The mystery surrounding the fate of a secret military satellite deepened today when the Pentagon refused to answer even simple questions about whether the mission to launch it had gone awry. On Sunday, private space firm SpaceX blasted a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida carrying the secret government satellite, known as Zuma. US media this week reported that the billion-dollar payload did not make it into orbit and was presumed to have been lost. SpaceX said Tuesday that the rocket worked fine, but its statement left open the possibility that something could have gone wrong after the launch. A top secret billion-dollar spy satellite plummeted into the Indian Ocean after a botched SpaceX mission over the weekend, but Elon Musk's company has insisted they are not to blame.

A top secret billion-dollar spy satellite plummeted into the Indian Ocean after a SpaceX mission over the weekend, but Elon Musk's company has insisted they are not to blame. The satellite, codenamed Zuma, launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Sunday night, but it reportedly failed to remain in orbit, officials said Wednesday. The highly classified satellite launched by ended up plummeting into the Indian Ocean, a U.S. official confirmed to ABC News. A top secret billion-dollar spy satellite plummeted into the Indian Ocean after a botched SpaceX mission over the weekend, but Elon Musk's company has insisted they are not to blame. Lawmakers and congressional staffers from the Senate and the House have been briefed about the botched mission, some of the officials told the Wall Street Journal.

SpaceX has defended its rocket performance during the weekend launch of a secret U.S. satellite, amid reports that the secret satellite codenamed Zuma was lost. Company President Gwynne Shotwell said the Falcon 9 rocket'did everything correctly' Sunday night and suggestions otherwise are'categorically false.' Northrop Grumman -- which provided the satellite for an undisclosed U.S. government entity -- said it cannot comment on classified missions. The company chose SpaceX as the launch provider, noting late last year that it took'great care to ensure the most affordable and lowest risk scenario for Zuma.' The name refers to a Malibu beach in Southern California. This was SpaceX' s third classified mission for the U.S. government, a lucrative customer.

Robots created from scrap may not seem like they would make for the sexiest strippers, but one visionary sculptor has made it his mission to create alluring pole-dancers from rubbish. The android adult entertainers are the creation of a British artist who says they are a comment on the nature of surveillance, power and voyeurism. With a head formed from a jettisoned surveillance camera and bodies built using mannequins and car parts, there is little risk of anyone confusing these bots with the genuine article, however. They were brought in to entertain the crowds descending on Las Vegas this week for the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show. They may grind and gyrate around a pole with moves like a real stripper, but these robotic dancers are unlikely to replace human performers anytime soon.

Sapphire Las Vegas, the gentlemen's club at 3025 Sammy Davis Jr. Drive in Las Vegas, Nevada, will be presenting a pair of robotic exotic dancers next week to coincide with the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018. The electronic twins, dubbed "R2DoubleD" and "TripleCPU," will be unveiled at the club at 8 p.m. EST on Monday (Jan. "We thought this would be a great way to tie into the CES crowd," Sapphire owner Peter Feinstein said during a phone call on Friday to the Las Vegas Review Journal. "These robots are interesting because of the technology, and they're a lot of fun. They really are art pieces, originally," he added.