NASA

In Europe, engineers are planning to send a plywood-sheathed satellite into orbit to test how well the venerable construction material holds up in space.

Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos is going up July 20 on a rocket made by his space exploration company Blue Origin. So is his brother. And now a mystery bidder has won an auction to join them.

The animals are being launched into the cosmos as NASA researchers attempt to learn more about how the conditions of spaceflight can affect biological organisms and, by extension, future astronauts.

The two space probes will study Venus, a scorching hot world that may have once been like Earth. NASA chose the Venus missions over other candidates, such as trips to the moons of Jupiter and Neptune.

The mission, to study energy transfer in space, had a brilliant upshot for nighttime viewers. East Coasters saw the green and violet vapor clouds glowing above — and have the pictures to prove it.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson has selected Bob Cabana as the agency’s associate administrator. Cabana served as Kennedy Space Center’s director since 2008.

Former Senator Bill Nelson is now the new administrator of NASA. Nelson was sworn into the new post by Vice President Kamala Harris.

The final piece of NASA’s next moon rocket was unloaded Thursday at Kennedy Space Center ahead of an uncrewed launch to the moon and back later this year.

Collins was the crew member who stayed in orbit on the Apollo 11 command module while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. Later he oversaw building of the National Air and Space Museum.

The company's third crewed spacecraft took off from Florida early Friday.

The next launch of four astronauts from Kennedy Space Center has been delayed a day.

Four astronauts are set to launch to the space station Friday. When they arrive, the new crew of 11 will be the largest since the shuttle program, and there aren't enough sleeping pods for them all.