NASA scientists have found enough evidence from the different sensors aboard the Opportunity rover to believe that the area around the rover was awash with liquid water at some point in the past. Steve Squires told a news conference this afternoon that scientists had poured over data and measurements taken by examining Martian rocks and Read More
There is a definate buzz in the air at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California that has been growing all weekend. We’ll find out for sure what all the fuss is about now that NASA has scheduled a rush news conference at 2pm (et) tomorrow (Tuesday) where they will announce “significant findings”. As scientists work Read More
On January 13, Astronomers around the world believed that a newly discovered asteroid, 30m in diameter, had a 1 in 4 chance of hitting the Earth within the following 36 hours, somewhere in the northern hemisphere. An object that size would not be a “planet killer” but it would explode in the atmosphere, causing considerable Read More
Just weeks after U.S. President George W. Bush announced plans for NASA to send a person to Mars, the European Space Agency has followed suit. The ESA’s program – codenamed “Aurora” – is much more detailed. The first step is the development and construction of a high-speed re-entry vehicle by 2007. Following that, the ESA Read More
NASA’s Opportunity rover has worked flawlessly since its “hole-in-one” landing last Saturday. Today, it “stood-up”, stretching its wheels from its travelling position. It could roll off the lander for the final 10 feet of its journey onto the Martian surface as early as Saturday to explore the Martian bedrock outcroppings seen nearby. Meanwhile, 6,600 miles Read More
At 11:30, last night, “Spirit” entered the Martian Atmosphere. In the 6 minutes that followed, anxious scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory ticked off each milestone, signalled by changes in tones sent by the plummeting craft. Atmospheric drag, parachute deployed, heat shield detached, tether the lander, retro-rockets and finally, a bounce… then another. The craft Read More
At 6AM et, the Sun kicked out the third largest solar flare in recorded history. The sunspot that kicked it out also happened to be pointing right at the earth at the time. Scientists have been watching some unusual activity on the sun in the past few weeks as sunspot and flare activity has unexpectedly Read More
China became only the third nation to successfully launch a manned space mission today. Lt. Col Yang Liwei safely landed at 6:23am Thursday Morning, after 21 hours in orbit, circling the Earth 14 times in the Shenzhou V spacecraft. Today’s mission marks the success of an 11-year manned space program, which some foriegn experts estimate Read More
Asteroid 2003 QQ47 is about a kilometer wide and the impact on March 21, 2014 would have the effect of 20 Million Hiroshima atomic bombs. But we’re not sure it will hit at all. The margin of error is still quite large because it has only been under observation for a week or so. Astronomers Read More
This Saturday, NASA will be launching the fourth and final telescope of the “Great Observatory Program” which began in the 70′s. After the Hubble Telescope (1990), the Compton Gamma Ray Telescope (1991), and the Chandra X-ray telescope (1999), the new Space Infrared Telescope Facility will add the fourth wavelength of light allowing astronomers to study Read More
Our planetary neighbors are making a visit later this month. On August 27, Mars will be less than 34.65 million miles away. This close encounter is extremely rare. The last time it was that close was September 12, 57,617 BC when it was 34.62 million miles, and the next time it will make a close Read More
And they’re off! A flotilla of spacecraft is heading to Mars in a race that will be reminicent of an Independance Day scene. Mars’ orbit will be swinging it within 34.6 million miles of Earth, closer than at any time in recorded history. Not to pass up the opportunity, two NASA rovers, a probe from Read More