first to transmit data from the moon back to Earth using a relay satellite in a halo orbit.

New year, New Horizons:

Four years and 1 billion miles beyond its encounter with Pluto, NASA's New Horizons probe flew by "Ultima Thule" (2014 MU69), a city-size object in the Kuiper Belt, on New Year's Day (Jan. 1). The history-making flyby was the first visit to a world discovered after the mission launched and the most distant encounter with a planetary object to date. The data from the flyby may inform theories about how the solar system was formed.

Moon landing prints:

Made using the same processes used to print U.S. paper currency, a new set of collectible engraved cards mark 50 years since astronauts first landed on the moon. The Bureau of Engravingand Printing has opened enrollment for its limited edition Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Commemorative Engraved Print Collection.

Astronaut Hall of Fame:

James Buchli and Janet Kavandi are the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame inductees for 2019. The veteran space shuttle mission specialists will be honored as the Hall's 98th and 99th members on April 6 at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. A public ceremony and gala will welcome Buchli and Kavandi into the Hall and celebrate their achievements in space.

MS-09 lands

: Sergey Prokopyev, Alexander Gerst and Serena Auñón-Chancellor landed from a 195-day stay aboard the International Space Station. The trio returned to Earth on board Russia's Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft to a touchdown on the steppe of Kazakhstan. Prokopyev, Gerst and Auñón-Chancellor performed science experiments and oversaw cargo