Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Thanksgiving last full day in space for shuttle
(AP) -- Space shuttle Atlantis' astronauts will spend Thanksgiving checking their ship for the ride home.
Distal Rampart of Crater in Chryse Planitia
(PhysOrg.com) -- Impact craters on Mars are kind of neat. Many of them look very different than impact craters seen on Earth's moon or Mercury. Fresh lunar and Mercurian craters...
Thomas J. O’Malley, Who Helped Launch Glenn Into Orbit, Dies at 94
Mr. O’Malley was the aviation engineer who pushed the button that launched the rocket that carried John Glenn into orbit in 1962.
A faraway planet intrigues: Exoplanet with extremely tilted orbit raises new interest in stellar astronomy
(PhysOrg.com) -- Two teams of astronomers have found a planet outside the solar system that might be orbiting backwards compared to its star's rotation, a discovery that could shed light...
Cosmic Log: Science stories that soar
Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: For uplifting tales of science and real life, you need look no further than this year's winners of the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards. ...
Video - Rehearsing for Shuttle Flight
STS-129 astronauts discuss the ins and outs of preflight training for their Nov. 2009 launch to the ISS. Credit: NASA
Soviet H-bomb scientist Ginzburg dies
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vitaly Ginzburg, a Russian physicist who survived Stalin's purges by working on the Soviet atomic bomb project and later won the Nobel Prize for physics, died in...
Swift, XMM-Newton satellites tune into a middleweight black hole
While astronomers have studied lightweight and heavyweight black holes for decades, the evidence for black holes with intermediate masses has been much harder to come by. Now, astronomers at NASA's...
LightSail-1 solar sail spacecraft planned for 2010
The Planetary Society says that by the end of 2010 it will try to launch a spacecraft that will be propelled by the pressure of sunlight.
Setting Sail Into Space, Propelled by Sunshine
Navigating the cosmos on winds of starlight is an ancient dream, and in about a year, a spacecraft called LightSail-1 may make it come true.
NASA on crusade to debunk 2012 apocalypse myths
The world is not coming to an end on December 21, 2012, the US space agency insisted Monday in a rare campaign to dispel widespread rumors fueled by the Internet...
NASA's GOES Project offers real-time hurricane alley movies
People love to get the big picture of hurricane alleys, and thanks to the GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., they can now get real-time...
Science Is Not Magic
I have to delay the Sunday Science Book Club and my discussion of Voyage of the Beagle until next week. In the mean time, I'm initiating the first Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi...
NASA satellites make a movie and get rainfall, wind info on Ida
NASA satellites are amazing examples of technology. The TRMM satellite peers into tropical cyclones and can tell how much rain is falling per hour and where. QuikScat uses microwave technology...
Astronauts to begin pre-launch quarantine
HOUSTON, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- NASA says the six STS-129 astronauts scheduled to lift off next week to the International Space Station are ready to begin their quarantine period.
NASA highlights some of its technologies
WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says it's released the 2009 edition of "Spinoff," which shows how NASA technology is being put to use in everyday...
NASA seeks student research experiments
WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says it's seeking experiments from U.S. college and university students for high-altitude science research.
Colliding White Dwarfs May Mimic Supernovae Used to Gauge Astronomical Distances
Stellar explosions known as type Ia supernovae have proved invaluable to astrophysicists as markers of cosmic distance. Their brightness and consistency in observed properties allow astronomers to use them as...
Possible meteor spotted in B.C. sky
People throughout the province were treated to a spectacular light show Saturday after what's believed to be a meteor lit up the sky.
Happy, look for a warm person to cross all one’s life
Happy, look for a warm person to cross all one’s life.
Manta ray's secret life revealed
The once secret life of a huge, recently discovered species of manta ray is unveiled.
Cassini Makes Successful Flight Through Plume Of Saturn's Moon Enceladus
The Cassini spacecraft has weathered the Monday, Nov. 2, flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus in good health and has been sending images and data of the encounter back to Earth....
Nasa and Esa sign Mars agreement
The US and European space agencies sign the "letter of intent" tying together their Mars programmes.
Japan eyes solar station in space as new energy source
It may sound like a sci-fi vision, but Japan's space agency is dead serious: by 2030 it wants to collect solar power in space and zap it down to Earth,...
The Sunyaev- Zeldovich Effect is independent of Redshift because of Cosmic Dust
Cosmic dust explains why the intensity of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect is independent of Redshift. Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect
Law change call for space flight
A law change is needed before Scotland can be considered as a launch site for commercial space flights, Virgin Galactic says.
Russian rocket to launch from French Guiana in 2010
A Russian rocket will next year for the first time blast off from a European launch pad in South America, officials said Saturday, as the first rockets headed for the...
A Tale of Planetary Woe
Long ago, something calamitous happened to Mars, transforming a hospitable world into the apparently lifeless desert we see today. Many scientists believe the Red Planet lost most of its...