Russian spacecraft with an American astronaut landed safely at the International Space Station. Richard Engel, NBC's chief foreign correspondent, joins Shepard Smith to discuss.
Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin on Tuesday conducted the latest test flight of its rocket New Shepard at a facility in the West Texas desert. The mission did not have passengers on board, although New Shepard launches with a capsule on top designed to carry as many as six people. Known as NS-13, this mission was the 13th test flight of the system – as well as a record seventh consecutive launch for the rocket booster carrying the capsule, as it has landed six times after prior missions.
Her six-month ISS mission is scheduled to launch in 2021.
NASA reached peak cool on July 20th, 1969 when it sent the first men to the moon. However, the agency's impact on society goes far beyond space. Some of the biggest advancements in technology started as NASA experiments, from GPS systems and Dustbusters to freeze-dried foods and laptop computers. But Neil deGrasse Tyson, the famous astrophysicist, says NASA partnering with Elon Musk's SpaceX is one of the biggest advancements the agency has made since the moon landing.
SpaceX's Crew Dragon returned to Earth on Sunday. It was the first time in nearly a decade since NASA launched its own astronauts from the U.S. It was also the first time a private company launched a crew into orbit.
The launch of SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule to the International Space Station on May 30 marked the first time NASA astronauts took off from U.S. soil since 2011. The event also represented the first time a commercially designed and built spacecraft carried astronauts, an achievement that SpaceX and Boeing have vied for for years under NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
Virgin Galactic is giving its customers a first look inside the cabin that will carry them to the edge of space and back. The cabin's design is the central piece of the company's product, especially due to the variety of stages during a Virgin Galactic spaceflight. Virgin Galactic partnered with U.K. design agency Seymourpowell to create the cabin's interior and seats, which features soft surfaces throughout.
China just launched a major Mars mission, called Tianwen-1, on Thursday in what it hopes will become its first successful landing on the red planet. It is China's first solo mission to Mars after a previous attempt with Russia failed several years ago. Meanwhile, the U.S. is gearing up for a launch of NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover, which is scheduled for July 30.
NASA astronaut Bob Behnken told CNBC's Morgan Brennan on Tuesday that he and his colleagues in space hope the launch can provide inspiration to others amid the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.
NASA Astronauts Bob Behnken and Dough Hurley as well as ISS Commander Chris Cassidy join CNBC's Morgan Brennan to discuss the SpaceX launch as well as how involved they were in the process.
SpaceX launched NASA astronauts for the first time. The mission is called Demo-2, and it is the first launch of NASA astronauts from the U.S. since 2011. It is also the first crewed launch in the history of Elon Musk's company, its most important milestone yet. SpaceX postponed the first launch attempted due to severe weather in the area.
A prototype of SpaceX's next-gen Starship rocket just exploded. The rocket blew up after a test at the company's development facility in Texas. The rocket is designed to launch people and cargo to Mars and the moon.
CNBC's Morgan Brennan reports that SpaceX and NASA postponed their historic astronaut launch due to weather conditions.
CNBC's Michael Sheetz reports from Kennedy Space Center on the awaited SpaceX launch which will take two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station this afternoon.
CNBC's Morgan Brennan reports on the NASA and SpaceX launch and why it's such a historic feat.