Marcia Dunn, Author at Valley News

In this July 20, 2009 file photo, Apollo 11 astronauts, from left, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and Neil Armstrong stand in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on the 40th anniversary of the mission's moon landing. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Apollo 11 astronaut returns to launch pad 50 years later

by Marcia Dunn AP Aerospace WriterJuly 16, 2019

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins returned Tuesday to the exact spot where he flew to the moon 50 years ago with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.Collins had the spotlight to himself this time — Armstrong died seven years ago…

In this July 20, 1969 photo made available by NASA, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity. (Neil Armstrong/NASA via AP)

Apollo 11 at 50: Celebrating the first steps on another world

by Marcia Dunn AP Aerospace WriterJuly 13, 2019

In this photo provided by SpaceX, the SpaceX team in Hawthorne, Calif., watches as the SpaceX Crew Dragon docks with the International Space Station’s Harmony module, Sunday, March 3, 2019. SpaceX's new crew capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, acing its second milestone in just over a day. (NASA via AP)

U.S.-built capsule with a dummy aboard docks at space station

by Marcia Dunn AP Aerospace WriterMarch 3, 2019

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule launch from NASA pad 39A as seen in a time exposure from Viera, FL. on March 2 with a lone, untrimmed palm tree in the foreground. (Tim Shortt/Florida Today via AP)

SpaceX capsule takes off

by Marcia Dunn AP Aerospace WriterMarch 2, 2019

FILE - This illustration made available by NASA shows the rover Opportunity on the surface of Mars. The exploratory vehicle landed on Jan. 24, 2004, and logged more than 28 miles (45 kilometers) before falling silent during a global dust storm in June 2018. There was so much dust in the Martian atmosphere that sunlight could not reach Opportunity's solar panels for power generation. (NASA via AP)

NASA rover finally bites the dust on Mars after 15 years

by Marcia Dunn AP Aerospace WriterFebruary 13, 2019

This Nov. 16, 2018, image provide by NASA shows the asteroid Bennu. After a two-year chase, a NASA spacecraft has arrived at the ancient asteroid Bennu, its first visitor in billions of years. The robotic explorer Osiris-Rex pulled within 12 miles (19 kilometers) of the diamond-shaped space rock Monday, Dec. 3. The image, which was taken by the PolyCam camera, shows Bennu at 300 pixels and has been stretched to increase contrast between highlights and shadows. (NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona via AP)

Spacecraft Arrives at Asteroid

by Marcia Dunn AP Aerospace WriterDecember 4, 2018

From left, NASA officials Jim Bridenstine, Michael Watkins, Tom Hoffman, Bruce Banerdt, Andrew Klesh and Elizabeth Barrett make statements under a photograph sent from Mars by the InSight lander at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Monday, Nov. 26, 2018, in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

NASA Craft Lands on Mars

by Marcia Dunn AP Aerospace WriterNovember 27, 2018

In this February 2015 photo made available by NASA, the parachute for the InSight mission to Mars is tested inside the world's largest wind tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. NASA's InSight spacecraft will enter the Martian atmosphere at supersonic speed, then hit the brakes to get to a soft, safe landing on the alien red plains. After micromanaging every step of the way, flight controllers will be powerless over what happens at the end of the road, nearly 100 million miles away.(NASA/JPL-Caltech/Lockheed Martin via AP)

Mars Landing Comes Down to Last Minutes

by Marcia Dunn AP Aerospace WriterNovember 21, 2018

A Falcon 9 SpaceX heavy rocket lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. The Falcon Heavy, has three first-stage boosters, strapped together with 27 engines in all. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

SpaceX’s Big New Rocket Blasts Off — With a Car

by Marcia Dunn AP Aerospace WriterFebruary 7, 2018

FILE - In this Sept. 13, 1985 file photo, Christa McAuliffe tries out the commander's seat on the flight deck of a shuttle simulator at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Thirty-two years after the Challenger disaster, a pair of teachers turned astronauts on the International Space Station will pay tribute to McAuliffe by carrying out her science classes. (AP Photo)

N.H. Teacher’s Lost Lessons Are Finally Taught in Space

by Marcia Dunn AP Aerospace WriterJanuary 21, 2018