Space & Astronomy News

A small chunk of space trash made an uncomfortably close pass by the International Space Station late Friday, but not close enough to force the astronauts aboard to take shelter in their Russian lifeboats.

A Seattle-based team has won $900,000 in this year's Space Elevator Games, a NASA-sponsored contest to build machines powered by laser beams that can climb a cable in the sky.

When a NASA spacecraft rammed into the moon in October, it tossed up a hard-to-see plume of lunar material.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US space probe MESSENGER's third and final fly-by of the planet Mercury in September revealed an almost complete view of the solar system's smallest planet, leaving only the polar regions to be surveyed, NASA said.

A small piece of space junk will fly uncomfortably close to the International Space Station late Friday and may force astronauts aboard the outpost to take shelter in their Russian lifeboats.

WASHINGTON - A former top NASA official was sentenced Friday to three years probation, six months of electronic monitoring and a $2,500 fine for steering contract money to a private client.

Pull me up, Scotty. At least one team has qualified for part of a $2 million prize up for grabs in this year's Space Elevator Games, a NASA-sponsored contest to build machines that can climb a cable in the sky – precursors for a futuristic transit system to space.

One of the greatest mysteries of astronomy is the problem of the missing mass: All of the matter scientists can see in the universe accounts for only a small percent of the observed gravity.

Space explorers have yet to get their hands on the replicator of "Star Trek" to create anything they might require. But NASA has developed a technology that could enable lunar colonists to carry out on-site manufacturing on the moon, or allow future astronauts to create critical spare parts during the long trip to Mars.

The supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, one of the youngest in our galaxy and one that has long puzzled astronomers, is likely a dense type of star called a neutron star swathed in a carbon atmosphere, a new study finds.

Striking new photos of water-vapor geysers erupting from Saturn's moon Enceladus were beamed to Earth this week by NASA's Cassini spacecraft in orbit around the ringed planet.

LONDON (AFP) - The X-ray was on Wednesday named the most important modern scientific achievement in a poll conducted for the Science Museum, beating Apollo spacecraft and DNA.

SANTIAGO (AFP) - Astronomers in Chile and Japan have for the first time seen part of the "cosmic web" of galaxies that permeates the known universe in a gigantic assembly some seven billion light-years from Earth.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Tuesday it is now tracking 800 maneuverable satellites on a daily basis for possible collisions and expects to add 500 more non-maneuvering satellites by year's end.

PARIS (AFP) - A satellite sent into orbit to study the effects of global warming has successfully deployed three antenna arms that will track the oceans, the European Space Agency said Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A California-based firm was named winner of a one-million-dollar prize backed by US space agency NASA to design a craft capable of a lunar landing, a statement said Tuesday.

A NASA spacecraft has spotted what appears to be changing seasons on Mercury and found much more iron on the surface of the small, rocky planet than previously thought.

A California-based team of engineers has snagged a $1 million NASA prize by winning a pitched competition to fly homemade rockets on mock moon landing missions.

A gigantic, previously unknown set of galaxies has been found in the distant universe, shedding light on the underlying skeleton of the cosmos.

NASA's Mercury mission spacecraft, Messenger, is revolutionizing humanity's view of the first rock from the sun. And its primary science mission hasn't even started yet.

LOS ANGELES - A team of California rocketeers has won a $1 million prize in a simulated lunar landing contest backed by NASA.

WASHINGTON — Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has requested a Feb. 2 launch date for the maiden flight of its new Falcon 9 rocket, according to a recent launch range forecast issued by the U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing.

Circle Nov. 17 on your calendar, for early that morning a moderate to possibly very strong showing of annual Leonid meteor shower is likely.

NASA's Mars rover Spirit is suffering a new bout of amnesia, one that comes after months of being stuck in deep Martian sand.

Japan's first unmanned space cargo ship cast off from the International Space Station Friday as it nears the end of a successful maiden voyage.

NASA engineers still aren't sure what went wrong with a pair of parachutes that failed during Wednesday's Ares I-X rocket test flight, causing damage to the spent booster when it splashed into the Atlantic Ocean harder than planned.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A University of Florida professor and his wife are accused in a federal indictment of receiving some $3.7 million in bogus contracts from NASA and other government agencies.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Two of three parachutes malfunctioned in the test flight of a prototype moon rocket earlier this week, causing major damage to the booster, NASA said Friday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - NASA has given the green light for the space shuttle Atlantis mission to launch on November 16 carrying six astronauts to the International Space Station.