Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines

Researchers publish enormous catalog of more than 300,000 nearby galaxies

More than 83,000 volunteer citizen scientists. Over 16 million galaxy classifications. Information on more than 300,000 galaxies. This is what you get when you ask the public for help in learning more about our universe.

September 24, 2013 Read more

A unique glance into the Sun's atmosphere

Data of the Sunrise observatory provide first detailed images of the chromosphere in ultraviolet light.

September 24, 2013 Read more

Voyager 1 magnetic data surprise intrigues researchers

A University of Alabama graduate student and a recent UAH doctoral graduate are exploring surprising data from Voyager 1's crossing of the heliopause into the interstellar medium of our galaxy.

September 24, 2013 Read more

Colossal explosion from supermassive black hole at centre of galaxy revealed (w/video)

Two million years ago a supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy erupted in an explosion so immensely powerful that it lit up a cloud 200,000 light years away, a team of researchers led by the University of Sydney has revealed.

September 24, 2013 Read more

The future of space exploration is robotic

Responding to a space exploration roadmap recently released by NASA and the International Space Exploration Coordination Group that calls for robotic and human missions to near-Earth asteroids, the Moon and Mars, Srilanth Saripalli argues that most of the arguments in favor of manned space exploration are based on near-sighted assumptions about emerging developments in robotics.

September 23, 2013 Read more

Scientists explain the formation of unusual ring of radiation in space

Since the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts, scientists believed these belts consisted of two rings of highly charged particles. In February, scientists reported the discovery of a previously unknown third radiation ring - a narrow ring that briefly circled the Earth for a month. UCLA space scientists have successfully modeled and explained the unprecedented behavior of this third ring, and show that its energetic particles are driven by very different physics than the others.

September 22, 2013 Read more

International partnership releases Space Exploration Benefits Paper

NASA and the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) released a white paper Friday outlining benefits of human exploration of space.

September 20, 2013 Read more

ESA's Cluster satellites in closest-ever 'dance in space'

Since 2000, the four identical satellites of the Cluster quartet have been probing Earth's magnetosphere in three dimensions. This week, two of them made their closest-ever approach, just 4 km, enabling valuable data to be acquired with unprecedented detail.

September 20, 2013 Read more

Curiosity Rover detects no methane on Mars

Data from NASA's Curiosity rover has revealed the Martian environment lacks methane. This is a surprise to researchers because previous data reported by U.S. and international scientists indicated positive detections.

September 19, 2013 Read more

Clues to the growth of the colossus in the Coma cluster

A team of astronomers has discovered enormous arms of hot gas in the Coma cluster of galaxies by using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA's XMM-Newton. These features, which span at least half a million light years, provide insight into how the Coma cluster has grown through mergers of smaller groups and clusters of galaxies to become one of the largest structures in the universe held together by gravity.

September 19, 2013 Read more

Long-stressed Europa likely off-kilter at one time

By analyzing the distinctive cracks lining the icy face of Europa, NASA scientists found evidence that this moon of Jupiter likely spun around a tilted axis at some point.

September 19, 2013 Read more

China's space station to open for foreign peers

China is willing to provide training and open the Chinese space station to foreign astronauts, senior space flight officials said.

September 19, 2013 Read more

Spacecraft aerocapture braking simulation marks key step towards real flight test

Researchers at EU-funded project AEROFAST ('Aerocapture for future space transportation') have successfully simulated a flight manoeuvre in which a space vehicle uses a planet's atmosphere to slow itself down.

September 18, 2013 Read more

A decade of successful planet hunting - HARPS celebrates its tenth birthday

On 16-17 September 2013 a scientific meeting in Geneva entitled 10 Years of Science with HARPS celebrated a decade of full operation of the High-Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) - the world's foremost planet hunter. The meeting paid tribute to the extraordinary scientific results HARPS has provided and the unrivalled window it opens onto one of the most exciting areas of current astronomical science - the search for and characterisation of planets around other stars.

September 18, 2013 Read more

Young stars cooking in the Prawn Nebula

The glowing jumble of gas clouds visible in this new image make up a huge stellar nursery nicknamed the Prawn Nebula. Taken using the VLT Survey Telescope at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile, this may well be the sharpest picture ever taken of this object. It shows clumps of hot new-born stars nestled in among the clouds that make up the nebula.

September 18, 2013 Read more

Experimental spaceplane shooting for 'aircraft-like' operations in orbit

New program seeks to lower satellite launch costs by developing a reusable hypersonic unmanned vehicle with costs, operation and reliability similar to traditional aircraft.

September 17, 2013 Read more

Study indicates space weather may be to blame for some satellite failures

MIT study finds that high-energy electrons in space may be to blame for some satellite failures.

September 16, 2013 Read more

Magnetic jet shows how stars begin their final transformation

Astronomers have for the first time found a jet of high-energy particles from a dying star. The discovery, by a team including Chalmers scientists, is a crucial step in explaining how some of the most beautiful objects in space are formed - and what happens when stars like the sun reach the end of their lives.

September 16, 2013 Read more