There are at least 19,000 pieces of space debris in Earth's orbit, not including active satellites, that the U.S is monitoring.

The next supermoon — which appears larger and brighter than a regular full moon due to its proximity to Earth — will not be visible for nearly a year.

Three NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut splashed down off the Florida coast early Friday, capping a nearly eight-month science and research mission to the International Space Station.

This time next year, NASA plans to send its first crewed mission to the moon in more than 50 years. NPR visited the facility to find out how astronauts are preparing for this high stakes exploration.

The spacecraft landed in New Mexico early Saturday morning leaving two astronauts behind on the International Space Station. The crew members will return to earth in February aboard a SpaceX craft.

An empty Boeing Starliner is scheduled to return from the International Space Station in early September. It will fly home autonomously while its crew remains in space until February.

Starliner's test pilots, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, should have returned by mid-June. NASA is weighing its options for returning the two, including a ride home in a rival SpaceX capsule.

NASA still is not sure when two astronauts might come home in Boeing's new Starliner spacecraft.

NASA is facing a tight budget and wants to wrap up the Chandra X-ray Observatory, but astronomers don't want to see the 25-year-old X-ray space telescope mission go.

Problems with the capsule's propulsion system, used to maneuver the spacecraft, prompted NASA and Boeing to delay the flight home several times while they analyzed the trouble.

Space Camp is a new series about all the weird, wonderful things happening in the universe by NPR's science podcast Short Wave. Check out the rest of the series.

A NASA simulation accidentally aired on the space agency's livestream. NASA said all crew members are healthy, safe and preparing for a spacewalk scheduled for Thursday.

A helium leak pushed back a planned launch to May 25. Boeing's program that would shuttle astronauts to and from the International Space Station has been plagued with problems.

When a private space traveler said he wanted to take a SpaceX capsule on a mission to improve the aging Hubble telescope, NASA studied the options. Internal emails show concern about the risk.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told NPR he sees the U.S. in an urgent race with China to find water on the moon, and that he trusts SpaceX, despite Elon Musk's increasingly controversial profile.