Dante Lauretta has four points. He launched a spacecraft on a voyage out to a near Earth asteroid to return a sample from the surface. He assembled a rocket, planned a trajectory and overcome obstacles. Oh, and he did all that in real life, too.

Artifacts from some of the United States' first black astronauts have been included in the inaugural collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture now open in Washington, D.C. Mae Jemison and Charles Bolden are represented.

Three NASA astronauts who died in a fire on the launch pad may be honored with a new monument at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The Apollo 1 Memorial Act seeks to recognize 50 years since the deaths of Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee.

Jack Garman, whose grasp of the Apollo 11 guidance computer saved the moon landing from a last-minute abort, died Sept. 20. He was 72. Garman recognized the unexpected 1201 and 1202 alarms that could have led to flight controllers aborting the mission.

NASA's first space shuttle launch, 35 years ago, demonstrated a winged orbiter could lift off like a rocket and land like an plane, such that it could fly again. That first mission also cleared a hurdle for the flights that followed, beginning with the next one.

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station debuted a colorful painted flight suit as part of an effort to raise awareness about childhood cancer and the benefits of pairing art with medicine. NASA flight engineer Kate Rubins revealed the "COURAGE" suit.

China has launched its second space lab to orbit, where soon it will send two astronauts to live and work for 30 days, advancing the nation's plans for its own space station. The Tiangong-2 lifted off on a Long March rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

The true-to-life story of the first American to endure almost a year in space may soon be headed for the silver screen. Sony Pictures secured the movie rights to "Endurance: My Year in Space and Our Journey to Mars," a new memoir by astronaut Scott Kelly.

More than a half century after the first NASA astronauts flew in space, one might assume that there are no grand, sweeping narratives left untold about the early years of the space program. Author Margot Lee Shetterly found one to reveal in "Hidden Figures."