Dare mighty things: Curiosity on Mars (w/video)
Aug 10th, 2012
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Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines
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To the stars: NASA selects small spacecraft technology demonstration missions
NASA has chosen three teams to advance the state of the art for small spacecraft in the areas of communications, formation flying and docking systems. The cutting-edge space technology flights are expected to take place in 2014 and 2015.
Aug 10th, 2012
Read moreNASA's Curiosity beams back a color 360 of Gale Crater
The first images from Curiosity's color Mast Camera, or Mastcam, have been received by scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The 130 low-resolution thumbnails, which were received Thursday morning, provide scientists and engineers of NASA's newest Mars rover their first color, horizon-to-horizon glimpse of Gale Crater.
Aug 9th, 2012
Read morePlenty of dark matter near the Sun
An international team of researchers used a state-of-the-art simulation of the Milky Way to test their mass-measuring method before applying it to real data. This threw up a number of surprises: they noticed that standard techniques used over the past twenty years were biased, always tending to underestimate the amount of dark matter.
Aug 9th, 2012
Read moreNew 3D map of massive galaxies and black holes offers clues to dark matter, dark energy
Astronomers have constructed the largest-ever three-dimensional map of massive galaxies and distant black holes, which will help the investigation of the mysterious "dark matter" and "dark energy" that make up 96 percent of the universe.
Aug 8th, 2012
Read moreTransformed X-48c flies successfully
The aircraft, designed by The Boeing Co. and built by Cranfield Aerospace Limited of the United Kingdom, is flying again in partnership with NASA. The new X-48C model, which was formerly the X-48B Blended Wing Body aircraft, was modified to evaluate the low-speed stability and control of a low-noise version of a notional, future Hybrid Wing Body aircraft design.
Aug 7th, 2012
Read moreAstronomers crack mystery of the 'monster' stars
In 2010 scientists discovered four 'monster' sized stars, with the heaviest more than 300 times as massive as our Sun. Scientists have now found an explanation: the ultramassive stars were created from the merger of lighter stars in tight binary systems.
Aug 7th, 2012
Read moreNASA lands Curiosity rover beside Martian mountain
NASA's most advanced Mars rover Curiosity has landed on the Red Planet. The one-ton rover, hanging by ropes from a rocket backpack, touched down onto Mars Sunday to end a 36-week flight and begin a two-year investigation.
Aug 6th, 2012
Read moreAre we alone? NASA's Mars rover aims to find out
Are we alone? Or was there life on another planet? NASA's $2.5 billion dream machine, the Mars Science Laboratory, aims to take the first steps toward finding out when it nears Mars' surface on Monday. NASA said it will find out if its Mars Science Laboratory and rover, Curiosity - designed to hunt for soil-based signatures of life and send back data to prepare for a future human mission - landed safely at 1:31 am Eastern time on Monday.
Aug 5th, 2012
Read moreNASA investigates proton radiation effects on cells
A team of researchers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., has found radiation from protons could further enhance a process that occurs during tumor progression. This information may help lead to better methods to protect astronauts from the harmful effects of radiation in space, as well as help cancer researchers on Earth better understand the effects of radiation treatment on the human body.
Aug 4th, 2012
Read moreSigns changing fast for Voyager at solar system edge
Two of three key signs of changes expected to occur at the boundary of interstellar space have changed faster than at any other time in the last seven years, according to new data from NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft.
Aug 3rd, 2012
Read moreSupernova progenitor found?
New research, led by Stella Kafka of the Carnegie Institution for Science in the United States, identifies a star system, prior to explosion, which will possibly become a type Ia supernova.
Aug 3rd, 2012
Read more2012 NASA advanced technology concepts selected for study
NASA's Space Technology Program is turning science fiction into science fact. The program has selected 28 proposals for study under the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program.
Aug 1st, 2012
Read moreThin current sheets in space: where the action is
Around Earth, the processes accelerating electrons which hit the atmosphere and cause beautiful auroras are often initiated in thin current sheets. Similar processes, auroras and thin current sheets are found around other planets such as Jupiter and Saturn.
Aug 1st, 2012
Read moreNew Mars Rover digitally designed and tested
NASA scientists used software from Siemens to help create the new Mars rover Curiosity, which is currently on its way to Mars.
Jul 31st, 2012
Read moreTaking the heat: Aeroshell to protect NASA's Mars Science Laboratory on descent through Martian atmosphere
After a journey of 245 days across 352 million miles, the moment of truth for the Mars Science Laboratory begins late in the evening of August 5 when the spacecraft roars into the Martian atmosphere, traveling at 13,200 miles an hour. The final seven minutes will determine the fate of the mission, and a perfect performance of the Lockheed Martin Space Systems aeroshell is absolutely vital to getting the Mars Curiosity Rover safely down on the sands of Mars.
Jul 26th, 2012
Read moreNASA X-ray concept inspired from a roll of Scotch tape
The inspiration behind NASA scientist Maxim Markevitch's quest to build a highly specialized X-ray mirror using a never-before-tried technique comes from an unusual source: a roll of Scotch tape.
Jul 26th, 2012
Read moreNew eye sweeps the gamma sky
Largest ever Cherenkov telescope sees first light.
Jul 26th, 2012
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