International Space Station

On an overcast morning, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canavera l Air Force Station and sped through the clouds Friday on its way to the International Space Station. However, about 12 minutes into the NASA resupply mission, after the rocket had lifted its Dragon capsule packed with more than 1,200 pounds of cargo into orbit, there was an anomaly in the spacecraft. "It appears that although it reached Earth orbit, Dragon is experiencing some type of problem right now," John Insprucker, Falcon 9 product director, told viewers on SpaceX's live webcast.

Hawthorne-based rocket maker SpaceX is targeting Friday as the launch date for the next NASA cargo resupply flight to the International Space Station. The company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., performed a successful resupply mission to the space station in October and a demonstration mission back in May. SpaceX is the only commercial company to perform such a task. Blastoff of the company's Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled for 7:10 a.m. PST from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Outside of a science fiction movie, it's a little strange to see a rocket fire up its engines, blast off, and then hover in the air. But that's exactly what Hawthorne rocket maker SpaceX pulled off with its 10-story Grasshopper test vehicle. In a 29-second flight, the rocket burst into the sky, rose 131 feet, hovered and landed safely on the pad using thrust vector and throttle control.  To cushion its fall back to the launchpad, the Grasshopper has steel landing legs with hydraulic dampers, and a steel support structure.

NASA's purpose and vision might be a mystery to some, but the agency's top official says there's a quick primer on the space agency's mission and accomplishments. And it's done Gangnam style.  “I find, as I travel around, not very many people know what we do today,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said Wednesday to a National Research Council committee that is reviewing the agency's human spaceflight program. Luckily, he added, there's a solution. Created by interns at Johnson Space Center, “NASA Johnson Style” spoofs South Korean pop star Psy's viral hit, “Gangnam Style,” while waxing lyrical about the Houston center that's home to NASA's astronaut program.

If space truly is the final frontier, does that make Elon Musk a real-life Capt. Kirk? Musk, the founder of SpaceX -- which has a $1.6-billion contract with NASA to ferry cargo to the International Space Station using its private Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule -- last week laid out an even bolder vision : a colony of 80,000 people on Mars. The price of a ticket? About $500,000 a colonist. (And no, this deal doesn't include a bridge in Brooklyn. The guy's already done the math.

NASA and Russia's space agency are pushing ahead with plans for a yearlong stay in space, choosing the two men who will undertake the mission. Scott Kelly, a NASA veteran with more than 180 days in space, and Russia's Mikhail Kornienko are scheduled to launch in spring 2015 to spend a year aboard the International Space Station, according to a NASA news release. A main goal of the expedition is to determine the effects of such a long stay on the human body. "The one-year increment will expand the bounds of how we live and work in space," William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for human exploration and operations at NASA headquarters in Washington, said in the release.

You get sales alerts, Twitter alerts, sports alerts and Facebook alerts. Now you can also get an alert when the International Space Station is visible overhead thanks to NASA's new Web app Spot the Station. The International Space Station's orbit 200 miles above Earth makes it visible to more than 90% of the Earth's population, NASA said. The trick is knowing when to look for it. NASA's Johnson Space Center already calculates the sighting information several times a week for more than 4,600 locations worldwide.

"Made in Jersey," the new CBS series starring Janet Montgomery as a scrappy, street-smart New Jersey attorney working in a Manhattan law firm, is apparently the first casualty of the fall TV season. The series, which has drawn low ratings since its Sept. 28 premiere, has been pulled from the Friday lineup after just two airings. A network spokesman confirmed Wednesday that the show, which was created by former Los Angeles Times reporter Dana Calvo, had been yanked but gave no further details on when or if it would return to the schedule.

British classical soprano Sarah Brightman plans to head for the stars, becoming the latest tourist to visit the International Space Station. Brightman, 52, announced her planned trip during a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday, the same day the cargo-loaded SpaceX mission made history by connecting with the space station. Brightman said she wants to be the first professional musician to sing from space during her 16 spins around the Earth, according to a statement from Russian-based Space Adventures Ltd. She's to be aboard the space station for 10 days, though no flight schedule has been set yet. The UNESCO artist for peace ambassador said in the statement: "I hope that I can encourage others to take inspiration from my journey both to chase down their own dreams and to help fulfill the important UNESCO mandate to promote peace and sustainable development on Earth and from space.

Sarah Brightman, the original Christine in "The Phantom of the Opera," is training to become a space tourist and is planning to travel to the International Space Station in 2015. The British singer made the announcement Wednesday at a news conference in Moscow. Brightman said that she has begun training with the Russians to prepare for her 10-day voyage. The singer will travel to the station on a Soyuz spacecraft. At the news conference, which has been posted to YouTube as well as the singer's official website, Brightman plugged her "Dreamchaser" world tour, which is expected to end in 2013.