A technical glitch has forced managers to postpone by two days the long-awaited launch of NASA's Gravity Probe-B spacecraft that will check key aspects of Einstein's general theory of relativity.
A team of astronomers from Denmark, Switzerland and Sweden has achieved a major breakthrough in our understanding of the Milky Way, the galaxy in which we live. After more than 1,000 nights of observations spread over 15 years, they have determined the spatial motions of more than 14,000 solar-like stars residing in the neighborhood of the Sun.
NASA's successful X-43A hypersonic research aircraft flight resulted in a treasure trove of scramjet data. The initial data review confirmed high-fidelity flight data was obtained throughout the vehicle's boost, stage separation and descent to splash down.
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced it has issued the world's first license for a sub-orbital manned rocket flight. The license is to Scaled Composites of Mojave, Calif., headed by aviation record-holder Burt Rutan, for a sequence of sub-orbital flights spanning a one-year period.
It could have launched Apollo 18, but it never got off the ground. Still, the Saturn V rocket on display at NASA's Johnson Space Center has long outlived its sisters that took men to the moon between 1969 and 1972.
PanAmSat announced that it has decided to de-orbit one of its in-orbit international spares, PAS-6, due to a failure in the satellite's power system. The Loral-built craft was launched in 1997.
Northrop Grumman Corporation has developed and successfully tested a Reaction Control Subsystem engine for next-generation reusable space launch and transportation vehicles. The new engine burns nontoxic propellants, an achievement that enhances safety, reliability and affordability.
A rare celestial event was captured by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory as Titan -- Saturn's largest moon and the only moon in the Solar System with a thick atmosphere -- crossed in front of the X-ray bright Crab Nebula. The X-ray shadow cast by Titan allowed astronomers to make the first X-ray measurement of the extent of its atmosphere.
Since October 2001 NASA's Genesis spacecraft has exposed specially designed, collector arrays of sapphire, silicon, gold and diamond to the sun's solar wind. That collection of pristine particles of the sun came to an end last week when the spacecraft's collectors deactivated and stowed. The sample-return capsule lands on Earth later this year.
NASA's Aura spacecraft, the latest in the Earth Observing System series, arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., to begin launch preparations. The 22.5-foot-tall, 3.25-ton satellite will serve as a space-based chemical laboratory, helping scientists to better understand the Earth's ozone, air quality and climate.
Largest Moon In The Solar System Imaged From Earth
Titan, the largest moon of Saturn was discovered by Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens in 1655 and certainly deserves its name. With a diameter of no less than 5,150 km, it is larger than Mercury and twice as large as Pluto. It is unique in having a hazy atmosphere of nitrogen, methane and oily hydrocarbons.
One of the world's most advanced telescope facilities, Very Large Telescope, situated in the Atacama Desert in Chile, celebrated its fifth birthday April 1. During its short history the telescope has captured some breathtaking images furthering our knowledge about the far reaches of our Universe.
The same technology that powers the Space Shuttle into orbit may now help children, thanks to a tiny heart pump recently approved for implantation in young, critically ill patients.
Radio Astronomers Lift 'Fog' On Milky Way's Dark Heart
Thirty years after astronomers discovered the mysterious object at the exact center of our Milky Way Galaxy, an international team of scientists has finally succeeded in directly measuring the size of that object, which surrounds a black hole nearly four million times more massive than the Sun.
EADS Space has made significant progress in completing the first definition of a European Mars Sample Return mission. While EADS Astrium is defining the overall mission and the spacecraft, EADS Space Transportation is responsible for the re-entry systems and a 'Mars Ascent Vehicle' - a small rocket to carry the precious sample up through the Martian atmosphere.
As Cassini closes in on Saturn, its view is growing sharper with time and now reveals new atmospheric features in the planet's southern hemisphere. This latest image was taken when the spacecraft was 35 million miles from Saturn, or slightly more than one-third of the distance from Earth to the Sun.
Detecting or constraining the possible time variations of fundamental physical constants is an important step toward a complete understanding of basic physics and hence the world in which we live. A step in which astrophysics proves most useful.
Plans for the next crew rotation on the International Space Station are on schedule. On Thursday, managers conducted a Stage Operations Readiness Review and found no constraints to the planned April 19 launch of the Soyuz carrying Expedition 9.
SpaceDev Awarded $43 Million For Six MDA Satellites
SpaceDev announced that it has been awarded a five-year $43 million cost-plus-fixed fee indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract by the Missile Defense Agency to conduct a micro satellite distributed sensing experiment, an option for a laser communications experiment, and other micro satellite studies and experiments as required in support of the Advanced System Deputate.
Clues from a wind-scalloped volcanic rock on Mars investigated by NASA's Spirit rover suggest repeated possible exposures to water inside Gusev Crater, scientists said Thursday.
Gusev is halfway around the planet from the Meridiani region where Spirit's twin, Opportunity, recently found evidence that water used to flow across the surface.
Astronomer Tells Congress Of Lunar Water Challenges
The discovery of accessible deposits of water on the moon would "profoundly" affect the economics and viability of a lunar base, a Cornell University astronomer said Thursday. Unfortunately, he said, recovering water deposits will not be an easy task, since they are likely to exist in the bottoms of very cold, permanently dark craters at the moon's poles.
Builders Of Ancient Tombs, Temples Followed The Stars
Two studies of ancient monuments in southwest Europe reveal the influence the Sun and stars had on their builders according to Dr Michael Hoskin, a historian of astronomy at Cambridge University.
Hunt For Extrasolar Earth-Like Planets Intensifies
An international group of astronomers are about to continue their hunt for extrasolar planets with an enhanced world-wide telescope network in May. They are hoping to secure the firm evidence for the existence of Earth-mass planets orbiting stars other than the Sun, which has so far eluded astronomers.
More than 100 planetary systems have already been discovered around distant stars. How many of the known exoplanetary systems might contain habitable Earth-type planets? Perhaps half of them, according to a team using computer modeling to calculate the likelihood of any 'Earths' existing in the so-called habitable zone.
Dozens Of 'Mini-Galaxies' Discovered By Astronomers
A new survey made with the Anglo-Australian Telescope has revealed dozens of previously unsuspected miniature galaxies in the nearby Fornax galaxy cluster. They belong to a class of galaxies dubbed "ultra-compact dwarfs."
Searching For Life On Icy Worlds Of Outer Solar System
At present, we know of no worlds beyond our Earth where life exists. However, primitive organisms on our planet have evolved and adapted over billions of years, colonizing the most inhospitable places.
Astronomers have collected the first clear evidence that the Andromeda Galaxy, also known as M31, is pulling one of its bright satellite galaxies apart, and discovered 14 previously unknown globular clusters orbiting far from the center of M31 which could have been left behind when Andromeda devoured their parent galaxies.
When the European Huygens probe on the Cassini space mission parachutes down through the opaque smoggy atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan early next year, it may find itself splashing into a sea of liquid hydrocarbons. In what is probably the first piece of "extraterrestrial oceanography" ever carried out, scientists have calculated how any seas on Titan would compare with Earth's oceans.
During recent observations from the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft in orbit around Mars, methane was detected in its atmosphere. Whilst it is too early to draw any conclusions on its origin, exciting as they may be, scientists are thinking about the next steps to take in order to understand more.
Astronomers have discovered ten previously unknown likely black holes in the Andromeda Galaxy by means of a powerful new search technique they have devised. The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest neighboring spiral galaxy, 2.5 million light years away.
World astronomers are becoming very concerned about their ability to carry out observations in ultraviolet light following recent announcements about the future of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Reflector Successfully Deployed On MBSAT Satellite
The 12-meter (40-foot) diameter furlable mesh reflector system successfully deployed aboard the MBSAT satellite early Monday. The craft was launched earlier this month aboard an Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral.
Wind-blown clouds and haze high in Saturn's atmosphere are captured in a movie made from images taken by the Cassini narrow angle camera. In the movie, atmospheric motions can be seen most clearly in the equatorial region and at other southern latitudes.
The Chandra X-ray Observatory image of N49B, the remains of an exploded star, shows a cloud of multimillion degree gas that has been expanding for about 10,000 years. A specially processed version of this image reveals unexpectedly large concentrations of the element magnesium.
