By Walt Hickey Have a great weekend! Astra An Astra Space rocket carrying four CubeSats on behalf of NASA failed yesterday, with the 43-foot rocket last seen spinning though space. The mission was the result of a $3.9 million contract from NASA as part of a push from the space agency to encourage more companies to build rockets and bolster competition in the commercial space. The four erstwhile CubeSats were from the University of Alabama, New Mexico State University, University of California at Berkeley and the Johnson Space Center. Astra has three more missions from NASA this summer for weather satellites.