NASA June Space Missions Falter After Successful May

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter goes into safe mode after an unexpected rebooting of its system. NASA reports all well. It was the sixth time since the Rover’s August 2005 launch that it has entered safe mode. (Photo courtesy of NASA)

Accordionist, stilt-walker, fire-breather and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte begins training in Star City, Russia, preparing for his scheduled Sept. 30 “poetic social mission” to the International Space Station. The Quebec billionaire and paying (estimated at $35 million) space tourist will join a Soyuz TMA-16 crew that includes NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams.(Photo courtesy of Cirque du Soleil)

ISS Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Mike Barratt spends nearly 5 hours in space prepping the Zvezda service module for the arrival of a new Russian module in fall 2009. It was Padalka’s seventh spacewalk and Barratt’s rookie debut.(Photo courtesy of NASA)

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency drops its Kaguya lunar satellite onto the moon’s surface after two years in lunar orbit. The photo is one of Kaguya’s final pictures before the satellite hit the moon traveling at 3,728 mph. (Photo courtesy of JAXA)

Just days after the space shuttle Atlantis crew revamped the 19-year-old Hubble Space Telescope, the iconic telescope freezes up, forcing NASA engineers on earth to remotely reboot the spacecraft. “We certainly hope it is temporary,” Hubble Program Manager Preston Burch told Space.com. (Photo courtesy of NASA)

With all the comings and goings to the moon in June, President Obama’s blue-ribbon panel reviews the future of NASA’s manned space flight program. The panel is expected to report back to Obama by fall. (Photo courtesy of NASA)

NASA twice in June attempts to launch the Space Shuttle Endeavour for a construction mission to the ISS. Alas, a hydrogen gas leak on the launch pad forced NASA to reschedule the mission for July 11. (Photo courtesy of NASA)

With no luck on its June space shuttle launch, NASA in June launches its first mission to the moon in almost a decade, sending two satellites on single Atlas rocket: One satellite will orbit the moon for mapping purposes while the other will deliberately slam into the lunar surface in search of water ice.

New Mexico’s Spaceport America breaks ground, promising the $200 million facility (shown here in an artist’s concept) will be ready to serve Virgin Galactic’s space tourism program by 2010. More than 45,000 people have signed up for the $200,000 suborbital trips.