space – News Stories About space - Page 16

Aug 3, 2011 3:34 PM CDT

New Theory: Earth Once Had 2 Moons

A collision might explain the moon's asymmetry

(Newser) - The sky above Earth may once have been a little more crowded. The planet originally had two moons that collided into one, according to a new theory proposed in Nature . It's widely believed that the early Earth collided with a Mars-sized proto-planet, and that debris coalesced into the moon....

Private
Companies
Shoot for
the Moon

Jul 23, 2011 12:24 PM CDT

Private Companies Shoot for the Moon

About 30 companies vying for Google's big prize

(Newser) - The space shuttle is gone, but worry not. Private industry is coming to the rescue, and fast. Inspired by a $30 million prize put up by Google, 29 entrepreneur/engineer teams are out to prove they have what it takes to win the kitty and become the first private enterprise to...

Space Weather: Solar Storms Can Be Disastrous, Scientists Write

Beware of 'Space Weather'

opinion

Jun 17, 2011 3:19 PM CDT

Beware of 'Space Weather'

Solar storms can be disastrous—but we can protect ourselves

(Newser) - It’s not just the weather on Earth we need to worry about—there are storms in space, too, and they can pose a serious threat if we’re not prepared. Recent years have been quiet around the sun, but it’s about to reach the height of its magnetic...

Four Planets Align This Month

May 10, 2011 12:52 PM CDT

Four Planets Align This Month

Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter in rare convergences

(Newser) - This month, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter will take part in a series of what Space.com calls "celestial summit meetings." The four planets will converge twice to form a "trio," defined as an instance when three planets fit in a circle with a minimum 5-degree...

NASA Spacecraft Takes First Photo of Mercury from Orbit

NASA Snaps First
Shots of Mercury
From Orbit

Mar 30, 2011 2:17 PM CDT

NASA Snaps First Shots of Mercury From Orbit

Future photos to reveal planet's unseen regions

(Newser) - A NASA spacecraft has captured the first photo of Mercury taken from orbit. The first of yesterday’s 363 images, shown at left, show the planet’s south pole. The gray surface is covered with craters, including a 53-mile-wide one known as Debussy. Other photos from the $464 million Messenger...

Scenes From the 'Supermoon'

Mar 20, 2011 11:10 AM CDT

Scenes From the 'Supermoon'

Extra-full moon put on a pretty good show around the world

(Newser) - For those stuck under cloud cover, or those of us who grumpily didn't think it looked that different, last night's "supermoon" yielded some pretty spectacular images from around the world—including moonrise over Libya. Click through the gallery, and for even more images, go to Space.com's gallery .

'Supermoon'
Nearest Earth
Tomorrow

Mar 18, 2011 8:15 AM CDT

'Supermoon' Nearest Earth Tomorrow

But contrary to rumor, it had nothing to do with Japan's earthquake

(Newser) - Hope for clear skies: A "supermoon" is due tomorrow. NASA scientist Jim Garvin explains that a supermoon is "when the moon is slightly closer to Earth in its orbit than on average"—a situation that’s "most noticeable" when it coincides with a full moon, as...

Coming Soon:
Gas Station for Satellites

Mar 16, 2011 4:31 PM CDT

Coming Soon: Gas Station for Satellites

It will deliver fuel, perform repairs to keep them in orbit longer

(Newser) - What's being described by Space.com as the world's first "flying satellite gas station" is expected to launch in 2015. The Space Infrastructure Servicing vehicle, as Canada's MDA Corporation calls it, will zip around and refuel satellites to extend their lives, perform repairs, and use robotic arms to nudge...

NASA Nabs
Close-Ups
of 'Spongy'
Saturn Moon

Feb 28, 2011 2:53 PM CST

NASA Nabs Close-Ups of 'Spongy' Saturn Moon

NASA's Cassini probe snaps ultra-close image of Hyperion

(Newser) - NASA's Cassini probe did a fly-by of Saturn’s Hyperion moon, and came away with close-up images that show a remarkably sponge-like surface, the Daily Mail reports. The moon, one of at least 62 ringing the planet, is covered with deep craters, and NASA scientists are hoping to discover what’...

How Dolphins
Can Help Us
Meet Aliens

Feb 19, 2011 12:15 PM CST

How Dolphins Can Help Us Meet Aliens

Before we talk to ET, let's chat with our fellow Earthlings

(Newser) - Scientists have been discovering plenty of new planets, and eventually, perhaps one will contain life—but we’d have no way to talk to the aliens. Until then, we can practice on creatures here on Earth: dolphins, who are capable of some surprisingly sophisticated thinking. We’ve tried to chat...

NASA Spacecraft Set to
Rendezvous With Comet

Feb 14, 2011 8:36 AM CST

NASA Spacecraft Set to Rendezvous With Comet

It'll be within 125 miles of Manhattan-sized rock

(Newser) - A NASA spacecraft is about to make a massive comet its valentine. If all goes as planned, the Stardust spacecraft will get up close and personal today with a comet half the size of Manhattan that’s hurtling through space at 24,000 miles per hour, the Washington Post reports....

Radiation Threatens
Deep-Space Sex: NASA

Feb 14, 2011 7:47 AM CST

Radiation Threatens Deep-Space Sex: NASA

Protons could kill embryo's eggs, cut sperm count

(Newser) - Propagating the human race far away from home could be tough: Powerful radiation in space would likely sterilize female embryos conceived there, NASA finds, and it could shrink sperm counts, too. At the moment, we don’t have the technology required to create spacecraft shielding to block the radiation, the...

Private Firm
to Launch
Moon Rover

Feb 9, 2011 9:10 AM CST

Private Firm to Launch Moon Rover

Astrobotic plans to sling robot at moon in 2013

(Newser) - Rovers aren’t just NASA’s purview anymore. In what would be a major milestone for the private space industry, Astrobotic Technology says it’s going to land a solar-powered robot on the moon—a feat that would earn the company a $24 million piece of the Google Lunar X...

Observatory to
Unveil Search for
Other Earths, Life

Jan 31, 2011 7:09 PM CST

Observatory to Unveil Search for Other Earths, Life

Kepler observatory to release early findings this week

(Newser) - There's a roving eye watching deep space for signs that the truth—or at least other Earth-like planets or even life—is out there, and we're going to get a glimpse this week. The $600 million Kepler observatory is tracking a small piece of sky filled with some 4.5...

NASA Picks Backup
for Gifford's Husband

Jan 13, 2011 2:38 PM CST

NASA Picks Backup for Gifford's Husband

Shuttle commander Mark Kelly may miss April's Endeavour mission

(Newser) - Mark Kelly has been temporarily replaced in his duties as an astronaut so he can stay with his wife—Gabrielle Giffords. Kelly has been at his wife's bedside since last weekend's shooting, but he's scheduled to command the shuttle Endeavour when it blasts off in April. The crew needs to...

400 People Say They'd
Sign Up for One-Way Mars Trip

Jan 11, 2011 11:49 AM CST

400 People Say They'd Sign Up for One-Way Mars Trip

Psychological consequences don't deter intrepid space fans

(Newser) - A voyage to Mars would be long, boring, could cause profound depression, and, oh yes, would be nearly impossible to return from. Who in the world would want to sign up for that? Apparently, lots of people. The Journal of Cosmology recently ran an article explaining the logistics of a...

Death of a Moon Created Saturn's Rings

Space murder led to iconic shape: astronomer

(Newser) - How did Saturn get its distinctive rings? Through the destruction of one of its moons, new research suggests. It was “a case of cosmic murder,” reports the Daily Mail : A Colorado astronomer argues that a layer of hydrogen gas drove many moons toward the planet. In the process,...

NASA Press
Conference
Ignites ET
Rumors

Dec 1, 2010 12:26 PM CST

NASA Press Conference Ignites ET Rumors

Alien idea debunked, but speculation rages

(Newser) - NASA has announced a press conference tomorrow “to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life,” and alien enthusiasts have been wondering: have scientists found ET? An insider’s tweet debunked that rumor, but the net remains abuzz with curiosity over what...

NASA Probe Passes
'Snow Globe'
Comet

Nov 19, 2010 8:28 AM CST

NASA Probe Passes 'Snow Globe' Comet

Hartley covered with golf ball-size 'snowballs'

(Newser) - NASA's Deep Impact probe soared past a comet earlier this month, revealing the mass to be peppered with "snowballs," the BBC reports. Comet Hartley, encountered some 14 million miles from Earth, "looks like a 'snow globe' that you've just simply shaken,” said a scientist. Another noted...

NASA Plans to Send
Men to Mars, Leave
Them There

NASA Plans to Send Men to Mars, Leave Them There

Hundred Year Spaceship could hit other planets, too

(Newser) - NASA is hatching an audacious plan to send astronauts into space to colonize Mars and other planets—and never return. The project, known as the Hundred Year Starship, has already received more than $1.5 million in funding, the Daily Mail reports, though that’s a small fraction of what...