NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA's first mission to sample an asteroid is moving ahead into development and testing in preparation for its launch in 2016.

The Origins-Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) passed a confirmation review Wednesday called Key Decision Point (KDP)-C. NASA officials reviewed a series of detailed project assessments and authorized the spacecraft's continuation into the development phase.

How does ice accumulate inside hot turbofan jet engines during flight? NASA scientists at the Glenn Research Center, working with engine manufacturers, are closer to answering that question thanks to the only test facility in the world capable of creating a high altitude ice crystal cloud during a full-scale engine test.

Sierra Nevada Corporation's (SNC) Space Systems Dream Chaser flight vehicle arrived at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., Wednesday to begin tests of its flight and runway landing systems.

The overall goal of CCP is to achieve safe, reliable and cost-effective U.S. human access to and from the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit.

On May 31, 2013, asteroid 1998 QE2 will sail serenely past Earth, getting no closer than about 3.6 million miles (5.8 million kilometers), or about 15 times the distance between Earth and the moon. And while QE2 is not of much interest to those astronomers and scientists on the lookout for hazardous asteroids, it is of interest to those who dabble in radar astronomy and have a 230-foot (70-meter) -- or larger -- radar telescope at their disposal.

The celebration will take place on Monday, May 20, 2013 at the Kennedy Center in Washington. The event will highlight Dr. Ride’s contributions and her legacies and include the talents of Patti Austin, Damian Kulash of the band OK Go, Twyla Tharp, Maria Shriver and Billie Jean King.

Youth talent will include the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra, Centreville High School Choral Union from Virginia and dancers from the University of North Carolina School for the Arts.