The Latest Breaking News from Janet Petro

NASA has announced the retirement of Associate Administrator Jim Free, the agency's chief operating officer for more than 18,000 employees across the United States.

After the space community braced for a brutal shake-up at NASA this week, a last-minute decision on Tuesday (Feb. 18) spared over 1,000 agency employees on probationary status from being dismissed.

Bill Nelson has stepped down as NASA administrator, ending a half-century of public service. Janet Petro is now the agency's interim chief.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — It has been nearly 20 years since the seven crew members aboard Space Shuttle Columbia didn’t make it home, and NASA leaders gathered Thursday to commemorate their lives as well as those from Space Shuttle Challenger and Apollo 1 on the Day of Remembrance.

NASA teams handled a lot this week — but remain ambiguously optimistic about a possible launch next week.