Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Dawn Nears Start of Year-Long Stay at Giant Asteroid
NASA's Dawn spacecraft is on track to begin the first extended visit to a large asteroid.
Steep Jet Dives Test New Mars Rover Radar
A NASA F/A-18 jet, with attached experimental radar to be used on the Mars Science Laboratory Mission, attempted to simulate what radar will see during entry into Martian atmosphere. Dives...
ARTEMIS spacecraft prepare for lunar orbit
(PhysOrg.com) -- They've almost arrived. It took one and a half years, over 90 orbit maneuvers, and wonderfully many gravitational boosts and only the barest bit of fuel...
Where space research is rocket science
Some of the world's most advanced space research goes on at the European Space Agency's ESTEC facility
Strange Galaxy Cluster Born From Huge Cosmic Crash
The collision spawning 'Pandora's Cluster' unleashed a slew of strange phenomena.
NASA satellite catches storm forming
GREENBELT, Md., June 22 (UPI) -- NASA says its Aqua satellite captured images of the western North Pacific's seventh tropical depression as it became Tropical Storm Meari overnight.
ESA's high-thrust engine takes next step
The new main engine to power Europes successor to its Ariane 5 space launcher was brought a step closer today when ESA signed a 60 million contract with a propulsion...
Earth Must Be Ready for Next Big Solar Storm
Researchers are working on ways to predict and track the next big solar eruption.
Dot Earth: Gore Slams 'Merchants of Poison,' Prods Obama on Climate
The missing links in Al Gore's rebuke of Obama and attacks on climate naysayers.
Robot spaceship destroyed (on purpose)
Huge craft turned into fireball as it descended into the Earth's atmosphere
Fulbright scholar takes ecological theory to Andean heights
For 2011 Fulbright awardee James Elser, Argentina's soaring, glacier-laden peaks, ancient cultures, and criollo horses offer a spectacular backdrop for this region's biggest draw: access to the "last unpolluted aquatic...
NRL instrument provides key space weather data
Data products from the Special Sensor Ultraviolet Limb Imager (SSULI) developed by the NRL Spacecraft Engineering Department and Space Science Division were officially transitioned for use in operational systems at...
Researchers create tool to put the lid on solar power fluctuations
How does the power output from solar panels fluctuate when the clouds roll in? And can researchers predict these fluctuations? Researchers in California have found the answer to these questions....
Alphabus ready to offer new opportunities
ESA PR 20-2011. Alphabus, the world’s largest communication satellite platform, is ready to offer new opportunities for satellite operators worldwide. The platform was formally accepted for its first satellite, Alphasat...
The Risks Of Shielding Electronics
Calliope, like any Low Earth Orbit satellite (LEO), is going up to, well, LEO. Space weather-- radiation and energetic particles emitted from an active Sun-- can damage satellites. This region...
News in Brief: Atom & Cosmos
Moons may be common, plus transforming neutrinos, new comet images and more in this week’s news
U.S. astronaut Mark Kelly retires
HOUSTON, June 21 (UPI) -- Veteran astronaut Mark Kelly, the husband of Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, says he is retiring from NASA and the U.S. Navy.
NASA to go boldly ... to the Arctic once again
NASA scientists are ready to set sail on the second leg of their voyage to study the changing waters of the Arctic Ocean.
How SpaceX's Dragon Space Capsule Works (Infographic)
See inside SpaceX's private Dragon space capsule and Falcon 9 rockets.
Sun's Outburst Pointed Almost Directly At Earth
A moderate solar flare ejected in the relative direction of our home planet on June 21, 2011. All indications are that it's not particularly strong but could set off polar...
Slowing down stars
One of the long standing challenges in stellar astronomy, is explaining why stars rotate so slowly. Given their large masses, as they collapsed to form, they should spin up to...
Millions of archived films and TV footage now accessible to all
More than 13 million film, television and radio records are now available thanks to a pioneering new search engine.
Australia picks Areva for solar energy project
French state-owned energy group Areva announced Tuesday that it had won a bid to participate in an Australian solar energy programme.
Dot Earth: The White House's Rooftop Solar Challenge
The Obama administration fails to keep a solar pledge.
Japan considers 'gigantic' tsunami
TOKYO, June 21 (UPI) -- Officials of tsunami-prone areas of Japan say they need a clear definition of the height of "the largest possible tsunami" predicted by a government...
Space in your pocket…
…and also on your tablet! The new ESA iPhone or iPad application, or ‘App’, can now deliver a wealth of information on ESA missions, videos, images and news updates, at...
Duo of big telescopes probes the depths of binary star formation
A team of researchers from four Japanese universities (Kobe, Saitama, Osaka, and Tokyo) has been able to delineate the intricate structure of the circumbinary disk that surrounds a young binary...
Global Warming or Little Ice Age: Which Will It Be?
A dip in solar activity has been forecast for at least the next decade, what effect will it have on global temperatures?