space – News Stories About space - Page 21

Japan Launches Super Speed Internet Satellite

Feb 23, 2008 1:33 PM CST

Japan Launches Super Speed Internet Satellite

Technology could lead to fast access across Asia

(Newser) - Japan today launched a satellite that, if successful, will be able to sling information across Japan and remote parts of Southeast Asia at high speeds and low cost, the AP reports. The satellite, dubbed “Kizuna,” won’t be used commercially–instead, scientists will run about 100 experiments on...

Sky's the Limit in Powerful
New Searches for Alien Life

Feb 21, 2008 4:27 AM CST

Sky's the Limit in Powerful New Searches for Alien Life

Pioneering technology rachets up ET hunt

(Newser) - Powerful new instruments will help scientists in their search for extra-terrestrial life, the Christian Science Monitor writes. New telescopes will make it possible for the SETI Institute to scan millions of star systems for alien radio signals. Only a thousand have been analyzed in detail so far, but the institute...

Space Shuttle Heads for Earth

Feb 18, 2008 7:58 AM CST

Space Shuttle Heads for Earth

Atlantis returns as March 11 flight rolls onto launch pad

(Newser) - The space shuttle Atlantis parted ways with the International Space Station this morning and headed back towards the confines of Earth, even as NASA was rolling another shuttle onto the launch pad, preparing for its March 11th mission. In its 9-day stay, Atlantis attached Europe’s first permanent laboratory to...

Satellite
Shootdown
May Cost $60M

Feb 16, 2008 11:51 AM CST

Satellite Shootdown May Cost $60M

Navy likely to take aim next week, after shuttle Atlantis returns

(Newser) - The Navy's attempt to shoot down a malfunctioning spy satellite will cost up to $60 million, CNN reports. Three Navy ships are preparing for the mission, which could take place next week, but only after the space shuttle Atlantis returns. The Navy hopes to destroy the satellite, which has half...

Astronauts Often a Bit Woozy

Feb 15, 2008 12:52 PM CST

Astronauts Often a Bit Woozy

Spacesickness a common malady for unearthly missions

(Newser) - We all know about carsickness and seasickness—but spacesickness? NASA is cagey about its vomiting astronauts, but about half of the 500 who’ve been to the final frontier suffer from “space adaptation syndrome,” reports Ned Potter for ABC News. So it comes as no surprise to Potter...

New Solar System Sparks Hope for
Other Life

Feb 15, 2008 4:10 AM CST

New Solar System Sparks Hope for Other Life

Maybe we're not alone, say astronomers

(Newser) - Excited astronomers say that the discovery of a solar system with strong similarities to our own raises the chances of other life out there. The system has two gas giants similar to Jupiter and Saturn orbiting at a similar distance from the alien sun 5,000 light years away, and...

Solar Lull May Trigger Ice Age

Feb 14, 2008 2:56 PM CST

Solar Lull May Trigger Ice Age

Global warming still dire despite sluggish sun, study says

(Newser) - Solar activity, which usually runs in 11-year cycles, has been so sluggish of late that space weathermen are worried we might be entering a mini-ice age. They expected to see sunspot activity pick up about last March, to peak in 2012; if the sun stays this sluggish for another year...

Risky Spacewalk Juices Up ISS

Jan 30, 2008 12:57 PM CST

Risky Spacewalk Juices Up ISS

7-hour mission on solar wing improves power supply

(Newser) - US astronauts pulled off a risky repair mission on the International Space Station’s troubled solar wing today, the AP reports. The possibility of electrical shock made the 7-hour spacewalk dangerous, forcing the team to wait until the station was on the dark side of the planet. “Yee-haw! Excellent,...

Spectacular Show Awaits Sky Gazers

Jan 26, 2008 2:58 PM CST

Spectacular Show Awaits Sky Gazers

Venus and Jupiter to converge, and the moon drops in, too

(Newser) - Sky gazers have an exceptional show awaiting them over the next couple of weeks, Space.com reports, and the most striking celestial sights will be in the early morning. Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets, will converge, forming a spectacular "double planet" low in the dawn light, and...

Probe Zips Over Mercury Today

Jan 14, 2008 4:33 AM CST

Probe Zips Over Mercury Today

Messenger will take 1,200 pictures from 124 miles up

(Newser) - NASA's Messenger spacecraft this afternoon will whiz past Mercury at 141,000 mph and snap an estimated 1,200 detailed photos of the planet's surface from a mere 124 miles up. It will be the first of three passes before the craft starts orbiting the planet closest to the sun...

Space Shuttle Astronauts Gain Fame

Jan 11, 2008 1:20 PM CST

Space Shuttle Astronauts Gain Fame

Hall to welcome 4 newcomers, including leader of Hubble launch mission

(Newser) - Four space shuttle pilots have taken one giant leap toward immortality, NASA announced this week: They'll make up the Astronaut Hal of Fame class of 2008. The inductees, who will be honored at a May ceremony, include the commanders who presided over the initial assembly of the International Space Station...

Asteroid Won't Slam Into Mars After All

Jan 11, 2008 4:24 AM CST

Asteroid Won't Slam Into Mars After All

Disappointed scientists were hoping to study collision

(Newser) - An asteroid heading toward Mars won't crash into it after all, according to disappointed scientists. They had initially calculated there was a 1-in-27 chance of the space rock hitting the red planet, but after new observations researchers estimate the odds are only 1 in 10,000, "effectively ruling out...

NASA Plans Daring Hubble Fix

Jan 9, 2008 12:42 PM CST

NASA Plans Daring Hubble Fix

Unprecedented spacewalk will make for spiffier 'scope

(Newser) - Astronauts will save—and drastically upgrade—the Hubble Space Telescope in an unprecedented mission this year, NewScientist Space reports. The mission will make the Hubble 90 times more powerful than it originally was, but will require spacewalkers to complete a delicate electronics repair job in zero gravity while wearing bulky...

'08 NASA Missions Called Risky

Jan 6, 2008 11:32 AM CST

'08 NASA Missions Called Risky

Space agency pushing up against 2010 deadline

(Newser) - NASA is speeding up its space shuttle flight schedule to meet the 2010 deadline for the completion of the International Space Station. This year alone, the space agency will launch six missions—twice the number of the last two years—and some experts worry that the crunch is a recipe...

Is Time Running Out on Time?

Jan 1, 2008 5:39 PM CST

Is Time Running Out on Time?

Scientists speculate that the universe is winding down and could one day stop

(Newser) - Astronomers have been scratching their heads for years trying to figure out why exploding stars at the very edge of the universe seem to be moving faster than ones in the middle. Some theories say the acceleration is due to mysterious "dark energy,"but a new one posits...

Mars Smash Looking Likelier

Dec 29, 2007 7:55 AM CST

Mars Smash Looking Likelier

Still a longshot, but cosmic collision now a 25-1 chance

(Newser) - Scientists say the chances of a giant asteroid smashing into Mars on January 30 have gone up steeply, the AP reports. It's still a 25-1 longshot, but stargazers have their fingers crossed. I think it'll be cool," said a NASA tracker. "Usually when an asteroid is headed toward...

Astronaut Grieves From Space Station

Dec 22, 2007 8:32 AM CST

Astronaut Grieves From Space Station

Tani speaks to family via teleconference to help plan mother's memorial service

(Newser) - Before they blast off for missions that could take months, NASA asks astronauts to choose if they want to learn if there's important news from home. Daniel Tani said yes, and is this week mourning his mother from space. Tani has chosen to continue his daily tasks, and yesterday spoke...

NASA Delays Mars Probe to 2013

Dec 21, 2007 6:40 PM CST

NASA Delays Mars Probe to 2013

Conflict of interest in purchasing phase pushes mission back

(Newser) - A conflict of interest has forced NASA to delay a scheduled Mars probe by two years and spend an extra $40 million, the Associated Press reports. The panel choosing between two firms for the mission had to be replaced, and because Mars is only within reach every 26 months, the...

Solar System Is Dented: Voyager

Dec 11, 2007 9:18 AM CST

Solar System Is Dented: Voyager

Intrepid spacecraft finds strange bulges in the heliosphere

(Newser) - Far out in space, a violent boundary zone marks the point where our solar system ends and outer space begins. NASA's Voyager 2 has now confirmed what its sister ship indicated: that this region is squashed and uneven, Space.com reports. This shock wave "sloshes back and forth like...

Astronauts Wire Up 'Harmony'

Nov 20, 2007 7:22 PM CST

Astronauts Wire Up 'Harmony'

Two spacewalkers attach a new room to international space station

(Newser) - Two astronauts set up a new room on the international space station today, the AP reports. Their relatively quick, successful work was greeted with smiles from Mission Control: The room has to be functional before NASA can send up its next shuttle, currently scheduled for a Dec. 6 launch, which...