No American spacecraft has carried astronauts since 2011. SpaceX developed the Dragon 2 to shuttle astronauts to the International Space Station.
In July 2017, SpaceX will test the SpX-DM1 (Dragon 2) shuttle. If all goes well, it will shuttle NASA astronauts to the ISS later in the year.
The Perseid meteor shower is one of the best annual meteor showers for viewing in the Northern Hemisphere. It will peak on August 12, 2017.
The moon will block out the sun for parts of the United States. (See full map.) The last time a total solar eclipse was visible from this much of the United States was in 1918.
The eclipse will occur August 21, 2017 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET.
In order to protect Saturn's moons from potential biological contamination, Cassini will be intentionally crashed (or drowned, depending on how you look at it) into Saturn on September 15, 2017.
A supermoon occurs when the full moon and the moons closest approach to earth coincide. This will be the biggest, brightest moon all year.
In December 2014, Japanese space agency, JAXA, launched Hayabusa 2 toward the asteroid named Ryugu.
Upon arrival, Hayabusa 2 will study the asteroid for a year and a half and return to the earth with samples in December 2020.
OSIRIS-REx was launched in 2016, will flyby Earth for a gravity assist in 2017, then land on an asteroid in 2018.
OSIRIS-REx is expected to return to the earth with samples from 101955 Bennu in 2023.