Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Jupiter's Aurora Flares Up in New Hubble Photos
New images show dramatic auroras – flares of ultraviolet light – streaming from the planet Jupiter.
Photo Shows Big Holes in the Sun
Japan's Hinode satellite has caught a spectacular photo of two holes through the sun's atmosphere.
European cargo rocket to supply Space Station
PARIS (Reuters) - An unmanned Ariane rocket is scheduled to launch a cargo vessel into orbit on Tuesday in Europe's second mission to carry supplies to the International Space Station...
With A-List help, Glory aims to unravel uncertainties about aerosols
NASA's Glory mission is scheduled to launch Wednesday, Feb. 23, from Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 5:09 a.m. EST (2:09...
Asteroid's near hit changes its orbit
PASADENA, Calif., Feb. 10 (UPI) -- An asteroid passing Earth at just 3,400 miles was the closest near miss on record, and Earth's gravity sent it into an entirely...
A Flute Solo By Musical Astronaut Graces Space Station
It was a sea shanty turned space shanty.
Snowy U.S. panorama caught by satellite
Last week 30 U.S. states were affected by a massive winter storm. This week satellite images created by NASA provide a snowy panorama of that fallen snow.
House Group Proposes Shifting NASA Science Funds to Spaceflight
Some House lawmakers propose to shift some NASA climate-change research funds to its human spaceflight program.
Tool makes search for Martian life easier
Finding life on Mars could get easier with a creative adaption to a common analytical tool that can be installed directly on the robotic arm of a space rover...
If the Sun Were Made of Bananas
Did you know you could fit the entire human race in the volume of a sugar cube? Or that, if the Sun were made of bananas, it wouldn't make much...
Former NASA Chief of Staff Begins 41-month Jail Term
Former NASA chief of staff Courtney Staff was due to begin a 41-month jail term Feb. 4.
The Universe's First Stars Weren't Loners After All
The first stars in the universe may have been huge, but they weren't the loners astronomers thought.
Cosmic Embryo #3: The ART Of 3D Sun And Breast Cancer Imaging
Cosmic Embryo #3: The ART of 3D Sun and Breast Cancer Imaging NASA Releasing First Views of the Entire Sun on Super Sun-Day [February 6, 2011] http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/feb/HQ_M11-025_STEREO.html read more
U.S., European cos. in rocket proposal
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. and European rocket companies have joined in a proposal to build a vehicle to put astronauts in orbit after the space shuttles are...
When Wind Is Reliable: Turbines Help Texans Avoid the Dark
Last Wednesday morning, rolling blackouts left nearly a million Texans in the dark after...
Clouds On the Sun Explode with Earth-Like Qualities
The huge clouds of material erupting from the sun may share at least one feature with the fluffy white clouds scudding through Earth's skies — ripples of instability along one...
Video: Scientists Smash Giant Granite Balls Together to Simulate Asteroid Collisions
Two stones, each a meter in diameter, suspended from cranes Planetary science isn't all telescopes and spectral lines. Sometimes you need 40-foot cranes, advice from a dude named A-Ray, and a pair of...
Panoramic Satellite Photo Captures U.S. Snowfall
A NASA satellite photo reveals how snowfall blanketed much of the U.S. on Groundhog Day last week.
Facebook moving to sprawling Silicon Valley campus
Facebook on Tuesday announced plans to move its fast-growing operations to a sprawling Silicon Valley campus once home to Sun Microsystems.
FYI: What Does Space Smell Like?
Astro Whiff Space is full of smells, but mostly the burning odor of hydrocarbons. NASA/Scott Kleinman/Getty Images The final frontier smells a lot like a Nascar race-a bouquet of hot metal, diesel fumes...
The Lunar Cubit could merge art and solar power
(PhysOrg.com) -- An ancient form may be coming to the modern world. A new project, called the Lunar Cubit, features a set of nine black pyramid-shaped solar powered structured. The...
Explorers plan first Russia-Canada voyage via North Pole
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian-led expedition aims to make the first ever crossing from Russia's Arctic shore into Canada over the North Pole, a months-long voyage over precarious shifting ice...
'COSmIC' simulator fingerprints unknown matter in space
(PhysOrg.com) -- Who are we? Where do we come from? These are questions that scientists hope to find clues to by better understanding the composition and evolution of the universe.
A Moon Mission Built for Two: Orbiting Robots Will Gauge Lunar Gravity
Engineers are readying NASA's twin GRAIL spacecraft for a double mission to the moon.
Azorean station to track Ariane launch
When ATV Johannes Kepler is lofted into space on 15 February, an ESA tracking station on Portugal's Santa Maria island will watch closely, gathering crucial data as Ariane 5 streaks...
Kepler spacecraft recovered from safe mode
(PhysOrg.com) -- The Kepler project team has recovered spacecraft from its Safe Mode event that occurred on Feb. 1, 2011.
EU, US partners plan 'low-cost' space launcher
European technology firm Astrium is teaming up with US company Alliant to make a "low-cost" space rocket launcher that could one day take tourists into orbit, the Wall Street Journal...
Test flight of X-47B stealth jet
The unmanned X-47B stealth bomber being designed for the US Navy has had its first test flight.