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Tuesday will mark the 50th year since human space flight, since the day Yuri Gagarin left Russia and became the first man to go in outer space, as well as the 30th anniversary of the launch of the shuttle Discovery, the legendary but already retired space shuttle. This is the day when NASA will announce […]
In a surprising move that didn’t get quite a lot of attention, the FBI released an online document archive they’re calling the Vault, in which they openly address, among other things, the alleged aliens and flying saucers found at Roswell. Yes, it’s about little green men, like the ones who are usually portrayed in movies. […]
It’s not that uncommon for two stars to dance, but when three of them get together, and dance without singing, now that’s something uncommon. What do I mean ? Well, binary star systems are not really only in Star Wars, they’re quite common throughout the galaxy, but as it turns out, trinary systems might not […]
NASA engineers and technicians are making the last adjustments to the Mars Rover, which is about the size of a small SUV; the rover is set to be sent to Florida for launch later this year, so everybody’s in a hurry and trying to make everything as fast as they can, without making any mistake […]
The Draco constellation (which is Latin for Dragon) is located at about 3.8 billion light years from Earth; just like every dragon that has at least some common sense, it breathes fire, especially after carelessly eating a nearby star. Rewind. A mysterious cosmic blast in the Draco constellation is causing waves that continue to […]
I was quite pleasantly surprised by Universe in a Sandbox. It is one of the best pieces of software I’ve come across lately; you get the ultimate power, create and destroy galaxies, run virtually any astronomic simulation you want, but most of all, you get to explore and learn about the very universe you live […]
Researchers and astronomy amateurs alike should leave a few days open in their November calendar and prepare for something awesome; one of the major and potentially perilous (in time) asteroids will be making a flyby this year. The asteroid, 2005 YU55 is a round small world with a diameter of 400 meters. The asteroid will […]
NASA is going through one of it’s hardest periods ever, but that doesn’t mean that the space research and industry is too; take a look at SpaceX, a private company that already successfully launched a rocket, Falcon, into outer space last year. Now, they’re planning something even bigger. Falcon Heavy has about twice as […]
Once again NASA‘s amazing “astronomy picture of the day” feature provides us with pure gold. The above captioned stunning photo (click on it and you’ll understand it’s splendor) was shot by astrophotographer Juan Carlos Casado during a clear night sky – the fully 360 across panorama was imaged by superimposing 9 separate photographs. This how […]
The dawn of a new space era has begun – the commercial space era! As governments constantly cut space exploration budgets, the world is forced to turn its gaze upon the private sector which is more than willing to lend a commercial hand to space agencies. Space tourism, satellite orbit delivery, ISS cargo taxi, you […]
Remarkably, a growing issue NASA scientists face everyday is space junk – tiny bits of scrap, bolts, rocket modules from launches and so on. All of them along the years have amassed to a point where it is now very dangerous for satellites, orbiting spacecrafts and especially the International Space Station to freely orbit Earth. […]
As long as space and science is concerned, April is clearly Yuri Gagarin month, the first man in space, celebrating 50 years since his historic orbital flight. Besides having a Soyuz spacecraft named after him, another recent celebration of Yuri Gagarin include the erection of a statue in London in his honor. The zinc-alloy figure […]
Our solar system appears to exist inside a “bubble”, inside a network of cavities inside the interstellar medium, which was probably created by massive star explosions millions billions of years ago. Interstellar medium (ISM) is a term coined for the matter that exists in galaxies, between solar systems. This matter includes gas in ionic, atomic, […]
It’s a pretty busy period for the people over at the International Space Station (ISS). Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome last night paid tribute to Yuri Gagarin as the Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft named after the first man to walk into space blasted off towards the ISS. A week from now, on April 12, we will be celebrating […]
As a somewhat interesting story, I’ve just read on SpaceWeather that the new sub-orbital pseudo-shuttle military space plane, the X-37B, has been spotted on the sky by various astronomers around the US as its surface shined above the stratosphere. I’ve tried to inquire and find out what’s the purpose of the X-37B’s just recent circling […]
As far as science goes, most of the time size really does matter. Think of a tiny amateur telescope how insignificant it seems, but yet how revealing it can be for the observer – multiply this by a million times the effect and size and you’ve got yourself the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), one of […]
After Discovery, another legendary orbited is heading towards retirement – Endeavour is only one mission away from a lifetime of well deserved rest. But until that, the astronauts which will ride Endeavour on its last trip are preparing intensely for it; after all, they have to prepare a major astrophysics experiment, as well as deliver […]
Contrary to what you might expect, a recent published study unveiled by scientists shows a map of our planet’s gravity, which resembles not a sphere, but more a … potato. This is because the Earth’s gravity isn’t uniform, being affected everyday by such factors like winds, currents and tides, so because gravity is higher in […]
The planet closest to the sun is very hot, yet very cold at the same time. It may even be a bit icy. The Mercury Messenger spacecraft entered the planet’s orbit on March 17, and since then, NASA has showed some of the pictures taken by it, which are absolutely amazing. The visit to Mercury […]
Yesterday, Japan’s unmanned space freighter Kounotori 2, of the H-2 Transfer Vehicle class, intentionally entered Earth’s atmosphere where it crashed and burned after its two months mission supplying the International Spate Station – with it a slew of junk off the space station was dumped. Attached to the H-2 Transfer Vehicle was also a sensor […]
The Japanese seem to have not lost one inch of the determination to push science forward after the major earthquake, the tsunamis it generated, and the colateral damage that comes with such a tragic event (power shortages, infrastructure damage, and most of all, radiation danger from nuclear plants). They are now trying to trim the […]
Currently, there are two operational (hopefully) NASA rovers located on Mars; the first one, Opportunity, is exceeding all expectations, and is functioning better than anyone would have predicted. The second one however, Spirit, has been silent for more than a year. It seems like a really long shot, but NASA is going to make one […]
Time is growing shorter and shorter for the people working on the development of the Mars exploration program, and as we are getting closer to the launch date, some plans are continued, while others are scraped. Such was the case with the 3D camera for the next robotic rover that will be sent to Mars, […]
The discovery of a new black hole is always an interesting event; this time, researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) have managed to get the first spectroscopic data from the binary system in case, and found that it contains a black hole, which is quite rare, at least according to out […]
While almost anyone in the world has an image in their head of Neil Armstrong making mankind’s hugest steps, in the case of a similarly important historical astronautical milestone there isn’t any video footage of Yuri Gagarin’s 1961 orbit around the world – just audio radio conversations. Yuri Gagarin was the first human to journey […]
A successful manned mission to Mars would launch mankind into a new space era, marking a historical moment; and however distant this prospect may be, scientists at NASA are already working on space suits tailored for the Martian environment. The NDX-1 space suit, designed by Argentine aerospace engineer Pablo de Leon with NASA funding, was […]
Astronomers usually classify stellar objects by a spectra going from hotter to cooler, using the letters O, B, A, F, G, K, and M. As observational technology progressed and a myriad of new astronomical findings were made, in the last 15 years alone two new classes L and T emerged designed to describe ultracool brown […]
It’s one of the most emotional and disturbing space stories I have ever read; the Soviet cosmonaut is on the phone with Alexsei Kosygin, one of the highest officials, and he is crying because he knows he will die. Kosygin is crying to, because he too knows there is no hope. As Vladimir Komarov is […]
Romantics and astronomy aficionados alike (much of the same aren’t they?) will rejoice as this Saturday a rare spectacle of the moon will occur when it will come around closest its been to the Earth in 18 years! Much like planetary movement, Earth natural satellite movement is an ellipse, meaning it has points where its […]
As reported earlier on Thursday morning, the Messenger NASA spacecraft was scheduled for an evening jump into Mercury’s orbit through a tricky maneuver which involved a “burn” – essentially “riding its brakes” by firing its main thruster – to slow the spacecraft enough to be captured by Mercury’s gravity. At 8:45 p.m. ET, the procedure […]
On Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, precipitations under the form of methane has scientists staggered. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, through the use of its infrared camera, detected signs of heavy spring rain of the highly flammable liquefied natural gas sprinkling across vast fields of dunes near Titan’s equator. “They see for the very first time evidence of […]
After a six year journey in which it traveled over 6 billion miles, the Messenger spacecraft is finally anticipated to enter Mercury’s orbit in a tricky maneuver which is scheduled today, which should mark the first man-made object to orbit the tiny planet. The goal of the mission is to provide scientists with data on […]
A lot of critics are raving towards the end of the space exploration age, as aerospace budgets get ever thinner, shuttle programs get retired or the fact that the lunar surface has remained unscratched by human hand for years and years. Where governments might fail, however, one can always put faith in the ever much […]
Junk is not only limited to our planet, we have a problem with space pollution as well. In 1978, a brilliant NASA researcher named Donald Kessler predicted that a collision between two pieces of space junk could trigger a cascade of further impacts, which would create a significant quantity of debris which would then cause […]
The process of starbirth is a beautiful yet violent one; newborn stars spew material into the surrounding gas, creating surreal photos, often with glowing bulbs, arcs or streaks. This kind of picture is always spectacular, and ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) managed to catch quite a few of them on camera, delighting astronomers and the […]
Amidst all the stuff that’s going on for NASA right now, they can still find the resources to strike a $753 million deal with Russia for 12 round trips to the International Space Station, paying about $63 million a seat. “It’s an 8.5 percent annual increase,” NASA spokesman Josh Bluck told Space.com, referring to the […]
As a consequence of last Friday’s devastating earthquake near the coast of Japan, the nation’s most powerful recorded earthquake to date actually since it began archiving results in the late 1800, scientists have assessed that the Earth axis has tilted by a few inches and that the chronological day has been shortened by a millionth […]
The Opportunity Rover is one brave little guy – he managed to defeat even the most optimistic of predictions, functioning several years after its primary objective was fulfilled. But now, he is little more than a bluish speck on this picture of the Santa Maria crater on the surface of Mars, taken by the Mars […]
It’s been quite a while since we published anything about the Cassini mission, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been active. The information it keeps sending back to Earth is priceless, and at some points, totally surprising. This was also the case of the Saturn Moon Enceladus, which appears to give out much more heat […]
The joint exploration by NASA and ESA, encompassing joint efforts from the American and European space agency seemed like a dream come true for astronomers from both sides. Especially after the European side designed and started building the Mars Rover, everything appeared to go in the right direction. But the issues NASA is facing at […]
They came from Mars; they invaded our planet billions of years ago. But they were small, and came with rocks instead of spaceships. At least that’s what Christopher Carr from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) thinks. He claims that sheltered within meteorite rocks, microbial Martians could have survived the cold dark space, and make […]
As I told you yesterday, the Discovery shuttle is preparing for a well deserved retirement, after 365 days spent in space, during which it traveled more than 150 million miles. All systems are go for landing at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, thus concluding its 13th and final mission. The shuttle left the International Space Station […]
When launched in 1984, Discovery was top notch; it was the best available around, and only the third operational orbiter; now, after 3 flights, over five thousand orbits and no less than 365 days spent in space, during which it traveled 150 million miles Discovery left the International Space Station (ISS) for the last time; […]
In case you have no idea who Carl Sagan is… well, you should, basically. Carl Sagan is one of those men who brought science to the people, making numerous fields such as astronomy, astrophysics, exobiology, and many, many more accessible for the masses. He published more than six hundred research papers and popular science works, […]
Two days ago, the whole world was teeming with excitement, after some NASA researchers reported finding traces of alien life in meteorites; now, even their employer distances itself from them, and the whole scientific world seems to frown upon this work. However, in what is a very unusual move, NASA has denied any involvement with […]
NASA is going through a whole lot during period: discussions about budget cuts, problems with launches, even with Hubble, and many, many more smaller or bigger problems are denting one of the finest organizations in the world. But a pair of costly satellite crashes mean dealt an even more severe blow to the space agency, […]
Whenever Boeing and NASA team up, you can bet your sweet lasers something wicked is going to happen; actually, the first logical thing that would come to mind is a space plane – and this is what they did. The US X-37B is now in orbit, after a successful launch that took place without any […]
Wherever it’s possible, life finds a way; the old saying seems to be more and more actual these days, with NASA and other space agencies reporting interesting discoveries that point towards life existing in many more other places other than our own planet. After rewriting the biology books with the arsenic eating microbe, NASA researchers […]
Yes, you’ve read that right. There are over 50 billion planets in our galaxy alone, according to the Kepler telescope, scientists now estimate that not only there are over 500 bilion planets in the galaxy, but that there are over 500 million life-cable planets out there as well. These numbers obviously come from Nasa’s own […]
As we were telling you recently, the biggest solar flare in the last 4 years is upon us, and while this doesn’t pose any direct danger for us, but the flare is making an impact throughout the world. Radio communications were disrupted, especially in China, but concern was generated everywhere throughout the world. However, experts […]
