Space Exploration news

New Study of Meteorite Provides More Evidence for Ancient Life on Mars

New Study of Meteorite Provides More Evidence for Ancient Life on Mars

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created 2 hours ago | popularity 4.7 / 5 (6) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- In 1996, when scientists examined a meteorite from Mars previously uncovered in Antarctica, they were intrigued by what looked like microscopic fossils of ancient Martian life forms. Now, ...


NASA aims to send astronauts back to the moon by 2020, and then perhaps to Mars and other destinations

Top US lawmaker skeptical of new space funding

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created 4 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was personally skeptical of manned space missions and warned that NASA's future funding could depend on whether it was likely to create jobs.


Hubble Finds Smallest Kuiper Belt Object Ever Seen

Hubble Finds Smallest Kuiper Belt Object Ever Seen

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created 20 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (15) | comments 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered the smallest object ever seen in visible light in the Kuiper Belt, a vast ring of icy debris that is encircling the outer rim of the solar system ...


Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Resumes Observations

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created 21 hours ago | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers are receiving new science data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter after the spacecraft's six science instruments resumed observations today.


Gaia to lift off from Europe's Spaceport on a Soyuz launcher

Gaia star mapper to lift off from Europe's Spaceport on a Soyuz launcher

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Gaia, ESA's next-generation star mapper, will be carried into space by a Soyuz-STB/Fregat launch vehicle from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. David Southwood, ESA's Director of Science ...


NASA Buys Additional Space Shuttle Reusable Solid Rocket Motors

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA has purchased two reusable solid rocket motors from ATK Launch Systems Inc. of Brigham City, Utah, to provide a "launch on need" rescue capability for the final planned space shuttle mission, targeted ...


Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

NASA unveils latest results from lunar mission

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 0

NASA's current mission in orbit around the moon, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has been providing crucial insights about our nearest celestial neighbor since its launch in June. At a scientific ...


Unexpected Wheel-Test Results

Spirit Mars Rover: Unexpected Wheel-Test Results

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Diagnostic tests were run on Spirit's right-rear wheel and right-front wheel on Sol 2013 (Dec. 12, 2009).


MESSENGER team releases first global map of mercury

MESSENGER team releases first global map of mercury

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's MESSENGER mission team and cartographic experts from the U. S. Geological Survey have created a critical tool for planning the first orbital observations of the planet Mercury - a global ...


Magnetic Dance of Titan and Saturn To Be Main Attraction during Flyby

Magnetic Dance of Titan and Saturn To Be Main Attraction during Flyby

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- When it flies by Saturn's largest moon, Titan, this weekend, NASA's Cassini spacecraft will study the interactions between the magnetic field of Saturn and Titan. The flyby will take place ...


NASA Launches Web Site for Teenagers That Want More Class

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA has launched a new Web site created specifically for teenagers that provides teens access to current NASA spacecraft data for use in school science projects, allows them to conduct real experiments with ...


Scientist uncovers relics of ancient cosmos

Scientist uncovers relics of ancient cosmos

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (18) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Manchester scientist, working as part of an international team, has uncovered an unexpectedly rich trove of relicts from the ancient cosmos.


SwRI's integrated avionics control NASA's WISE spacecraft

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

NASA's latest spacecraft, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), launched Dec. 14, carries an ultra-sensitive infrared instrument that will take nearly 1.5 million images of the sky at four wavelengths and provide ...


US launches space-mapping satellite WISE

WISE satellite blasts off on space-map mission

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 4

NASA launched Monday a new breed of satellite called WISE on a mission to orbit Earth and map the skies to find elusive cosmic objects, including potentially dangerous asteroids.


Kansas scientists probe mysterious possible comet strikes on Earth

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (12) | comments 8

It's the stuff of a Hollywood disaster epic: A comet plunges from outer space into the Earth's atmosphere, splitting the sky with a devastating shock wave that flattens forests and shakes the countryside.