CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A European spacecraft has begun close inspections of an asteroid rammed by NASA four years ago in a planetary defe…

A NASA telescope is barely clinging to space after a failed rescue effort left it tottering lower and lower. The U.S. Space Force predicts the Swift Observatory will come crashing down on or around Friday. Most of the 1 1/2-ton telescope is expected to burn up in the atmosphere. But NASA says a handful of pieces could survive reentry. Swift observed some of the universe's biggest explosions during its 22 years in orbit. Intense solar activity dragged it down faster than expected, prompting NASA to stage a rescue mission. But the robot could not reach the telescope and plunged back to Earth in September.

A Japanese spacecraft is rocketing toward Mars on a quest to explore its mysterious moons and bring back samples. Japan launched it before dawn Tuesday from the country's main spaceport. Five of the world's space agencies have joined forces for the five-year mission that will attempt to land a robotic prospector plus a rover on Phobos, the larger of Mars' two moons. While NASA and China have successfully landed spacecraft on Mars, no one has ever reached Phobos or its sidekick Deimos and no one has managed to fetch samples. If successful, Martian lunar soil and small rocks will arrive at Earth in 2031.

Japan is launching a spacecraft on a groundbreaking mission to bring back samples from Phobos, one of Mars' moons. Scientists hope the five-year mission will reveal how Phobos and its sibling moon, Deimos, formed, potentially shedding light on the origins of life in the solar system. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's launch on Tuesday comes as other nations consider sending astronauts to Mars. Samples from Phobos could provide valuable data for future manned missions. Japan is leading the international effort, with support from NASA and other space agencies. The mission aims to return to Earth in 2031.