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If the Americans and NASA are having some issues regarding their space program at the moment, the Russians are doing just fine; recently an unmanned Russian Progress cargo ship loaded with 2.9 tons of supplies and equipment traveled and docked the International Space Station without any notable incidents or accidents. “Capture. We have indicator mode,” […]
In just a few hours, at 5 p.m. EDT, China will make another giant leap forward in its ever ambitious space program after it will launch the Shenzhou 8 spacecraft in a premiere mission for the nation, which will involve an unmanned docking with the Tiangong-1 spacecraft in Earth’s orbit. Besides the PR-driven first docking, the […]
In a landmark decision that will mark the future of commercial space flight, Boeing announced an agreement with Space Florida on Monday to lease the hangar that housed the space shuttles to bring similar spacecrafts and take people into outer space. In an area that has lost numerous specialized jobs, this move will create 140 […]
Black holes are perhaps the most fascinating and staggering objects in the known Universe, and we are just now beginning to uncover their secrets. Dr. Sergei Nayakshin of the University of Leicester and his team found that doughnut-shaped dust shrouds that cover about half of supermassive black holes may very well be the result of […]
Yesterday NASA tested a 18,000 pound mock-up of the ambitious Orion spacecraft in a water basin, to simulate how it would handle a Pacific Ocean landing in moderate sea conditions. The spacecraft is slated for space exploration programs and is capable of carrying four astronauts for as much as 21 days. The scientist at NASA’s […]
A new study published by researchers at University of Hong Kong has produced controversial waves among the astronomy community, as it claims, backed by sound evidence, that organic matter can be created naturally by stars and travel through out the universe via interstellar dust. It’s somewhat hard to believe, even picture, how organic matter can […]
Eris is a dwarf planet, observed in 2005 for the first time, whose discovery led to Pluto losing its planet status, even though a new moon was found orbiting it; recently, Eris passed in front of a planet, giving astrophysicists a clear view for the first time. Until now, the general scientific idea regarding it […]
This Friday morning NASA will upgrade its climate and weather observatory capabilities, when it’s set to launch a new, high-end satellite via a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket, which promises to significantally improve weather forecast and offer a significant leap forward to authorities in the face of calamities. The project, lengthy dubbed the National Polar-Orbiting […]
Looks like one of NASA‘s latest priorities is to protect its lunar heritage from illegal black market trade of moon artifacts, evident in a recently highly publicized case in which a 74 year old grandmother attempting to sell a moon rock was intercepted by armed government officials. Part of an elaborate operation, federal agents tracked down Joanna […]
Using a pair of satellites that monitor the Earth, NASA recorded over 10.000.000 fires throughout the planet; they then took the recorded material and created an animation with it, as can be seen below. The animation also includes vegetation, snow cover, cloud cover, surface temperatures, and more. Africa was by far the ‘hottest’ continent, being […]
Another game of solar system monopoly is being played at the moment, and so far, the United States are losing it, according to commercial space entrepreneur Robert Bigelow. The first prize, ownership of the Moon, is up for grabs, and while Americans are still basking in the glory they had some 40 years ago, China […]
Water is everywhere on Earth – that’s easy to see for anybody. But why and how it got here, that’s a dilemma that until now, hasn’t been fully answered. A new comet study has shown how a ring of cold water vapor can encircle a young planet, while another related one explains a hailstorm of […]
Satellite deployments make up most of the space launches in any given year, however it’s also a highly risky operation. Every satellite launch costs around $10,000 per pound, and basically it’s fairly common for the total cost of a satellite to jump in the tens of millions of dollars range. Currently, in the geosynchronous orbit there […]
An astronomer working at the University of Hawaii captured the first ever pictures of a planet forming around a star. In order to do it, he used the 10-metre Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea and a system of mirrors; the main problem with taking pictures such as these ones is that the planet’s star usually […]
While the Earth is steadily being depleted of its natural resources, it might become imperative to look to the sky for alternatives. Studies so far alone has shown that the moon has twenty times more titanium and platinum than anywhere on Earth, along with helium 3, a rare isotope of helium, which is nonexistent on our planet, […]
Another meteor shower draws nearer, as scientists expect it to peak this Friday and Saturday – just before dawn on Oct. 21 and 22. Each October, the Earth passes through a trail of dust left behind by the Halley comet; when some of these particles, most no bigger than grains of sand get caught in […]
Set it went into operation, Fermi’s Large Area Telescope has detected 1873 gamma rays out in space, of which only two thirds have had their sources traced. Typically, gamma rays are huge bursts of energy generated by the collision between two stars or by black holes, however more than 600 discovered blasts still don’t have an explanation […]
Back in 2008, the Japanese Kaguya spacecraft made a fascinating discovery when it found a metres-deep cave in the Sea of Tranquility. Amazed by the find, NASA had its orbiting Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) to have in the depth scan of the area, which came back with high res images, like the one above. Scientists believe […]
During these past months, I’ve been receiving some questions regarding the whole doomsday-Elenin comet matter. In case you’re unfamiliar with the topic, the comet in case, discovered in December 2010, has a trajectory that passes quite close to Earth, and so of course, some people started panicking and claiming that the comet will hit us […]
NASA’s troubles are other companies good luck charm: Virgin has just struck a deal with NASA worth up to $4.5 million for research flights using the company’s new spaceship. NASA, who is just out of space orbiters, has to sign up several of these deals in order to continue their regular activity, and SpaceShipTwo, a […]
A map of the moon composed of superimposed observations in visible and ultraviolet wavelengths has revealed an amazing treasure – hordes of titanium ore, up to 10 times richer than on Earth. This could be the necessary motivation governments have been waiting for to initiate a mining colony project in the future. The discovery was made […]
A virtual trek, that is. NASA has just released a stunning video comprised of 309 photos the agency’s Opportunity Rover took during it’s three year journey from the crater Victoria to the crater Endeavor. Although the spanned distance is only 13 miles, the whole trip lasted a whooping three years. Granted, a relatively animated view […]
The most popular video sharing website in the world, YouTube, has teamed up with NASA and several other key figures from the scientific community to launch YouTube Space Lab, a global effort challenging students between the ages of 14 and 18 to design an experiment that can be conducted in space. I know there are […]
Most of us tend to believe the Earth is a safe heaven, with little regard to outerwordly consequences. The truth is our planet, although without a doubt a true gem within our galaxy, is susceptible to a slew of events triggered from within or well beyond our solar system. A lot of them are very […]
ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft has found an ozone layer high in the atmosphere of Venus, similar to that surrounding Earth and Mars according to astronomers. Ozone is considered fundumental to providing an environment capable of supporting life, as it absorbs much of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet ray. This recent discovery will provide highly valuable insight as to […]
Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun, is a definite oddball of the solar system. It has its axis titled by a whopping 98 degrees, which makes it orbit on its side. The general accepted theory is that a big impact with an object several times the size that of the Earth nodged its axis […]
This weekend one of the most fascinating symposiums of the year will take place in Orlando, Fla, where apparently “nut-case” scientists will seriously take key and discuss subjects like warp interstellar travel, terraforming planets in our solar system and beyond, as well as many other subjects taken off science fiction novels – for now, at least. […]
Europe aims for the stars: known as the Solar Orbiter will fly towards the Sun and get closer to it than any other man made object has; also, ESA will launch two other missions with the purpose of studying dark matter and dark energy. Closer to the Sun The mission was adopted today, and it […]
As the winter ski season is rapidly approaching, snow sports enthusiasts all over the world are already planing their trips, on a quest to find the most intense slop. Skiers need not to look farther, as Cassini scientists have announced that the probe has transmitted data which suggests Enceladus, Saturn’s icy moon, is coated by […]
Well hopefully the days when children dream about being astronauts haven’t withered, and there are still people out there who dream of going into outer space and see our planet from orbit. If this is the case, then you now have a chance of joining the elite group that the space agency chooses as its […]
A new radio telescope array built in the world’s highest and driest desert in the world has just photographed two colliding galaxies for its first public test shots. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, a joint project between Canada, Chile, the European Union, Japan, Taiwan and the United States was officially opened for business after a […]
Armageddon can wait, NASA‘s in charge for a little while longer. The space agency recently released to the general public a report which censuses more than 93% of the total number of asteroids in the vicinity of Earth’s orbit, meaning they’re all tagged and tracked – risk of undetected collision to a minimum. That’s not all either, […]
Astronomers at UC Santa Cruz have set a new benchmark for cosmological research for decades to come maybe, after successfully simulating the forming of distant galaxies, like our very own Milky Way, under the mysterious forces of dark matter and dark energy. Named Bolshoi – for the Russian word meaning “grand” or “great” – the simulation’s […]
This news couldn’t have come any sooner. It was just last week that we reported how gamers made a monumental breakthrough by helping solve a decade old problem in less than ten days in a fantastic collective effort via an online game, leading to significant advances to AIDS treatment research. Now, NASA has confirmed two […]
A while ago I posted a piece on NASA‘s Spirit Rover last transmitted photo from Mars, before it ultimately died off completely after more than seven valiant years of service, time in which incredible volumes of photographs and other important metrics from the surface of the red planet have been fed. Like I said, a […]
The Chinese space program is set to made a giant leap later this week, when its first orbiting docking station, the Tiangong-1, is set to be launched. Tiangong could pave the way for a future Chinese space station and for exploration further afield, most likely the moon, a long sought after destination by the Chinese. […]
Earlier this year, NASA launched the Argentine SAC-D satellite that has a number of instruments whose sole goal is that of providing scientists with important data about the environment. Aquarius is the main instrument on-board the satellite, whose mission is to measure global sea surface salinity to better predict future climate conditions. Today, NASA released […]
In January, 1997 Lottie Williams was strolling through a park in Tulsa, Oklahoma with her friends around 3:30 AM, when a dashing fireball appeared over the sky, much to the promenaders’ admiration. Moments later, Williams was hit in the shoulder by a small piece of fabric-like metal that weighed as much as an empty soda can. […]
A remarkable discovery which turns once again turns fiction into reality, the Kepler spacecraft has found the first confirmed planet to orbit around two suns, much like the iconic Tatooine in the Star Wars Universe. It’s by no means habitable, however. Located 200 light years from Earth and the size of Jupiter, the planet dubbed […]
On July 29th the Cassini orbiter probe captured a stunning glimpse of five of Saturn’s satellites beautifully aligned. Cassini has been sending incredible photos of Saturn and its surroundings since 2004, as well as remarkable insights like the discovery of a salty ocean under one of its moon’s surface. Click the photo for a larger […]
The HARPS team at the La Silla Observatory in Chile recently discovered a slew of 50 exoplanets, all in one go. Among these highly promising finds, lies a rocky planet, with a mass 3.6 times that of our Earth, which might offer conditions to support life. Dubbed HD 85512b, the super-Earth planet is located in […]
It’s already the third year in which the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London is hosting the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, and the winner has been chosen out of some 800 entries. Categories were ‘Earth and Space’, ‘Our Solar System’, ‘Deep Space’ and ‘Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year’, and there was also an […]
Kepler 19c, an invisible world, was discovered solely through the gravitational influence it has on its companion world, Kepler 19b. Nothing else is known about it, other that it exists. When you’re five minutes late, a lot of bad things can happen. You can miss an appointment, lose reservations, or just annoy people; but when […]
Virgin Galactic, Virgin’s commercial space flight branch, just recently announced that the first phase in the construction of the world’s first spaceport available to civilian consumers has been completed, making the ambitious project 90% complete. ‘Spaceport America’, as it’s been dubbed, is being built on an 18,000-acre site in the desolate sand plains of New […]
After hurricane Irene, the wildfires ravaging through texas are also visible for astronauts on the International Space Station, as these new pictures sent by them reveal. It was especially sad for NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, because Bastrop State Park, one of the damaged areas, is a favorite spot of his. He specifically asked to be […]
A group of scientists and engineers from the United Kingdom are working on an ambitious program to revive their only satellite – still in orbit after 40 years. When the Prospero spacecraft was launched atop a Black Arrow rocket on 28 October 1971, it was pretty much the end of an era; the end of […]
If you look at this picture, you will probably see what can only be described as an unremarkable, even faint star. But this ancient star, in the constellation of Leo (The Lion), called SDSS J102915+172927 has astrophysicists scratching their heads, searching for new answers. A team of European astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) […]
Using 14 years of images put together, astronomers have managed to animate the fantastic chaos that takes place inside the supersonic jets of newborn stars. Using pictures taken from 1994 to 2008 and a little image animation, NASA astronomers managed to put together these videos of supersonic jets being ejected out of stars. “We’r trying […]
A few days ago we were telling you about the possibility of the International Space Station being temporarily evacuated, given the recent failures of the Russian Soyuz spacecrafts. NASA International Space Station Program Manager Mike Suffred says evacuation is a certain possibility if the Soyuz rockets don’t fix their problems until then, which is very […]
Hurricane Irene is shredding down the US East Coast, growing to be larger and more dangerous than meterologists have predicted. Even from outer space, it looks absolutely frightening. NASA astronaut Mike Fossum said that Hurricane Irene has had the unmistakable evolution of a major hurricane, and this can be observed from orbit. “We saw a […]
