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ATK Space Systems had been building motors for the Space Shuttle and hoped to use that same technology as part of its proposed "Liberty" launch system.

ATK left out of NASA contract awards

Last updated Friday, August 3, 2012 - 11:56pm

OGDEN — ATK Space Systems in Box Elder County was bypassed Friday in its bid to win part of nearly $1.2 billion from NASA to develop a new commercial space launch system to carry American astronauts into space.

The decision leaves the future of hundreds of jobs in Box Elder County in doubt.

ATK already laid off more than 2,000 employees as the space shuttle program wound down. It hoped to avoid further layoffs by building more solid-rocket motors for its proposed manned launch system, called Liberty.

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This photo released by NASA shows astronaut Sally Ride early in her NASA career. She was the first American woman to go into space and flew in the space shuttle Challenger into space twice, in 1983 and 1984. She was on the commission that investigated the explosion of the Challenger in 1986. (Associated Press file photo)

Sally Ride, first US woman in space, dies at 61

Anne Walters Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Last updated Monday, July 23, 2012 - 6:44pm

WASHINGTON - Sally Ride, the first U.S. woman to travel to space, died Monday at age 61, her company and NASA said.

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Q&A with NASA official on commercial flights

Amina Khan Los Angeles Times

Last updated Monday, June 25, 2012 - 10:07am

NASA led the way for Americans in space, but now the U.S. space agency is actively encouraging companies to take over primary responsibility for getting in and out of Earth’s orbit. Last month, a capsule built and operated by SpaceX completed a nine-day cargo-hauling mission to the International Space Station, becoming the first private-sector spacecraft to make such a journey.

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Fiona Harrison is leading a NASA mission to study black holes, supernovae and the sun. Photo Courtesy of CalTech

New NASA telescope advances study of black holes and the sun

Brian Vastag The Washington Post.

Last updated Monday, June 11, 2012 - 2:09pm

Fiona Harrison is a professor of physics and astronomy at the California Institute of Technology and scientific leader for a NASA space telescope, NuSTAR, that's set to launch Wednesday. The $170 million mission will study high-energy X-rays from black holes, supernova explosions and our very own sun. Harrison, the second woman to lead a NASA mission, conceived the telescope in the early 1990s but had to wait for technology to catch up.

Q: Most people think of X-rays in terms of a dental visit, but for astrophysicists, these high-energy waves open a window on strange objects in the universe. Why did you get interested in them?

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(NICK SHORT/Standard-Examiner) Spectators watch as a Gem 60 rocket booster is tested Thursday at the ATK Aerospace Group facility in Promontory.

ATK's motor test is a much-needed success

Charles F. Trentelman Standard-Examiner

Last updated Friday, June 1, 2012 - 7:34am

PROMONTORY — The first test of changes to a motor that could mean five more years of sales for ATK Space Systems went off without a hitch Thursday afternoon.

The Gem 60 lit as planned at 2:30 p.m., burning loudly for 90 seconds and sending a tall plume of smoke into the blue skies of western Box Elder County, as its thunderous, rattling roar spread across the desert.

The test of the Gem 60 booster motor wasn’t as big a deal as a space shuttle motor test in terms of crowd or the amount of noise it made.

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In this photo provided by SpaceX, the Dragon spacecraft floats on the surface of the Pacific Ocean about 500 miles off Mexico's Baja California on Thursday, May 31, 2012 after its mission to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/SpaceX, Michael Altenhofen)

SpaceX Dragon splashes down, ends historic trip

Marcia Dunn The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, May 31, 2012 - 1:35pm

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The SpaceX Dragon supply ship returned to Earth on Thursday, ending its revolutionary nine-day voyage to the International Space Station with an old-fashioned splashdown in the Pacific.

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The Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket lifts off from space launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., early Tuesday, May 22, 2012. This launch marks the first time, a private company sends its own rocket to deliver supplies to the International Space Station.(AP Photo/John Raoux)

Private rocket blasts off for space station

Marcia Dunn The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, May 22, 2012 - 10:32am

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A first-of-its-kind commercial supply ship rocketed toward the International Space Station following a successful liftoff early Tuesday, opening a new era of dollar-driven spaceflight.

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Touch the moon at NASA traveling exhibit in SLC

Contributed Standard-Examiner

Last updated Friday, May 18, 2012 - 3:08pm

SALT LAKE CITY -- Utahns will have the rare chance to touch a nearly 4-billion-year-old piece of moon rock at NASA's Driven to Explore traveling exhibit, a multimedia experience that immerses visitors in the story of NASA. The exhibit will be at The Leonardo Science+Tech+Art Museum in Salt Lake City from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. May 25 and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 26.

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NASA rooting for SpaceX rocket flight to space station

Marcia Dunn The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 2:46pm

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- For the first time, a private company will launch a rocket to the International Space Station, sending it on a grocery run this weekend that could be the shape of things to come for America's space program.

If this unmanned flight and others like it succeed, commercial spacecraft could be ferrying astronauts to the orbiting outpost within five years.

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Next generation of space travel revealed

Michael McFall Standard-Examiner

Last updated Friday, May 11, 2012 - 4:28pm

PROMONTORY — The space race of the 21st century is one fought in the private sector, and ATK has unveiled its bid for the next generation of space travel.

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Dawn spacecraft image of Vesta showing the Rheasilvia crater, which covers much of the southern hemisphere

NASA mission gets closeup view of protoplanet

Amina Khan Los Angeles Times

Last updated Friday, May 11, 2012 - 10:30am

NASA's first hard look at the protoplanet Vesta has given scientists an unprecedented view of its makeup, terrain and history -- and revealed that major activity on this ancient rock occurred far more recently than researchers had expected.

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Wearing blue flight suits, four NASA researchers walk to the zeppelin, Eureka, at McClellan Air Park in Sacramento, Calif., that will be used to search for pieces of a meteorite Thursday, May 3, 2012. The researches from NASA and the SETI Institute are hoping to spot sites where large fragments landed after a meteor exploded in the atmosphere over the Sierra Nevada in late April. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

NASA uses blimp to search for meteorite fragments

Matt Weiser The Sacramento Bee

Last updated Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - 9:42am

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- It's not every day that NASA descends on your backyard, hunting for clues to extraterrestrial life.

But that is the drama unfolding in and around the community of Lotus, Calif., along the South Fork of the American River in El Dorado County. Scientists from NASA and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute are hunting for pieces of a meteorite that plunged to Earth on April 22.

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Landon Hillyard, Jenica Sparrow Hillyard, Ryan Martineau Riding the Vomit Comit in June 2011. NASA. (Photo by: James Blair)

USU student team to participate in 2012 Microgravity University at space center

Nancy Van Valkenburg Standard-Examiner

Last updated Friday, May 4, 2012 - 8:49pm

LOGAN -- A Utah State University student team will ride aboard NASA's "vomit comet" again this summer.

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Space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, is seen as it takes off for New York from Washington Dulles International Airport, Friday, April 27, 2012, in Sterling, Va. Enterprise was the first shuttle orbiter built for NASA performing test flights in the atmosphere and was incapable of spaceflight. Originally housed at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Enterprise will be placed on a barge that will eventually be moved by tugboat up the Hudson River to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in June. (AP Photo/Smithsonian Institution, Mark Avino)

Shuttle Enterprise lands after soaring over NYC skyline to cheers

Rene Lynch Los Angeles Times

Last updated Friday, April 27, 2012 - 1:33pm

NEW YORK -- Welcome home, space shuttle Enterprise.

The NASA shuttle soared over the Statue of Liberty and the world's most famous skyline Friday morning before landing safely at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. Hundreds were waiting to greet the aircraft, including NASA dignitaries, fidgety schoolchildren and Leonard Nimoy.

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