Space Exploration news

Researchers test new 'space Internet' system on International Space Station

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

15 minutes ago | not rated yet | 0

The University of Colorado at Boulder is working with NASA to develop a new communications technology now being tested on the International Space Station, which will extend Earth's Internet into outer space ...

Forty years ago man first walked on the moon

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 05, 2009 | 4.4 / 5 (5) | 2

Forty years ago on July 20, 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong realized the oldest dream of human civilizations when he became the first man to walk on the moon.

Coolest spacecraft ever in orbit around L2

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 03, 2009 | 4.7 / 5 (10) | 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Last night, the detectors of Planck's High Frequency Instrument reached their amazingly low operational temperature of -273°C, making them the coldest known objects in space. The spacecraft ...

Free Spirit: Rock Under the Belly

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 02, 2009 | 4 / 5 (4) | 1

Engineers placed a rock underneath the test rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., on July 1, 2009, to more closely simulate Spirit's predicament on Mars.

NASA: Fuel test a success, shuttle launch day set

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 01, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

(AP) -- To NASA's relief, a fueling test on space shuttle Endeavour uncovered no hydrogen gas leaks Wednesday and paved the way for another launch attempt late next week for the delayed mission.

NASA manager pitches a cheaper return-to-moon plan

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 30, 2009 | 4.1 / 5 (9) | 18

(AP) -- Like a car salesman pushing a luxury vehicle that the customer no longer can afford, NASA has pulled out of its back pocket a deal for a cheaper ride to the moon.

Scientists bid adieu to plucky solar probe

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 30, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (4) | 1

US and European scientists were Tuesday bidding farewell to the tenacious solar probe Ulysses which has been recording data around the sun for more than 18 years, four times longer than planned.

Geological landforms indicate 'recent' warm weather on Mars

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 29, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (13) | 7

(PhysOrg.com) -- New research led by a UK scientist indicates that Mars had significantly warmer weather in its recent past than previously thought. The research, funded by the UK’s Science and Technology ...

Space Station Room With a View

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 29, 2009 | 5 / 5 (9) | 3

The crew of the International Space Station (ISS) is about to get a new "eye-pod." The Tranquility node headed for the space station early in 2010 will feature a viewing dome unlike any other window ever flown ...

EU satnav project ill-conceived: auditors court

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 29, 2009 | not rated yet | 5

The EU's much delayed satellite navigation network project Galileo has been ill-prepared and badly managed, the European Court of Auditors charged Monday.

Moon Magic: Researchers Develop New Tool To Visualize Past, Future Lunar Eclipses (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 29, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (4) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Lunar eclipses are well-documented throughout human history. The rare and breathtaking phenomena, which occur when the moon passes into the Earth’s shadow and seemingly changes shape, color, ...

Not space junk yet: Mars rovers carry on despite age, ailments

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 28, 2009 | 5 / 5 (14) | 4

In one of the most remarkable engineering feats of our time, the aging Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity are still taking orders and sending home pictures more than five years after they were supposed to ...

Trying to spot differences in the sun

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 28, 2009 | 4.1 / 5 (14) | 11

The sun is the focus of a deepening mystery. Solar scientists want to know: Why is the sun so quiet?

Ulysses space mission to end

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 26, 2009 | 4.9 / 5 (14) | 2

After 18.6 years in space and defying several earlier expectations of its demise, the joint ESA/NASA solar orbiter Ulysses will achieve 'end of mission' on 30 June 2009. The final communication pass with a ...

Mars Rover Yielding New Clues While Lodged in Martian Soil

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 25, 2009 | 4.7 / 5 (11) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Mars rover Spirit, lodged in Martian soil that is causing traction trouble, is taking advantage of the situation by learning more about the Red Planet's environmental history.

Jets on Saturn's moon Enceladus not geysers from underground ocean

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 24, 2009 | 4.1 / 5 (12) | 9

Water vapor jets that spew from the surface of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus are not really geysers from an underground ocean as initially envisioned by planetary scientists, according to a study led by the ...

New instrument has potential to detect water deep underground on Mars (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 24, 2009 | 4.7 / 5 (3) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- With the whoosh of compressed gas and the whir of unspooling wire, a team of Boulder scientists and engineers tested a new instrument prototype that might be used to detect groundwater deep ...

NASA's new moon probe sends back moon shots

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 24, 2009 | 3.1 / 5 (8) | 5

(AP) -- NASA's new lunar probe launched less than a week ago has already sent back some shots of the moon.