http://www.physorg.com/space-news/space-exploration/ en-us PhysOrg.com provides the latest news on space, space exploration, space science and earth sciences. (AP) -- Space shuttle Atlantis and its seven astronauts returned to Earth with a smooth touchdown Friday to end an 11-day flight that resupplied the International Space Station. http://www.physorg.com/news178530037.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:58:45 EST news178530037 China will launch its second moon orbiter next October, state media reported Friday, as it powers ahead with a space programme that has sparked concerns abroad. http://www.physorg.com/news178527266.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:55:20 EST news178527266 (AP) -- Space shuttle Atlantis' astronauts thought they were going to give thanks with pantry leftovers Thursday as their mission drew to a close, but found turkey dinners awaiting them. http://www.physorg.com/news178454727.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:00:01 EST news178454727 (PhysOrg.com) -- This image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a sample of the variety and complexity of processes that may occur on the walls of Martian craters, well after the impact crater formed. http://www.physorg.com/news178453746.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:29:56 EST news178453746 (AP) -- Space shuttle Atlantis' astronauts will spend Thanksgiving checking their ship for the ride home. http://www.physorg.com/news178441030.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:58:44 EST news178441030 (AP) -- A top Russian space official says there is no space for tourists wishing to fly to the International Space Station. http://www.physorg.com/news178438842.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:23:52 EST news178438842 (PhysOrg.com) -- The diminutive moon Prometheus whips gossamer ice particles out of Saturn's F ring in this image taken by the Cassini spacecraft on Aug. 21, 2009. http://www.physorg.com/news178393307.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:10:01 EST news178393307 (PhysOrg.com) -- On Sol 2095 (Tuesday, Nov. 24), Spirit performed a set of diagnostic actions related to a stall of the right-rear wheel on the previous drive, three days earlier. http://www.physorg.com/news178393606.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:00:03 EST news178393606 (PhysOrg.com) -- The team operating NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter plans to uplink protective files to the spacecraft next week as one step toward resuming the orbiter's research and relay activities. http://www.physorg.com/news178359134.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:12:42 EST news178359134 (AP) -- Atlantis and its seven astronauts have left the International Space Station. http://www.physorg.com/news178349124.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:40:01 EST news178349124 America's once clear dominance in space is eroding as other nations, including China, Iran and North Korea, step up their activities, a panel of experts told the House subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics Thursday. http://www.physorg.com/news178312350.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:30:01 EST news178312350 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA mission managers are assessing options for future operations of the venerable QuikScat satellite following the age-related failure of a mechanism that spins the scatterometer antenna. This spinning antenna had been providing near-real-time ocean- surface wind speed and direction data over 90 percent of the global ocean every day. http://www.physorg.com/news178304391.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:40:02 EST news178304391 (PhysOrg.com) -- Alien beings on faraway planets may not have noticed, but it`s been 35 years since human beings made the first deliberate effort to send them a message. http://www.physorg.com/news178304289.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:10:01 EST news178304289 (PhysOrg.com) -- In the first video showing the auroras above the northern latitudes of Saturn, Cassini has spotted the tallest known "northern lights" in the solar system, flickering in shape and brightness high above the ringed planet. http://www.physorg.com/news178303936.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:53:17 EST news178303936 (AP) -- After nearly a week together, the crews of shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station said goodbye Tuesday and closed the hatches between them. http://www.physorg.com/news178297139.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:59:42 EST news178297139 (PhysOrg.com) -- Kepler experienced a safe mode event on Nov. 18, 2009. http://www.physorg.com/news178271539.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:53:13 EST news178271539 (AP) -- The astronauts aboard the orbiting shuttle-station complex are resting after their three successful spacewalks. http://www.physorg.com/news178269343.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:30:03 EST news178269343 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Cassini spacecraft has sailed seamlessly through the Nov. 21 flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus and started transmitting uncalibrated temperature data and images of the rippling terrain. These data and images will be processed and analyzed in the coming weeks. They will help scientists create the most-detailed-yet mosaic image of the southern part of the moon's Saturn-facing hemisphere and a contiguous thermal map of one of the intriguing "tiger stripe" features, with the highest resolution to date. http://www.physorg.com/news178221538.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:00:01 EST news178221538 (PhysOrg.com) -- Spirit experienced a wheel stall with the right-rear wheel during the second step of a two-step drive on Sol 2092 (Saturday, Nov. 21). This is not the same wheel that stalled on Sol 1899 (May 6), the left-middle wheel. http://www.physorg.com/news178221429.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:20:04 EST news178221429 (PhysOrg.com) -- New research adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting the Red Planet once had an ocean. http://www.physorg.com/news178216318.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:33:14 EST news178216318 (AP) -- A pair of astronauts stepped out on the third and final spacewalk of their shuttle mission Monday, helping to install an enormous oxygen tank at the International Space Station. http://www.physorg.com/news178173731.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:45:04 EST news178173731 (AP) -- Astronaut Randolph Bresnik jubilantly welcomed his new daughter into the world Sunday as he floated 220 miles above it. http://www.physorg.com/news178121869.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:50:02 EST news178121869 (AP) -- A spacewalking astronaut put aside the impending birth of his daughter and blazed through his first-ever venture outside the International Space Station on Saturday. http://www.physorg.com/news178009250.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:33:55 EST news178009250 (PhysOrg.com) -- Actor Dwayne Johnson, usually known for his action and comedic film roles, takes to the stars as an astronaut in a new animated feature that brings important messages about the importance of space exploration and education to those of us here on Earth. http://www.physorg.com/news177948639.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:40:01 EST news177948639 (AP) -- Atlantis' astronauts anxiously awaited word on the birth of one crewman's daughter Friday, as they moved more supplies into the International Space Station and geared up for another spacewalk. http://www.physorg.com/news177943490.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:45:26 EST news177943490 (PhysOrg.com) -- When NASA's Cassini spacecraft began orbiting Saturn five years ago, a dozen highly-tuned science instruments set to work surveying, sniffing, analyzing and scrutinizing the Saturnian system. http://www.physorg.com/news177927581.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:20:02 EST news177927581 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Cassini spacecraft will fly by Saturn's moon Enceladus this weekend for a last peek at the intriguing "tiger stripes" before winter darkness blankets the area for several years. http://www.physorg.com/news177927284.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:30:02 EST news177927284 (AP) -- The astronauts aboard the shuttle-station complex are getting some extra moving time. http://www.physorg.com/news177919612.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:11:35 EST news177919612 You don't always have to have a rocket to do rocket science. Sometimes a mere airplane will do - that is, a mere Boeing 747 toting a 17-ton, 9-foot wide telescope named SOFIA. http://www.physorg.com/news177874574.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:50:02 EST news177874574 (AP) -- A pair of spacewalking astronauts, one of them a surgeon, hustled through antenna and cable work outside the International Space Station on Thursday and even whipped off an extra chore. http://www.physorg.com/news177847217.html Space & Earth - Space Exploration Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:48:03 EST news177847217