The Alpha rocket, a two-stage, 96. 7-foot-tall (29. 6 meters) vehicle, took off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base. Its goal was to send a technology demonstration into low Earth orbit (LEO) for aerospace company Lockheed Martin. The launch was the sixth for the Alpha rocket. It was part of a series of launches that took place over a short period. Four of ...

Butch Wilmore, a NASA astronaut, spent 286 days in space. This was far longer than planned. He and his crewmate Sunita Williams were supposed to return home on June 13. However, technical problems with their spacecraft, Boeing's Starliner, delayed their return. They had to wait until a safer ship was ready to bring them back to Earth. Wilmore is a devout Christian. ...