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NASA To Send Experimental Rockets Into Orbit

By: Elliott Francis // July 10, 2011
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The space shuttle isn't the only launch that's had problems. The lift-off of experimental rockets from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore has been delayed twice this week -- by bad weather.

NASA hopes to get the rockets up today --sometime between 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. But if not, they already have backup launch days set through July 23.

The rockets are part of a project to study neutral and charged particles in the ionosphere where communications and global-positioning satellites send their signals.

Arts & Culture

NPR

From Classic Toys To New Twists, Kids Go Back To Blocks

NPR's Neda Ulaby investigates a trend in toys that sounds awfully familiar: Manufacturers are finding new ways to get kids interested in playing with blocks, both real and virtual.

Food

NPR

And The Winner Of The World Food Prize Is ... The Man From Monsanto

The prize is sometimes called the "Nobel Prize for food and agriculture." And this year's winners include Monsanto executive Robert Fraley, a pioneer in genetically engineered crops. If there's a single person who personifies the company's controversial role in American agriculture, it's probably Fraley.

Politics

NPR

Capitol Hill's Partisan And Racial Divide Cast In Bronze

A 7-foot tall statue of famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass is more than just a tribute to the man. It's a larger-than-life reminder of the fight over voting rights and statehood for Washington, D.C.

Technology

NPR

Federal Agents Accuse Two Of Plotting Deadly X-Ray Weapon

Officials say the suspects did not acquire a radiation source for a weapon, but they finished building a remote control that was meant to operate it.

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