Why does NASA sometimes schedule a rocket launch for the middle of the night, or aim for a liftoff time when weather is notoriously unlikely to cooperate?

The new and highly sensitive Cosmic Origins Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a strong ultraviolet-wavelength absorber on Pluto's surface, providing new evidence that points to the possibility of complex hydrocarbon and/or nitrile molecules lying on the surface.

NASA’s New Horizons mission reached a special milestone, coming closer to Pluto than any other spacecraft.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden is scheduled to open the "New Horizons in Aviation Forum" at 12:30 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Sept. 22, at the Virginia Beach, Va., Convention Center.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden is scheduled to open the "New Horizons in Aviation Forum" at 12:30 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Sept.