Space Exploration news

War-torn 'nursery' hopes to send monkeys to Mars

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 20, 2009 | 2.4 / 5 (7) | 4

The monkeys at this run-down research centre which was once the pride of Soviet science have seen it all -- a brutal civil war, freezing winters and starvation.

Titan's lakes could be explored by boat

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 22, 2009 | 4.6 / 5 (9) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- If a suggestion to be made to NASA comes to fruition, vast lakes thought to be filled with liquid hydrocarbons near the north pole of Saturn's moon Titan, may one day be explored by boat.

NASA Tests Unique Jumbo Jet with Opening in Side; Plane's Airborne Telescope Will Be Used to Study Cosmos

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 21, 2009 | 5 / 5 (4) | 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- A NASA jumbo jet that will help scientists unlock the origins of the universe with infrared observations reached a milestone Friday when doors covering the plane's telescope were fully opened ...

Scientists discover fog on Titan

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 18, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (11) | 2

Saturn's largest moon, Titan, looks to be the only place in the solar system—aside from our home planet, Earth—with copious quantities of liquid (largely, liquid methane and ethane) sitting on its surface. ...

How to Find Signs of Life on Mars

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 18, 2009 | 3.7 / 5 (3) | 2

By studying the signatures of fossil life on Earth, geobiologists can get a clue of what to look for when hunting for extraterrestrial life on Mars.

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

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 17, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (39) | 16

(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, ...

Astronauts dock at International Space Station

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 22, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

A Russian rocket carrying three astronauts from Japan, Russia and the United States docked at the International Space Station Wednesday, the Russian flight control centre said.

Silicon technology offers extended X-ray vision of high-energy cosmos

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 21, 2009 | 5 / 5 (3) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- As elements of the integrated circuits running our computers, phones and electronics, silicon wafers are everywhere. An ESA-led effort is establishing an out-of-this-world use for these ...

Spirit Rover: Right-Front Wheel Rotations

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 18, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (5) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Spirit's right-front wheel, which had stopped operating in March 2006, revolved with apparently normal motion during the first three of four driving segments on Sol 2117 (Wednesday, Dec. 16) ...

Scientist uncovers relics of ancient cosmos

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 14, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (19) | 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.

Calif. space tourism firm launches S. Korea deal

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 18, 2009 | 5 / 5 (2) | 0

(AP) -- A California company developing a rocket plane for space tourism announced Thursday that it has an agreement with a nonprofit group in South Korea to conduct launches in that nation.

Top US lawmaker skeptical of new space funding

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 17, 2009 | 4.2 / 5 (6) | 4

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.

Kansas scientists probe mysterious possible comet strikes on Earth

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 14, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (16) | 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.

Astronauts blast off for Christmas space mission

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 20, 2009 | 5 / 5 (2) | 0

(AP) -- A Russian rocket blasted off from a cosmodrome in Kazakhstan lighting up the frigid Central Asian steppe Monday, shuttling an American, a Russian and a Japanese to the International Space Station.

Glint of Sunlight Confirms Liquid in Northern Lake District of Titan

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 17, 2009 | 5 / 5 (14) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Cassini Spacecraft has captured the first flash of sunlight reflected off a lake on Saturn's moon Titan, confirming the presence of liquid on the part of the moon dotted with many large, ...