David S. McKay, a NASA planetary geologist who studied the soil and rock samples Apollo astronauts returned from the Moon and argued that a Martian meteorite found in Antarctica contained fossil evidence of extraterrestrial life, died in Houston Feb. 20 of heart disease. He was 76. McKay joined NASA in 1965. He trained Apollo 11 crewmembers Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to help them return useful samples from the Moon's surface, and stood by in Mission Control during the first Moonwalk on July 20, 1969, as a resource.

More than 280 Earth-observation-satellite systems are planned

Size can matter when it comes to prizes and, for one of last remaining competitions for human endeavor in flight, a significant boost in the purse has spurred a neck-and-neck race for the finish line. By the time these words are read, one of the longest-standing prizes in aviation could have been won, with two teams vying for the American Helicopter Society (AHS) International's $250,000 Sikorsky Prize for a human-powered helicopter.

Entrepreneurial space ventures born from X Prize are about to bear fruit

Tito sees mission shaping future spaceflight, even if it doesn't fly

Solving a problem for NASA carries a cachet that ensures there is a strong response whenever the space agency posts a challenge to any of the online communities it uses to crowd-source new ideas.

The penalty that everyone said was too painful to occur is now happening, with Congress's failure to pass a deal to prevent nearly $1 trillion in government spending cuts over a decade. Now the question is how long the pain will last.

The White House is adopting a tough public relations campaign against China and other online hackers believed to be carrying out what has been described as the greatest theft of intellectual property in history. On Feb.