speechless” with surprise and joy when he found that the samples inside included were just the expected dust size but also size of grain and pebbles. Soil samples in photos shown in Tuesday’s presentation looked like dark coffee grounds or black sesame seeds.

FILE - This computer graphics file image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows the Hayabusa2 spacecraft above the asteroid Ryugu. (ISAS/JAXA via AP, File)TOKYO – Japanese space agency officials were delighted Tuesday by the return of a small capsule containing asteroid soil samples obtained by their Hayabusa2 spacecraft and were anxiously waiting to look inside after preparations are complete. Hayabusa2 dropped the capsule from space and it landed as planned in the Australian Outback over the weekend. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the capsule, tightly sealed and carefully stored in a container box, arrived at its research facility in Sagamihara, near Tokyo, for analysis. Launched in December 2014, the unmanned Hayabusa2 spacecraft touched down twice last year on the asteroid.

The small capsule from Japans Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully landed in a sparsely populated desert in the Australian Outback on Sunday. The extremely high precision required to carry out the mission thrilled many in Japan, who said they took pride in its success. WHAT IS THE HAYABUSA2 MISSION? JAXA mission manager Makoto Yoshikawa said just 0.1 gram of the sample can be enough to conduct the planned research, though he said more would be better. About an hour after separating from the capsule at 220,000 kilometers (136,700 miles) from Earth, Hayabusa2 was sent on another mission to the smaller asteroid, 1998KY26.

Hayabusa2 left the asteroid Ryugu, about 300 million kilometers (180 million miles) from Earth, a year ago. The return of the capsule with the world’s first asteroid subsurface samples comes weeks after NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft made a successful touch-and-go grab of surface samples from the asteroid Bennu. JAXA officials said the Ryugu samples will be handled in clean chambers to avoid any impact on the samples. Hayabusa2 released the capsule on Saturday from 220,000 kilometers (136,700 miles) away in space, sending it toward Earth. Since its Dec. 3, 2014, launch, the Hayabusa2 mission has been fully successful.

In this photo provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), a capsule, center, dropped by Hayabusa2 is seen before being retrieved in Woomera, southern Australia, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020. The spacecraft Hayabusa2 released the small capsule on Saturday and sent it toward Earth to deliver samples from a distant asteroid. The capsule's return came weeks after NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft made a successful touch-and-go grab of surface samples from the asteroid Bennu. After it released the capsule on Saturday, it set off on a new expedition to another distant asteroid. JAXA hopes to find clues to how the materials are distributed in the solar system and are related to life on Earth.

FILE - This computer graphics image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows the Hayabusa2 spacecraft above the asteroid Ryugu. (ISAS/JAXA via AP, File)TOKYO – Japanese space agency officials said Friday the Hayabusa2 spacecraft is on its intended trajectory as it approaches Earth to deliver a capsule containing samples from a distant asteroid that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on Earth. The spacecraft left the asteroid Ryugu, about 300 million kilometers (180 million miles) away, a year ago. JAXA hopes to find clues to how the materials are distributed in the solar system and are related to life on Earth. Asteroids, which orbit the sun but are much smaller than planets, are among the oldest objects in the solar system and therefore may help explain how Earth evolved.

FILE - This computer graphics image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows the Hayabusa2 spacecraft above the asteroid Ryugu. The Japanese spacecraft is nearing Earth after a yearlong journey home from a distant asteroid carrying soil samples and data that could provide clues to the origins of the solar system, a space agency official said Friday, Nov. 27, 2020. Makoto Yoshikawa, a Hayabusa2 project mission manager, said scientists are especially interested in analyzing organic materials in the Ryugu soil samples. Scientists said there are traces of carbon and organic matter in the asteroid soil samples. JAXA hopes to find clues to how the materials are distributed in the solar system and are related to life on Earth.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – SpaceX’s newly launched capsule with four astronauts arrived Monday at the International Space Station, their new home until spring. The Dragon capsule pulled up and docked late Monday night, following a 27-hour, completely automated flight from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. “Oh, what a good voice to hear,” space station astronaut Kate Rubins called out when the Dragon's commander, Mike Hopkins, first made radio contact. But it’s the first time Elon Musk’s company delivered a crew for a full half-year station stay. As they prepared for the space station linkup, the Dragon crew beamed down live window views of New Zealand and a brilliant blue, cloud-streaked Pacific 250 miles below.

The three Americans and one Japanese should reach the International Space Station late Monday for a five- to six-month stay, following Sunday's liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. A brief look at each:—Crew commander Mike Hopkins, 51, is an Air Force colonel and former space station resident who grew up on a hog and cattle farm in Missouri. He played football for the University of Illinois and, before becoming an astronaut in 2009, worked at the Pentagon. —Shannon Walker, 55, a Houston-born-and-raised physicist, also has lived before on the space station. She worked as a flight controller at NASA’s Johnson Space Center and then behind the scenes in the space station program, before becoming an astronaut in 2004.

It is due to reach the space station late Monday and remain there until spring. Even the two astronauts on the first SpaceX crew flight stayed behind at Johnson Space Center in Houston. “I didn’t start breathing until about a minute after it took off,” Pence said during a stop at SpaceX Launch Control to congratulate the workers. The first-stage booster is expected to be recycled by SpaceX for the next crew launch. NASA turned to private companies to haul cargo and crew to the space station, after the shuttle fleet retired in 2011.