Space & Earth - Space Exploration
Rocks on Mars may provide link to evidence of living organisms 4 billion years ago
A new article in press of the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters unveils groundbreaking research on the hydrothermal formation of Clay-Carbonate rocks in the Nili Fossae region of Mars. The findings may provide a link to evidence of living organisms on Mars, roughly 4 billion years ago in the Noachian period.
400 years, 7,500 words: A history of planetary science
In the four centuries since Galileo pointed his handheld cardboard-and-glass telescope skyward and Johannes Kepler described two laws of planetary motion, humans have come to know our solar system almost as intimately as we know our hometowns. So, consider the challenge in reviewing all of planetary science since 1610 ... in 4,000 words or fewer.
GRAIL Spacecraft Takes Shape
(PhysOrg.com) -- Engineers have conducted a fuel tank check of one of NASA's GRAIL mission spacecraft, scheduled for launch in 2011.
Martian Dust Devil Whirls Into Opportunity's View
(PhysOrg.com) -- In its six-and-a-half years on Mars, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity had never seen a dust devil before this month, despite some systematic searches in past years and the fact that its twin rover, Spirit, has seen dozens of dust devils at its location halfway around the planet.
Japan experts call for robot expedition to moon
An expert panel advising the Japanese government called in a report approved on Thursday for the nation to send a wheeled robot to the moon in five years and to build the first lunar base by 2020.
Spacequakes Rumble Near Earth (w/ Video)
Researchers using NASA's fleet of five THEMIS spacecraft have discovered a form of space weather that packs the punch of an earthquake and plays a key role in sparking bright Northern Lights. They call it "the spacequake."
BYU team installs new antenna on world's largest radio telescope
(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of BYU engineers built a super-sensitive antenna for processing signals from deep space. Then they flew to Puerto Rico and installed it at about the same spot where Pierce Brosnan and Sean Bean battled it out during the climax of the James Bond film GoldenEye.
Two Russian cosmonauts complete spacewalk
(AP) -- Two Russian cosmonauts on Tuesday completed a nearly 7-hour-long spacewalk to replace a video camera and improve cable connections to the orbiting laboratory's newest module.
Potentially hazardous asteroid might collide with the Earth in 2182
The potentially hazardous asteroid, (101955) 1999 RQ36, has a one-in-a-thousand chance of impacting the Earth, and more than half of this probability indicates that this could happen in the year 2182, based on a global study in which Spanish researchers have been involved. Knowing this fact may help design in advance mechanisms aimed at deviating the asteroid's path.
Russian Spacewalkers to Work on International Space Station Tonight
The members of the International Space Station`s Expedition 24 crew shifted their sleep schedule Monday in preparation for their mission's first spacewalk, waking up at about 2:40 p.m. EDT.
