NASA

A civilian trip to the International Space Station and bits of an asteroid could keep the U.S. Space Program and the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville busy in 2023.

Alabama’s outgoing senior U.S. Senator Richard Shelby included billions of dollars for the state in that chamber’s omnibus spending package. The veteran Republican, and vice-chair of the appropriations committee which helps shaped the federal budget, is leaving office next month.

NASA is already looking ahead to the next chapter in its plan to send astronauts back to the Moon. The agency’s Orion crew capsule successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after its mission on autopilot around the moon and back.

NASA’s Orion space capsule set a personal record. The spacecraft was built and managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.

A NASA space capsule built and managed by Alabama’s Marshall Space Flight Center is set for a major milestone today. The unmanned Orion capsule is scheduled to arrive at the Moon. The maneuver is part of its mission to test the vehicle that was launched aboard the new Artemis one rocket.

NASA's new moon rocket blasted off on its debut flight, fifty years after the historic Apollo lunar flights carried twelve astronauts to the surface of Earth’s nearest neighbor in space. The Artemis rocket carries the Orion crew capsule. Both vehicles were designed, and are managed at, the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.

NASA is targeting later this month for another launch try for its new Artemis moon rocket. The spacecraft which is managed, designed, and tested at Alabama’s Marshall Space Flight Center has been plagued with hydrogen leaks. Engineers will try to fix the problem at the launch pad.

NASA’s Artemis moon rocket may not be able to launch until mid-October. Another hydrogen fuel leak forced mission to cancel a second blastoff attempt over the weekend. NASA says the new problem is deep into the engine compartment of the rocket that’s designed, tested, and managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville

Alabama Public Radio is observing forty years on the air in 2022. The APR news team is diving into our archives to bring you encore airings of the best of our coverage. So far this month, we’ve featured stories with a space theme. July was the month, back in 1969, when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Not all of APR’s NASA related coverage has been upbeat. This archive story by Pat Duggins from last year involves a former astronaut and the death of two sisters in Tuscaloosa.

A five time Space Shuttle astronaut is now a convicted felon. James Halsell stood before a Tuscaloosa County judge and pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter in the 2016 traffic crash that killed two young girls. APR has been following the case from the beginning. It was a shock to observers of the space program and a long wait for justice for the victim’s family.