Space & Astronomy News

NASA engineers are set to take a second go at extricating the stuck rover Spirit from its sandy trap on Mars.

A fireball over Utah overnight Tuesday was the talk of the state. And an asteroid that could have delivered nearly half the energy of the Hiroshima atom bomb whizzed past Earth earlier this month, NASA reported recently. Meanwhile, a meteor shower dazzled skywatchers around the globe early Tuesday morning.

The space shuttle Atlantis and its crew of six arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) Wednesday to drop off some massive spare parts for the orbiting laboratory.

A new image of the bulge at the center of a distant spiral galaxy, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, is giving astronomers insight into how these galactic paunches form.

SRINAGAR (AFP) - Wildlife experts in Indian-controlled Kashmir have fitted black bears with satellite-tracking collars to study their behaviour and help conserve the endangered animals, officials said Wednesday.

NEW DELHI - Thousands of stargazers across Asia stayed awake overnight to catch a glimpse of what was advertised as an intense Leonid meteor shower, but the show fizzled rather than sizzled for many because of cloudy conditions.

NASA's space shuttle Atlantis is closing in on the International Space Station and on track to link up with the orbiting laboratory later today.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - NASA and Microsoft launched an interactive website that allows Web surfers to become Mars explorers.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NASA plans next month to launch a space telescope that will scan the heavens for the infrared glow of celestial objects never seen because they are too dim, dusty or distant, scientists said on Tuesday.

NASA's Mars-exploring Spirit rover received its commands Tuesday to attempt an escape from a sand trap, but it made little progress because of a precarious tilt, mission managers reported today.

WASHINGTON — Astronauts aboard NASA's space shuttle Atlantis inspected their spacecraft's sensitive heat shield Tuesday for any signs of damage incurred during launch.

NASA's Mars-exploring Spirit rover has received its commands to attempt an escape from the sand trap it is stuck in and mission managers are waiting to hear back on the plucky robot's progress.

TOKYO (AFP) - NASA is ready to cooperate with China in space exploration, the head of the US agency said on Tuesday, as Beijing aims to send a manned mission to the moon by around 2020.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AFP) - NASA's Atlantis shuttle has blasted off with a haul of spare parts for the International Space Station and some microscopic worms that could explain muscle loss in space.

WASHINGTON — NASA hailed the flawless liftoff of space shuttle Atlantis Monday, a space shot that marked the agency's fifth shuttle launch of the year — a flight rate not seen since 2002, before the tragic Columbia accident.

WASHINGTON — The space shuttle Atlantis roared into space Monday afternoon to begin a vital 11-day delivery run to the International Space Station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AFP) - The space shuttle Atlantis blasted off Monday on a mission to carry spare parts to the International Space Station, NASA said.

The effort to free NASA's Spirit rover, currently mired in sand on Mars, will begin in earnest today, when engineers team send the first escape commands to the stuck robot to try to move out of its trap late tonight.

One of the best annual meteor showers will peak in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday, and for some skywatchers the show could be quite impressive.

The space shuttle Atlantis – carrying a crew of six and some 14 tons of supplies for the International Space Station – is scheduled for launch Monday afternoon at 2:28 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.