Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines

Life on an aquaplanet

Study finds an exoplanet, tilted on its side, could still be habitable if covered in ocean.

December 17, 2014 Read more

Rover Curiosity finds active, ancient organic chemistry on Mars

NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has measured a tenfold spike in methane, an organic chemical, in the atmosphere around it and detected other organic molecules in a rock-powder sample collected by the robotic laboratory's drill.

December 16, 2014 Read more

MAVEN mission identifies links in chain leading to atmospheric loss

Early discoveries by NASA's newest Mars orbiter are starting to reveal key features about the loss of the planet's atmosphere to space over time.

December 15, 2014 Read more

Stretched-out solid exoplanets

Astronomers could soon be able to find rocky planets stretched out by the gravity of the stars they orbit, according to a group of researchers.

December 15, 2014 Read more

Nuclear fragments could help uncover the origins of life-supporting planets

New Research describes how recreating isotopes that occur when a star explodes, can help physicists understand where life-supporting elements may be found in space.

December 12, 2014 Read more

Researchers use real data rather than theory to measure the cosmos

For the first time researchers have measured large distances in the Universe using data, rather than calculations related to general relativity.

December 12, 2014 Read more

Swarms of Pluto-size objects kick-up dust around adolescent Sun-like star

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array may have detected the dusty hallmarks of an entire family of Pluto-size objects swarming around an adolescent version of our own Sun.

December 12, 2014 Read more

Interstellar mystery solved by supercomputer simulations

An interstellar mystery of why stars form has been solved thanks to the most realistic supercomputer simulations of galaxies yet made. Theoretical astrophysicists found that stellar activity - like supernova explosions or even just starlight - plays a big part in the formation of other stars and the growth of galaxies.

December 11, 2014 Read more

Rosetta findings fuel debate on origin of Earth's water

First measurements by the Rosetta mission's ROSINA instrument show that the deuterium-to-hydrogen (D/H) ratio of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is highly enriched in deuterium. These results contradict the theory that the water present in the Earth's atmosphere and oceans has a cometary origin.

December 11, 2014 Read more

Researchers detect possible signal from dark matter (w/video)

Scientists have picked up an atypical photon emission in X-rays coming from space, and say it could be evidence for the existence of a particle of dark matter. If confirmed, it could open up new perspectives in cosmology.

December 11, 2014 Read more

How does space travel affect organ development?

An experiment, scheduled to go aboard the International Space Station, will explore the effects of weightlessness and low-dose radiation.

December 10, 2014 Read more

Astronomers identify gas spirals as a nursery of twin stars

With the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observation, astronomers found spiral arms of molecular gas and dust around the 'baby twin' stars, binary protostars. Gas motions to supply materials to the twin were also identified.

December 9, 2014 Read more

The first X-ray diffraction measurements on Mars

In 2012 the Mars Science Laboratory landed in the fascinating Gale crater. The Gale crater is of such great interest because of the 5.5 km high mountain of layered materials in the middle. This material tells an intricate story of the history of Mars, perhaps spanning much of the existence of this mysterious planet.

December 8, 2014 Read more

New research offers explanation for Titan dune puzzle

New research shows that winds on Titan must blow faster than previously thought to move sand. The discovery may explain how the dunes were formed.

December 8, 2014 Read more

First glance at a new world

NASA's Dawn spacecraft sends image of dwarf planet Ceres, to Earth.

December 8, 2014 Read more

Physicist presents new observational solar weather model

Scientists now have an observational framework to help predict solar weather and how it will affect Earth.

December 8, 2014 Read more

Powering space craft of the future

The BAE Systems initiative seeks to find energy-saving and maximising solutions to enable eco-friendly aircraft to stay in space for long periods of time without the need to return to earth to re-fuel or to avoid carrying vast amounts of heavy fuel on long-stay journeys.

December 8, 2014 Read more

The dark fingers of the solar atmosphere

Researchers explain structures in solar eruptions which have been a mystery until now.

December 5, 2014 Read more