Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
NASA targets GLAST launch for no earlier than June 11
NASA has set June 11 as the new no-earlier-than target launch date for the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The...
Record spin for newfound asteroid
The fastest spinning natural object in the Solar System is discovered by a British amateur astronomer.
For Five Days, New York Will Be Science City
The World Science Festival, a five-day cosmic fair intended to make New York safe for science, slipped into town Wednesday.
NASA seeks lunar surface concept proposals
WASHINGTON, May 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency said it's seeking ideas for its lunar surface systems concept to help it develop plans for a return to...
NASA finds a ring around an exploded star
PASADENA, Calif., May 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says its Spitzer Space Telescope has found a bizarre ring of material around the magnetic remains of an...
ESA‘s roadmap to Earth-like planets
ESA is launching a new initiative to develop a roadmap for finding Earth-like planets. Searching for rocky planets around other stars, in the hopes of finding an Earth-like world,...
Listen to Phoenix descend
With data recorded on board Mars Express, you can hear Phoenix descend on to the surface of the Red Planet. After being processed by the Mars Express Flight Control Team,...
Robots Go Where Scientists Fear To Tread
Researchers have created specially designed robots called SnoMotes to traverse potentially dangerous ice environments. The SnoMotes work as a team, autonomously collaborating among themselves to gather data that could give...
MIT studies robotic training for astronauts
The space shuttle's 45-foot robotic arm may look simple and automatic as it gracefully lifts a multi-ton satellite from the cargo bay and lets it drift off into space. Far...
VIDEO: Vatican's Pagan Tomb Reopened
The Vatican has reopened the Valeri Mausoleum, the largest and most luxurious of 22 pagan tombs buried under St. Peter's Basilica, the Associated Press reports.
Japanese Astronaut to Bring Country's Hope to Station
Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide is ready to ferry his nation's lab to space.
Seven Scientists Win First Kavli Prizes
The winners of the Kavli prizes, which consist of $1 million each in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience, were announced Wednesday.
Arctic claimants say they will obey U.N. rules
ILULISSAT, Greenland (Reuters) - Five Arctic coastal nations agreed on Wednesday to let the U.N. rule on conflicting territorial claims on the region's seabed, which may hold up to one...
Robot climbs Grand Canyon with batteries
(AP) -- Watch out Energizer Bunny. Robot Evolta kept climbing and climbing - up a rope dangling from a Grand Canyon cliff for nearly seven hours on a pair...
California prison gets solar power plant
BLYTHE, Calif., May 28 (UPI) -- Ironwood State Prison officials in California say they've activated a new 1.18 megawatt solar power plant.
Little Man And Cosmic Cauldron: Very Large Telescope Images Two Nebulae In Carina
On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Very Large Telescope's First Light, ESO is releasing two stunning images of different kinds of nebulae, located towards the Carina constellation....
PHOTOS: Mars Lander Takes First "Self Portraits"
New images will help scientists assess the lander's health and surrounding landscape before starting the search for clues that the red planet was once habitable.
Long-range weather: it's a balmy -30 C on Mars
The first weather reports are in from Canada's $37-million weather station on Mars, showing temperatures hitting a high of -30 Celsius, and a low of -80.
Mars probe sends back new pictures of landing site
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Phoenix lander has sent back new pictures from the arctic circle of Mars, showing for the first time the spot where it will dig through...
Cartwheel Coronal Mass Ejection
Imagine a billion-ton cloud of gas launching itself off the surface of the sun and then ... doing a cartwheel. That's exactly what happened on April 9, 2008, when a...
Berlin unveils 'crewed spaceship'
A model of a proposed European manned spaceship goes on show at the Berlin Air Show.
Colin Pillinger: Britain should be leading the search for life on Mars
Colin Pillinger: Had Europe fully backed the Beagle project we, rather than Nasa, would be on the verge of solving space's greatest mystery
Experts Discuss How to Find Another Earth
On May 29 and 30, astronomers and scientists from all around the world will gather in Pasadena to discuss how we might find another Earth, and how we might detect...
Robots go Where Scientists Fear to Tread
Scientists are diligently working to understand how and why the world`s ice shelves are melting. While most of the data they need (temperatures, wind speed, humidity, radiation) can be obtained...
Close-up of a dying heavyweight
A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) in Bonn and European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Garching near Munich have for the first time taken...
Jupiter may be undergoing climate change
BERKELEY, Calif., May 27 (UPI) -- U.S. astronomers say increased turbulence and storms first observed on Jupiter more than two years ago might be causing global climate change...
Solar Eruption Seen in Unprecedented Detail
On April 9, the Sun erupted and blasted a bubble of hot, ionized gas into the solar system. The eruption was observed in unprecedented detail by a fleet of spacecraft,...
Particle Physics Receives Boost from $5 Million Gift
The University of Chicago announced today that it has received a $5 million gift to be directed toward the development of future programs in particle physics.