The U. S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility has cleared launch attempts for June 28, 29 and 30, July 1 and 3.

"When you are exploring another planet, you expect surprises," notes Jim Erickson, NASA's Curiosity project manager.

How likely is human flight to Mars? In this week's Check 6 podcast, longtime space editors Jim Asker and Frank Morring discuss this week's cover package.

"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.