Naples – The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian space agency Roscosmos approved a draft agreement on Nov. 19 to cooperate on the two-pronged ExoMars mission to the red planet and discussed the potential for joint cooperation on Jupiter exploration and lunar robotics.

Houston – U.S., Japanese and Russian astronauts dropped through a wintry overcast sky for a rare night Soyuz landing in northern Kazakhstan early Nov. 19, bringing their 127-day mission to the International Space Station to a successful conclusion.

Has found more than 2,300 candidate extra-solar planets in 3.5-years

Casis manages the U.S. national laboratory portion of the ISS

HOUSTON — Ellen Ochoa, a former astronaut who has been deputy director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center since late 2007, will become director of the 14,100-person field center as of Jan. 1, the agency’s administrator, Charles Bolden, announced Nov. 16. She succeeds Mike Coats, 66, as the 51-year-old installation’s 11th director and the first Hispanic to serve in the post.

Program allows government to share cost with industry against injuries or property damage

Additional $1.5 billion in cuts from annual budget threaten

The House this week approved a bill to extend for two years an indemnification program allowing the government to share the cost with industry against injuries or property damage suffered by the public in a commercial space launch.