Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Google to get space age home
Google announces plans to build a massive new high-tech campus on unused land owned by Nasa.
Missile practice for Moon mission
Scientists test the "missile" technology they hope will drive instruments into the surface of the Moon.
Lensing and algebra: Where mathematics and astrophysics meet
The mathematicians were trying to extend an illustrious result in their field, the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra. The astrophysicists were working on a fundamental problem in their field, the problem...
"Fireworks" Expected From Strange Eclipsing Star System
Changes in the behavior of an odd binary star suggest a third party could crash the affair, creating a stellar light show that should be visible from Earth within decades.
Latest ESA Bulletin (No. 134, May 2008) now online
This issue of ESA’s flagship magazine, the Bulletin, carries a range of articles: from the latest European rocket engine tests, to how ESA's Mars Express and ESOC were involved with...
Highest Resolution View Ever From Mars Comes From NASA Lander
A microscope on NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander has taken images of dust and sand particles with the greatest resolution ever returned from another planet. The mission's Optical Microscope observed particles...
Cassini Sees Collisions Of Moonlets On Saturn's Ring
A team of scientists has discovered that the rapid changes in Saturn's F ring can be attributed to small moonlets causing perturbations. Their results are reported in Nature. Saturn's F...
Balloon makes 18-vertical-mile flight
FAIRBANKS, Alaska, June 5 (UPI) -- The Alaska Space Grant Program and the Arctic Amateur Radio Club say a high-altitude balloon they launched reached an altitude of 95,327...
NASA to announce spacesuit contractor
WASHINGTON, June 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency said it plans to announce soon its Constellation spacesuit contract award.
NASA chief urges Europe to build manned spaceship
(AP) -- NASA encouraged Europe on Thursday to develop its own manned spaceship, which would give the world - and particularly the U.S. - another way of reaching the...
"Lunar Concrete" May Form Buildings on the Moon
The mixture of moondust and carbon nanotubes could be used to make giant telescopes to more easily detect signs of life from distant Earthlike planets.
Human Control Of Earth's Radiation Belt
Charged particles within the Earth's radiation belts travel in spiral trajectories along geomagnetic field lines. The strength of the magnetic field increases as the particles approach the Earth; because charge...
Venus Express Reveals New Details On Venusian Clouds
As ESA's Venus Express orbits our sister planet, new images of the cloud structure of one of the most enigmatic atmospheres of the Solar System reveal brand-new details. Venus is...
Space station toilet back in business
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Cosmonaut-plumber Oleg Kononenko tackled the critical job of fixing the sole toilet aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday, with apparently successful results.
Holodeck 1.0? Star Trek-style 3-D Displays Make Their Debut
True 3-D display technology developed by European researchers offers enormous potential for design, education and collaboration. Star Trek's holodeck is a famous science fiction concept. Crew members could walk through...
Gamma-Ray Telescope to Open New Window on Cosmic Explosions [News]
NASA on Saturday is set to launch the next generation of space-based gamma-ray detectors. If all goes as planned, GLAST--for Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope--will within months begin to send...
Team hopes to use new technology to search for ETs
A Johns Hopkins astronomer is a member of a team briefing fellow scientists about plans to use new technology to take advantage of recent, promising ideas on where to search...
W28: A Mixed Bag of Supernova Remnant
When some stars die, they explode as supernovas and their debris fields (aka, "supernova remnants") expand into the surrounding environments. There are several different types, or categories, of supernova remnants....
German Chancellor Merkel meets astronauts
BERLIN, June 4 (UPI) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel met European and U.S. astronauts this week in Berlin.
Shuttle Astronauts Share Space Through Souvenirs
The crew of STS-124 took items representing them aboard the orbiter.
Future of Mars Exploration: What's Next?
Two rovers, one American, one European, and a probe to Phobos slated through next decade.
Life on Earth older than imagined
A study on one of the world's most primitive colonies of bacteria has found that life on Earth may have begun much earlier than 3.5 billion years ago.
First Video of a Virus Being Born
The video shows what looks like a faint nebula in deep space, its neighboring stars resolving to their full brightness after a long exposure. Only the images are not of...
Ulysses, the end of an extraordinary mission
ESA PR 29-2008. After more than 17 years relentlessly exploring the effects of solar activity on the space that surrounds us, the Ulysses mission is now approaching its end. Representatives...
New Milky Way Map Created; Shows Fewer Main Arms
A new view of our home galaxy shows what its structure would look like to distant observers, including the demotion of two of it swirling arms to minor status.
NASA: We marginalized, mischaracterized climate change data
On September 29, 2006, 14 United States Senators cosigned a letter to the NASA Inspector General to request a formal investigation into allegations of "political interference" with the work of...
GLAST Spacecraft Will Observe Cosmic Sources Of Gamma Rays As It Orbits Above The Earth
GLAST will explore the universe's most extreme environments, searching for answers to long-standing questions about dark matter, black holes, and gamma-ray bursts. Scientists expect the orbiting telescope to detect thousands...
Giant Tornadoes Seen Erupting From the Sun
Almost a thousand times faster than a terrestrial tornado, these solar twisters last about ten minutes and occur near the sun's poles, new satellite data shows.