Charles Bolden

(Newser) - NASA is gearing up to again launch humans into space ... within five years. The agency retired its fleet of shuttles last summer, and this morning it announced a deal worth about $1 billion with three American companies to design and construct the next generation of rocket ships to take off...

(Newser) - President Obama will name former astronaut Charles Bolden Jr. as his NASA administrator soon after the Atlantis shuttle returns to Earth this weekend, sources tell the Los Angeles Times. Bolden, a military aviator who flew four shuttle missions, will be the first African-American to lead NASA if he is confirmed...