A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office lifted off from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., at 2:39 p.m., PDT, Sept. 13. Designated NROL-36, the mission is in support of national defense. “Today’s successful launch of the NROL-36 mission occurred on the same day…

NASA has selected four more companies for indefinite-delivery, indefinite- quantity multiple-award construction contracts at the agency’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss. These are in addition to six companies selected in August. The fixed price contracts consist of a performance period of five years, with a total value not to exceed $700 million….

NASA Sept. 12 released a request for proposals for the first of two contract phases to certify commercially developed space systems in support of crewed missions to the International Space Station. Through these certification products contracts, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program will ensure commercial missions are held to the agency’s safety requirements and standards for human…

NASA’s Mars Curiosity team is almost finished robotic arm tests in preparation for the rover to touch and examine its first Martian rock. Tests with the 7-foot (2.1-meter) arm have allowed the mission team to gain confidence in the arm’s precise maneuvering in Martian temperature and gravity conditions. During these activities, Curiosity has remained at…

NASA Television will provide live coverage of events surrounding three International Space Station crew members who are scheduled to end four months on the orbiting laboratory with a landing in Kazakhstan Sept. 16. Expedition 32 Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA and Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin of the Russian Federal Space…

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter data have given scientists the clearest evidence yet of carbon dioxide snowfalls on Mars. This reveals the only known example of carbon dioxide snow falling anywhere in our solar system. Frozen carbon dioxide, better known as “dry ice,” requires temperatures of about minus 193 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 125 Celsius), which is…

NASA and the German Aerospace Center have signed two cooperative agreements to advance air traffic management benefiting airline passengers and citizens of both nations. The agreements were signed Sept. 11 at a Berlin Air Show ceremony by NASA’s Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Research Dr. Jaiwon Shin and DLR’s Executive Board Member for Aeronautical Research Rolf…

The mission team for NASA’s long-lived Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity will be awarded the Haley Space Flight Award. The team will receive the award Sept. 12 during the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Space 2012 Conference and Exposition in Pasadena, Calif. The award is presented for outstanding contributions by an astronaut or…