Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Freighter raises station altitude
The "Jules Verne" freighter lifts the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) by a record distance.
NASA Launches Ocean Satellite To Keep A Weather, Climate Eye Open
A new NASA-French space agency oceanography satellite launched today from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on a globe-circling voyage to continue charting sea level, a vital indicator of global climate...
Disappearing Bright Specks Show Mars Has Ice, NASA Says [News]
Bright crumbs that were visible earlier this week in one of the trenches dug by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander are no longer there, according to images released yesterday by the...
Space health research plans are selected
WASHINGTON, June 19 (UPI) -- U.S. space agencies announced selection of research proposals to investigate astronaut health and performance during space exploration mission.
Pluto's Identity Crisis Hits Classrooms and Bookstores
Pluto went from planet to dwarf planet and the latest name, plutoid.
More low-mass exoplanets are discovered
GENEVA, Switzerland, June 19 (UPI) -- European astronomers say they have found a triple system of so-called super-Earths while using the European Southern Observatory's La Silla telescope.
Cosmic Log: Flood forecasts in flux
Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: How high will the flooding go? That's been a crucial question for Midwesterners this month, and the answer requires some complex — and changeable —...
Meteorites Brought DNA "Ancestors" to Earth, Study Says
DNA presursors found in a meteorite suggest that life's raw ingredients may have formed in space, and may have been deposited elsewhere in the universe, scientists say.
Alan Pickup: Spacewatch
Alan Pickup: Dwarf planets beyond Neptune to be classed as plutoids
NASA's audacious contingency plan for shuttle trip
Second shuttle will rescue ageing Atlantis if mishap occurs.
Solstice Moon Illusion
Sometimes you just can't believe your eyes. This week is one of those times. On Wednesday night, June 18th, step outside at sunset and look around. You'll see a giant...
Computer predicts anti-cancer molecules
ATLANTA, June 17 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have created a computerized method of analyzing cellular activity that correctly predicts the anti-tumor activity of several molecules.
NASA competition winners announced
WASHINGTON, June 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says students from Massachusetts, Michigan and Pennsylvania have won its "Cassini Scientist for a Day" competition.
Celebrating ten years of the International Space Station
The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is organising, with European Space Agency (ESA) support, a symposium entitled ‘Celebrating Ten Years of the International Space Station’, to be held at UNESCO’s Paris...
Mars team ponders whether lander sees ice or salt
(AP) -- Is the white stuff in the Martian soil ice or salt? That's the question bedeviling scientists in the three weeks since the Phoenix lander began digging into...
Hot flashes underreported and linked to forgetfulness
Women in midlife underreport the number of hot flashes that they experience by more than 40 percent, and these hot flashes are linked to poor verbal memory, according to a...
NASA close to nailing down launch pad repairs
(AP) -- More than two weeks after Discovery's blastoff battered the launch pad, NASA is close to nailing down its repair strategy and insists the damage can be mended...
NASA Tests Lunar Robots and Spacesuits on Earthly Moonscape
Conditions on the moon will be harsher, but prototype NASA robotic vehicles braved sand storms and unprecedented temperature swings this month on sand dunes near Moses Lake, Wash., to prepare...
Astronauts Return Home to Houston After 'Amazing, Exciting' Flight
"Exciting." "Incredible." "Phenomenal." "Amazing." Such were the words chosen by the STS-124 crew to describe their space shuttle mission.
NASA teaches teachers about space tests
WALLOPS ISLAND, Va., June 16 (UPI) -- U.S. university faculty and students will learn the basics of building experiments for flight on suborbital rockets next week during a...
NASA Plans To Visit The Sun
For more than 400 years, astronomers have studied the sun from afar. Now NASA has decided to go there. The name of the mission is Solar Probe+. It's a heat-resistant...
Kazakhstan's sole space satellite breaks down
ALMATY (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's sole communications satellite, used by many of the country's television broadcasters, is out of control due to a computer glitch and is likely to be lost...
NASA finds new type of comet dust mineral
HOUSTON, June 16 (UPI) -- U.S. space agency scientists and researchers from Germany and Japan say they've found a new mineral in material that likely came from a...
When It Comes To Nitrogen, The 'Fix' Is In
The discovery in the last decade of new suites of microorganisms capable of using various forms of nitrogen -- discoveries that have involved a number of University of Washington researchers...
Opinion: Collaborations can excel without a centre
Collaborative research ventures don’t always need a centre to be excellent, according to Jeff Major.
Veil Lifts on Titan's Great Secrets
A new book sheds light on the mysteries of Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
Astronomers prove Einstein right
Australian researchers have proved that Einstein's theory of relativity still explains the evolution of the Universe, even when applied to anomalies.
Jubilant Astronaut Crew Glad to be Home
The seven astronauts of NASA's shuttle Discovery are glad to be home.