NASA staged a ground test of its Space Launch System rocket Saturday. The test — which was expected to see the four engines of the core stage of the huge rocket fire for eight minutes — ended after a little more than a minute.
Why it matters: The SLS, which is years behind schedule, is key to NASA's plans to send people to deep space destinations like the Moon.
President-elect Joe Biden announced Friday that he will make the top White House science post a Cabinet-level position for the first time in U.S. history.
The big picture: Biden said he has picked Eric Lander to be his presidential science adviser and he will nominate the geneticist as the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Biden also announced other key members of his science team, including Francis Collins, who will stay on as director of the National Institutes of Health.