Marcia Dunn

AP Aerospace Writer

In this Aug. 13, 1965 photo provided by the San Diego Air and Space Museum, technicians work on an Atlas Centaur 7 rocket at Cape Canaveral, Fla. A mysterious object temporarily orbiting Earth is a Centaur 7 upper stage rocket, not an asteroid after all, astronomers confirmed Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020.

NASA Says Mystery Object Isn't Asteroid

It's actually a 54-year-old rocket.

This image made available by NASA shows the planet Mars. This composite photo was created from over 100 images of Mars taken by Viking Orbiters in the 1970s. NASA is underestimating the amount of time and money it will take to bring Mars rocks back to Earth in the coming decade, an independent panel said Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020.

NASA Needs More Time, Money to Bring Back Mars Rocks

These challenges could add about $1 billion in unforeseen costs.

In this Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, image released by SpaceX/NASA, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts, from left, mission specialist Shannon Walker, pilot Victor Glover, and Crew Dragon commander Michael Hopkins, all NASA astronauts, and mission specialist Soichi Noguchi, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut, gesture during crew equipment interface testing at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif. SpaceX’s second astronaut flight is off until mid-November 2020 because red lacquer dripped into tiny vent holes in two rocket engines that now must be replaced.

Red Coating Contaminates SpaceX Rockets

Lacquer dripped into tiny vent holes in two rocket engines, which now must be replaced.

In this June 18, 2020 photo provided by NASA, astronaut Kate Rubins, center, and support personnel review the Universal Waste Management System, a low-gravity space toilet, in Houston. The new device is scheduled to be delivered to the International Space Station on Oct. 1, 2020.

NASA Tests $23M Titanium Toilet

The toilet is getting a not-so-dry run at the International Space Station before eventually flying to the moon.

In this Sept. 2, 2020 file photo, the full moon shines surrounded by clouds in the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany.

New Measurements Show Hazardous Radiation Levels on Moon

Future moon explorers will be bombarded with two to three times more radiation than astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Thursday, July 30, 2020, in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

NASA Launches Mars Rover

The mission will look for signs of ancient life.

In this Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019 photo made available by NASA, Boeing, NASA, and U.S. Army personnel work around the Boeing Starliner spacecraft shortly after it landed in White Sands, N.M. On Tuesday, July 7, 2020, NASA officials said they have identified 80 corrective actions for safety, mostly involving software, that must be implemented before the Starliner capsule launches again. The previous count was 61.

NASA Adds Safety Fixes for Boeing's Crew Capsule

The changes follow a pair of close calls during a test flight.

In this image provided by NASA, the SpaceX Dragon crew capsule, with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken aboard, docks with the International Space Station Sunday, May 31, 2020.

SpaceX Delivers Test Pilots to Space Station

It was the first time a privately built and owned spacecraft carried astronauts to the space station.

The SpaceX Falcon 9, with the Crew Dragon spacecraft on top of the rocket, sits on Launch Pad 39-A Thursday, May 28, 2020, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Wednesday's planned launch was scrubbed due to weather. They will try again to launch Saturday.

SpaceX's Second Attempt Faces More Storms

It is the company's second attempt to launch astronauts for NASA.

In this handout photo released by Roscosmos Space Agency Press Service U.S. astronaut Chris Cassidy, left, Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin, centre, and Ivan Vagner, members of the main crew of the expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), walk prior the launch of Soyuz MS-16 space ship at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, April 9, 2020.

Astronauts Leave Virus-Plagued Planet for Space Station

Not even family members could bid them farewell.

In this April 11, 1970 photo made available by NASA, the Saturn V rocket carrying the crew of the Apollo 13 mission to the moon launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Remembering Apollo 13 at 50

It is regarded as NASA’s most successful failure.

In this Feb. 7, 1984 photo made available by NASA, astronaut Bruce McCandless II, performs a spacewalk a few meters away from the cabin of the Earth-orbiting space shuttle Challenger, using a nitrogen-propelled Manned Maneuvering Unit.

NASA Call for Astronauts Draws 12,000

It was NASA's second-largest group of astronaut hopefuls.