Science News Roundup: Russia blames software glitch after space station briefly thrown out of control; U.S. watchdog rejects Blue Origin protest over NASA lunar contract and more

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Russia blames software glitch after space station briefly thrown out of control

A software glitch, and a possible lapse in human attention, were to blame for throwing the International Space Station out of control, but work was proceeding to activate a newly attached module at the center of the mishap, Russian space officials said on Friday. Jet thrusters on the Russian research module Nauka inadvertently reignited on Thursday a few hours after it had docked to the space station, causing the entire orbital outpost to pitch out of its normal flight position some 250 miles above the Earth with seven crew members aboard.

U.S. watchdog rejects Blue Origin protest over NASA lunar contract

A U.S. government watchdog on Friday sided with NASA over its decision to pick a single lunar lander provider, rejecting a protest filed by Blue Origin and defense contractor Dynetics Inc. The companies had challenged the $2.9 billion award to Elon Musk's SpaceX for the lander, arguing NASA was required to make multiple awards. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said it "denied the protest arguments that NASA acted improperly in making a single award to SpaceX."

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