Boeing to Build Private Space CST-100 Taxis in NASA Shuttle Hangar

Helping to pave the road for the future of commercial spaceflight, Boeing is hard at work on the research and development of a new space capsule aimed at flying people to the International Space Station.

CREDIT: Boeing

Aerospace giant Boeing has inked a deal to use an old space shuttle hangar at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as the headquarters to build and test the private company's new spaceship designed to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station, company officials announced today (Oct. 31).

Boeing is making Florida the headquarters of its space taxi venture, a move that will add up to 550 new jobs in the area, Boeing's vice president and program manager for commercial crew vehicles said in a news briefing today from Kennedy Space Center.

NASA: Cocaine found in Shuttle Discovery Hanger

NASA has launched an extensive investigation to determine how a small amount of cocaine ended up in a space shuttle hangar at the agency's Florida spaceport.

A bag containing a small amount of white powder residue that was later confirmed to be cocaine was discovered in the space shuttle Discovery's hangar at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

The hangar, known in NASA parlance as an Orbiter Processing Facility, is a restricted zone for shuttle workers only.

The cocaine was discovered Tuesday when a shuttle worker spotted it outside a bathroom and reported it to NASA security, NASA spokesperson Allard Beutel told SPACE.com today.

An on-site test of the bag stated it was cocaine, and subsequent follow-up tests confirmed it was the drug, he said.

"This is a rare and isolated incident, and I'm disappointed that it happened, but it should not detract from the outstanding work that is being done by a dedicated team on a daily basis," said Bob Cabana, a former astronaut and director of the Kennedy Space Center, in a statement. "We are conducting an investigation and working with center security and law enforcement officials to get to the bottom of it."