The Space Shuttle Endeavour made a rare night time last night, completing its mission and returning its six person crew safely to Earth.
In what could be the final night launch for the soon to be retired fleet, the space shuttle Endeavour blasted off last night. The six astronaut crew is taking a a new room and observation deck to the International Space Station.
On the wake of the release today of President Obama’s massive $3.8 trillion budget spending plan one thing that has been completely cut from the line item is NASA’s Constellation Lunar endeavor, the next big step in space exploration which was to replace the 20-plus year old Space Shuttle program.
Not only is the White House [...]
NASA has given up on trying to get the Mars Rover Spirit out of the sand. The agency has decided that it will make the stranded rover go into hibernation mode and then become a stationary scientific platform on the surface of Mars.
The rover has been stuck in sand for the past several months now, but scientists were hoping to find a way to get Spirit free to continue is mission as a rover.
NASA has given the green light for the space shuttle Endeavor to launch early next month.
Endeavour will blast off on February 8th on a mission to the International Space Station. The launch will be the last nighttime shuttle launch before the venerable fleet is retired.
Endeavour will depart Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad 39A at [...]
Comets Caused Differences in Jupiter’s Moons
January 27, 2010 || Category: Space News | Leave a Comment
Scientists have taken a step closer to explaining why Jupiter’s moons are so different from each other.
A new study, published in the Nature Geoscience journal report, says that Jupiter’s Ganymede likely endured a double blasting of comets 3.8 billion years ago, explaining its difference from twin moon, Callisto.
In the report, scientist show that Jupiter’s gravity [...]
NASA is slashing the asking price for its space shuttles when the fleet is retired later this year, according to the Associated Press.
The space agency was originally asking $42 million per shuttle but has now lowered the price to a mere $28.8 million. The vehicles will go on sale after they finish constructing the International Space Station, scheduled to be later this year.
Scientists Discover Supernova Winds Form Galaxies
January 14, 2010 || Category: Space News | Leave a Comment
For years, scientists have been laboring to discover how galaxies are formed.
Turns out the answer was blowing in the wind. Solar winds, that is.
NASA Holds Contest For Final Space Shuttle Patch
January 8, 2010 || Category: Space News | Leave a Comment
Before the space shuttle is officially retired, NASA is holding an internal contest to select the final space shuttle patch, according to Wired.
Eight-five of the team who work on the shuttle designed patches, according to the report. The finalists have been narrowed down to 15 and voting has begun on the final patch. The winner will be revealed later this year.
As 2010 begins, the Hubble Space Telescope continues to deliver more stunning photos of our universe. Scientists made public a new series of panaromaic photos yesterday that show a view of some of the youngest galaxies in the universe.
Voyager 2 Continues To Explore Beyond Our Solar System
December 28, 2009 || Category: Space News | 6 Comments
Voyager 2, which passed out of our solar system two years ago, continues to send back data and discoveries about the nature of our universe.
The probe is giving NASA scientists a look at the universe beyond our solar system and is currently 8.3. billion miles away from the sun. It’s giving us some news from this region, called the “heliosheath,” by astrophysicists.
The search for planets that could have life on them got a boost yesterday when astronomers announced the discovery of the first “Super Earth” planet with an atmosphere.
Astronomers announced this week that they’ve discovered eleven new planets in our universe.
International teams, working separately report they’ve discovered new planets in orbit around stars 61 Virginis (with three confirmed), HD 1461 (one confirmed and two more likely) and 23 Lib (four confirmed) and HD 134987 (one more likely.)
Combining images from the recent Messenger spacecraft and Mariner 10 from the 1970’s, the first global map of Mercury was released Tuesday.
The space shuttle Atlantis launched on a mission to visit the International Space Station Monday afternoon, reports the Associated Press.
Atlantis’ blastoff was the fifth successful launch of 2009, following three other visits to the station and — on Atlantis’ previous flight — a final overhaul of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Butterflies Going To International Space Station
November 12, 2009 || Category: Space News | Leave a Comment
While they may never admit it, it’s likely that when they’re ready to launch some astronauts have butterflies in their stomachs.
Next week, the astroanuts may have them in their stomachs, but they’ll also have them on board the space shuttle Atlantis as it luanches for a visit to the International Space Station.
Messenger Probe Finds Seasonal Changes On Mercury
November 4, 2009 || Category: Space News | 2 Comments
NASA’s Messenger space probe has discovered what appear to be seasonal changes on the planet Mercury, according to the Associated Press.
The probe made the observations during its third flyby of Mercury on Sept. 29, when it took a host of measurements and images of the innermost planet’s surface and atmosphere. Only about half of the [...]
After several delays, NASA completed a brief test flight Wednesday of its new Ares I-X rocket.
The rocket, which could take humanity back to the moon and beyond, was launched yesterday morning. From start to finish the test took six minutes.
Wednesday’s launch, three years in the making, represented the first step in NASA’s effort to [...]
NASA will have to wait a few hours or possibly another day for the test launch of its new Ares I-X rocket according to the Associated Press.
The space agency decided to delay Wednesday’s scheduled launch due to inclement weather conditions at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.
The delay was the second in as many days for the [...]
Astronomers will all turning their eyes to the heavens for the next three nights in honor of Galileo, reports the Associated Press.
The “Galilean Nights” promoted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) aim at giving hundreds of thousands of people the thrill of looking through a space telescope for the first time.
More than 1,000 public events [...]
NASA’s Swift satellite has sent back a stunning new look at our closest neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy.
The newly released photo shows a high-resolution image of our neighbor in ultraviolet.
“The galaxy, known as M31 in the constellation Andromeda, is the largest and closest spiral galaxy to our own. This mosaic of M31 merges 330 individual images [...]
Cirque du Soleil founder, Guy Laliberte returned to Earth Sunday after a 12-day visit to the International Space Station, UPI reports.
Laliberte and two other astronauts landed safely in Kazakhstan.
Laliberte, who wore a bulbous clown nose during his stay aboard the International Space Station, was extracted from the Soyuz capsule Sunday morning following its landing.
After the [...]
Fox News has listed the 10 most prominent Lunar crashes since the creation of that heavenly body over 4.6 billion years ago. Here is their list:
#10: The LCROSS/LRO Probe
# 9: The Smart 1 Probe
# 8: Moon Meteorite Plague
# 7: “Sea of Showers”
# 6: The Lunar Prospector
# 5: Apollo 11 [...]
The search for water on the moon will take a huge step forward Friday when NASA crashes a water-seeking spacecraft into the lunar surface.
If all goes well, on Friday about 7:30 a.m. ET, the two parts of the LCROSS spacecraft will smack into the lunar surface at nearly 6,000 mph, sending up plumes of moon [...]
After a third success flyby, NASA’s Messenger probe has set a course for Mercury.
The probe completed a 12,000 mile-per-hour flyby last week, where it lost some data due to a communications glitch, and then set course for the solar system’s first planet. If everything goes according to plan, the probe will reach the innermost [...]
Billionaire and founder of the Cirque du Soleil, Guy Laliberte spent millions to become one of the first tourists in outer space, according to the Associated Press.
Laliberte blasted off into orbit on a Russian rocket on Wednesday. He spent millions from a personal fortune on his two week visit to the International Space Station (ISS), [...]
Scientists have discovered something extraordinary and new about our Moon. According to a new study, there are minute traces of water in the Moon’s dirty.
Three different space probes found the chemical signature of water all over the moon’s surface, surprising the scientists who at first doubted the unexpected measurement until it was confirmed independently [...]
Looking to visit the coolest spot in our solar system? If you thought to really experience the cold of outer space, you’d have to travel to Pluto, you’d be a few million miles off.
NASA’s new Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered that the south pole of our moon is colder than Pluto after making its first [...]
The Mars rover Spirit traveled millions of miles to the red planet and has been sending back NASA scientists a wide variety of pictures and data.
But now it appears the rover may have come up against an obstacle it can’t overcome.
The rover has been stuck in the sands of Mars since May and yesterday NASA [...]
On last week’s Slice of SciFi, we brought you news that the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee found that NASA would need an additional $3 billion a year to continue its current goal of back to the moon and possibly onward to Mars. And given the current economic climate, it [...]
