"Life undersea is as close to being in space as possible," notes NASA's Bill Todd, the NEEMO project manager.

The flightworthy Buran was destroyed on May 12, 2002, when a roof at Baikonur’s Site 112 collapsed, apparently from a combination of poor maintenance and a heavy burden of snow.

Back-to-back helium leaks on the Falcon 9 first stage in recent months have contributed to delays in at least two SpaceX campaigns.

"We are still very enthusiastic about opportunities that we think are ahead of us to do this test," said Ian Clark, NASA's LDSD principal investigator.

"We believe it's under control at this time," ISS commander Steve Swanson informs NASA's Mission Control.

Engineers around the world are pushing space solar power (SSP) concepts as the technology to build them advances and the need for such an alternative energy source becomes more apparent.

Midway through a refresh of its A2100 satellite bus, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. is going after new commercial business.

"We've been living on the shoulders of giants who developed Entry, Descent and Landing technologies decades ago," noted Michael Gazarik, associate administrator of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate.