Artemis II astronauts arrive at Florida launch site for first moon trip in 53 years

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – The astronauts set to become the first lunar visitors in more than half a century arrived at their launch site Friday, joining the towering rocket that stands poised to blast off next week and send them around the moon.

In wrangling dark matter, scientists find inspiration in the Torah, Krishna and Christ

When an invisible entity making up 85% of the universe’s mass stumps the greatest scientific minds of our time, awe is an understandable response. Physicists call it ” dark matter, ” a substance they describe as the cosmic glue, the scaffolding, a web that uses gravity to corral, shape and hold together stars, planets and galaxies. Yet nobody knows exactly what it is.

He suddenly couldn't speak in space. Astronaut's medical scare a mystery

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – The astronaut who prompted NASA’s first medical evacuation earlier this year said Friday that doctors still don’t know why he suddenly fell sick at the International Space Station. Four-time space flier Mike Fincke said he was eating dinner on Jan. 7 after prepping for a spacewalk the next day when it happened.

Apollo vs. Artemis: What to know about NASA's return to the moon

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – NASA’s Apollo moonshots are a tough act to follow, even after all this time. As four astronauts get set to blast off on humanity’s first trip to the moon in more than half a century, comparisons between Apollo and NASA’s new Artemis program are inevitable. The world’s first lunar visitors orbited the moon on Apollo 8.

Meet the Artemis crew in NASA's first mission to the moon in half-century

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – The four astronauts making NASA’s next lunar leap bear little resemblance to the Apollo era. The Americans who blazed the trail to the moon more than half a century ago were white men chosen for their military test pilot experience. This first Artemis crew includes a woman, a person of color and a Canadian.

AI's arrival complicates Big Tech climate goals

Six years ago, Google was confident that by 2030 it would power all operations with electricity generated from clean sources, including wind and solar power. Today it calls those goals a “moonshot.” Microsoft says it’s still aiming to remove more carbon than it creates by 2030 but now describes the effort as “a marathon, not a sprint.”

Gulf of Mexico oil spill spread hundreds of miles, killed wildlife

MEXICO CITY (AP) – An oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in early March spread more than 600 kilometers (373 miles), including to seven nature reserves, and originated from a vessel yet to be identified and two “natural seepages,” Mexican authorities announced Thursday.

A whale stranded at a Baltic Sea resort has swum off a sandbank

BERLIN (AP) – A whale that was stranded for days in shallow water at a Baltic Sea resort in Germany has swum free from a sandbank overnight after a last-ditch rescue effort. But it isn’t out of danger yet.

Record-smashing heat spreads: 'Basically the entire US is going to be hot'

After smashing March heat records in 14 states and the U.S. as a whole, the gigantic heat dome that’s baked the Southwest is creeping eastward and may end up being one of the most expansive heat waves in American history, meteorologists and weather historians said.