Slowed by four main parachutes in predawn darkness, the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft descended and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, Jan. 15, wrapping up NASA's first-ever astronaut medical evacuation from the International Space Station.

Commentary: Unlike the 1960s, NASA cannot win by out-spending a rival. We must out-innovate them.

After moving the massive SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to the launchpad last weekend, NASA is now eyeing the next stage of its preparations for Artemis II, the first crewed lunar mission in more than five decades.