Astronomy, Space Program | featured news

Though thunderstorms threatened, Atlantis was launched for NASA’s 135th and final shuttle flight, bound for the International Space Station with four astronauts.

NBC News’ Jay Barbree narrates a rare time-lapse video of the shuttle Atlantis being prepared for its final mission.

When the United States embarked on its shuttle program decades ago, it set out to build a workhorse vehicle that would make space travel routine and beat the Soviets during the Cold War struggle for dominance in space.

A Japanese probe reached Venus on Tuesday and prepared to enter orbit on a two-year mission that would mark a major milestone for Japan's space program and could shed light on the climate of Earth's mysterious neighbor....

A South Korean space rocket carrying a scientific satellite exploded two minutes into its flight in the second failure in two tries to put a payload in orbit, dealing a major setback to the country's space program.