NASA has selected a tentative launch date for space shuttle Atlantis' 11-day flight to the International Space Station from the Kennedy Space Center. If the Atlas launch is delayed to Nov. 15, the shuttle's liftoff will move to no earlier than 2:02 p.m. EST on Nov. 17, NASA said. "The STS-129 mission will focus on storing spare hardware on the exterior of the space station," NASA said in a statement.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA's newest rocket successfully completed a brief test flight Wednesday, taking the first step in a back-to-the-moon program that could yet be shelved by the White House. The 327-foot Ares I-X rocket resembled a giant white pencil as it shot into the sky, delayed a day by poor weather. It was the first time in nearly 30 years that a new rocket took off from Kennedy Space Center.

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif., Oct. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Imagine the thrill of floating out of the International Space Station and into the emptiness of space and what it would be like to work on the orbiting science laboratory. NASA has developed a new video game, Station Spacewalk, to give young people an "out of this world" virtual opportunity to experience the thrill of working on a mission to the International Space Station from their computers. "It's all about getting the next generation excited about space exploration," said Chris Kemp, chief information officer at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif. "Players, or 'astronauts,' can virtually navigate their way through mission critical tasks.

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif., Aug. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Humans might not be walking on Earth today if not for the ancient fusing of two microscopic, single-celled organisms called prokaryotes, NASA- funded research has found. By comparing proteins present in more than 3000 different prokaryotes -- a type of single-celled organism without a nucleus -- molecular biologist James A. Lake from the University of California at Los Angeles' Center for Astrobiology showed that two major classes of relatively simple microbes fused together more than 2.5 billion years ago. The resulting oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere profoundly affected the evolution of life, leading to more complex organisms that consumed oxygen, which were the ancestors of modern oxygen-breathing creatures including humans.