Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Titan may boast ice-spewing volcanoes
Cassini spacecraft spots possible cryo-activity on Saturn's moon.
Mars Express zeroes in on erosion features
Mars Express has uncovered geological evidence suggesting that some depositional process, revealed by erosion, has been at work on large scales in the equatorial regions of the planet. If so,...
GOCE completes early orbit phase
ESA's GOCE satellite was formally declared ready for work at 01:00 CET on 20 March. During the critical Launch and Early Orbit Phase beginning with separation from its booster on...
Liquid Saltwater Is Likely Present On Mars, New Analysis Shows
Salty, liquid water has been detected on a leg of the Mars Phoenix Lander and therefore could be present at other locations on the planet, according to analysis by a...
NASA's Fermi mission, Namibia's HESS telescopes explore a blazar
An international team of astrophysicists using telescopes on the ground and in space have uncovered surprising changes in radiation emitted by an active galaxy. The picture that emerges from these...
Mars rover naming contest begins Monday
WASHINGTON, March 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says online public voting will be used to help it select one of nine names for its next Mars...
The long view of the telescope's history
The telescope revolutionised our view of the heavens, but the first effects of this technological marvel were felt much closer to home
Opportunity sights destination crater rim
PASADENA, Calif., March 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says its Mars rover Opportunity is within sight of the horizon of the big crater toward which it...
Real-Life Astronaut Dishes on 'Battlestar Galactica'
Astronaut Garrett Reisman may have cameo in final "Battlestar" episode.
Iranian satellite completes mission: state TV
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's first domestically produced satellite has successfully completed its tasks in space, state television said on Thursday, seven weeks after the Islamic Republic sent it into orbit.
Guide to galaxy for Earth Hour's starry, starry night
(PhysOrg.com) -- When cities turn off their lights for Earth Hour their occupants will get more than a warm and fuzzy green feeling, they will also see stars hundreds of...
NASA Celebrates Sun-Earth Day With Illuminating Webcast
NASA scientists will reveal new information and images about our sun and its influence on Earth and the solar system for Sun-Earth Day, recognized each year in conjunction with the...
ESA postpones Herschel-Planck launch
PARIS, March 18 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency says it has postponed the Herschel and Planck spacecraft launch that was initially planned for April 16.
The Day The Sun Brought Darkness
On March 13, 1989 the entire province of Quebec, Canada suffered an electrical power blackout. Hundreds of blackouts occur in some part of North America every year. The Quebec Blackout...
Space tourism from Sweden to start in 2012
Short tourist flights into space are expected to begin launching from northern Sweden in 2012, one of the companies involved in the project said Wednesday.
NASA releases unique frozen Earth movie
GREENBELT, Md., March 18 (UPI) -- NASA says it has produced a unique movie about Earth's changing ice and snow cover to be shown at U.S. science centers...
SPACE PHOTOS THIS WEEK: Galaxy Clash, Blue Medusa, More
See colliding galaxies, the dark side of a moon, a "cat's eye" nebula, and more in this week's roundup of images from space.
Liftoff for latest REXUS flights
Three educational experiments sponsored by ESA’s Education Office blasted off to the edge of space on 12 and 13 March during the latest REXUS sounding rocket campaign from the Esrange...
Clues To A Secret Of Life Found In Meteorite Dust
NASA scientists analyzing the dust of meteorites have discovered new clues to a long-standing mystery about how life works on its most basic, molecular level.
Second near-miss by Tunguska-sized space rock this month
I don't know the statistics for events like this, but I'd like to. In any case, two Tunguska-sized objects zipping by at less than one-fourth the distance to the Moon...
No sweat: Shuttle's exercise gear on the fritz
Space junk from a Soviet satellite no longer poses a threat to Discovery shuttle, but astronauts face a vexing new problem: the spacecraft's exercise equipment is on the fritz, NASA...
Space Station Construction Visible Through Backyard Telescopes
The STS-119 mission coincides with a series of ISS flybys over North American towns and cities. People who go outside after sunset can see the shuttle-station combo with their naked...
Military Satellite Set to Give Major Communications Boost
An Atlas 5 rocket will launch a new military communications satellite late Tuesday.
How Rookie Astronauts Adapt to Space
For nearly half of Discovery's crew, space is likely an exhilarating, though until now alien, experience.
Gravity probe blasts off
€350m craft to provide high-resolution map of Earth’s gravitational field
Robotic Lunar Bulldozers
Lunar bulldozer robots may perform site preparation for moon bases.
Scheme to Curb Global Warming Could Backfire
Proposed geoengineering scheme would reduce light available for solar power.
Seeking Out the Sun's Long-Lost Siblings
For decades astronomers have been on the hunt for so-called "solar twins"--stars with the same ages, masses, temperatures, luminosities and chemical abundances as our own sun. [More]