NASA

Read the latest NASA news today on Newser.com

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NASA's 2-Year Hunt for Black Holes Starts Today

NASA's NuStar scheduled to launch from South Pacific

(Newser) - Barring any mishaps, a refrigerator-size telescope will begin its two-year quest to track down black holes today. The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuStar) is set to rocket into space from an island located between Hawaii and Australia, reports the AP . Once it gets some 350 miles above Earth, it will...

NASA Scraps Telescope to Study Black Holes

'GEMS' project was coming in way over budget

(Newser) - NASA killed a new X-ray telescope mission today, two years before its planned launch. The Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer mission, or GEMS for short, was supposed to blast off in 2014 to study black holes and neutron stars. But external reviews found the project would likely come in...

SpaceX Dragon Returns to Earth

It splashed into Pacific after historic trip to space station

(Newser) - A little bit of history splashed into the Pacific this morning: The SpaceX Dragon capsule returned to Earth from its supply run to the International Space Station, reports the AP . SpaceX reports that NASA's planes have spotted Dragon's parachutes in the water, and that it landed right on...

Astronauts Enter the Dragon
  Astronauts Enter the Dragon 
May 26, 2012 2:59 PM CDT

Astronauts Enter the Dragon

World's first commercial supply ship has 'new car' smell

(Newser) - Space station astronauts floated into the Dragon today, a day after its heralded arrival as the world's first commercial supply ship. NASA astronaut Donald Pettit, the first one inside the docked capsule, said the Dragon looks like it carries about as much cargo as his pickup truck back home...

SpaceX Capsule Docks at Space Station

Dragon capsule successfully captured by space station astronauts

(Newser) - The privately bankrolled Dragon capsule made a historic arrival at the International Space Station today, triumphantly captured by astronauts wielding a giant robot arm. SpaceX is the first private company to accomplish such a feat: a commercial cargo delivery into the cosmos. "This really is, I think, going to...

Neil Armstrong: Moon Landing Had 50-50 Chance

He gives rare interview ... to Australian accountants

(Newser) - Fans of the space program are in for a treat: The normally reticent Neil Armstrong sat down for an hourlong interview about that moon landing of his with, of all outlets, the Certified Practicing Accountants of Australia. Some highlights:
  • 50-50: "I thought we had a 90% chance of getting
...

NASA's Goal: Man Near Mars in 21 Years

NASA wants to put humans in orbit around Mars by 2033

(Newser) - NASA wants to put humans into Mars' orbit by 2033, with the goal of having astronauts return to Earth with a canister of Mars rocks that would have been collected earlier and put into orbit. The goal was unveiled this week by an internal NASA study group working on the...

SpaceX Pulls Successful 'Fly-By' of Space Station

Dragon capsule comes within 1.5 miles in anticipation of docking

(Newser) - So far, so good for SpaceX : Its Dragon capsule came within 1.5 miles of the International Space Station today, in preparation for docking with it tomorrow. The fly-by, performed as the capsule orbited Earth at around 17,000mph, was confirmed by NASA, the Los Angeles Times reports. Now,...

NASA Thinks 4,700 Asteroids Threaten Earth

And twice as many as previously believed are in orbits similar to Earth's

(Newser) - NASA thinks it's got a pretty solid estimate on the number of gigantic asteroids that could plausibly cause regional or global catastrophe by smashing into Earth: 4,700, give or take 1,500. Included in that number are all the rocks that exist, or which they suspect exist, that...

SpaceX Could Make Tomorrow a Historic Day

Plans to launch first commercial capsule to supply the space station

(Newser) - If all goes well, tomorrow will be a landmark day in commercial space exploration, as SpaceX launches the first private supply run to the International Space Station. But that's a big if. "I think there's a significant chance the mission does not succeed," CEO Elon Musk...

Trouble Ahead: Weather Satellites in 'Rapid Decline'

Number will drop 'precipitously' by 2020

(Newser) - If you like to complain about the unreliability of the weather forecast, get ready to rant: The weather satellites orbiting the Earth are "beginning a rapid decline" in both quality and quantity, a new report finds, and squeezed budgets mean replacements may not be forthcoming. NASA and NOAA Earth...

SpaceX Counts Down to Maiden ISS Mission

Private space firm hopes to dock Dragon next week

(Newser) - Commercial space firm SpaceX may be just days away from going where no private company has gone before: the International Space Station. The company is preparing to send its unmanned Dragon capsule on a mission to supply the ISS with 1,100 pounds of food, water, and other cargo. The...

Look Up, NYC: Enterprise Flies Today

 Enterprise Flies Over NYC 
Apr 27, 2012 10:58 AM CDT

Enterprise Flies Over NYC

Retiring space shuttle gets piggy-back ride over Manhattan

(Newser) - An unusual flying object has landed at New York's JFK Airport: the space shuttle Enterprise. Before arriving this morning, it zoomed around New York City's airspace, riding on top of a modified jumbo jet as part of NASA's process of wrapping up the shuttle program . Enterprise is...

'Snowball Fight' Spotted in Saturn's Weirdest Ring

Cassini probe captures objects punching through ring

(Newser) - Inside Saturn's outermost ring, NASA's Cassini probe has captured activity that researchers liken to a cosmic snowball fight. Hundreds of balls of snow and ice up to half a mile in diameter have been spotted punching through the F ring at gentle speeds, leaving glittering trails behind them,...

Newt&#39;s Lunar Ideas Not Lunacy
 Newt's 
 Lunar Ideas 
 Not Lunacy 
OPINION
Apr 24, 2012 11:14 AM CDT

Newt's Lunar Ideas Not Lunacy

We should listen to Gingrich's space ideas: Jeffrey Goldberg

(Newser) - Jeffrey Goldberg is not what one might call a Newt Gingrich fan, but as he sat on the tarmac at Reagan National Airport gazing at the space shuttle Discovery as it prepared for its final flight, he realized something: "On the matter of space exploration … Newt Gingrich is...

James Cameron's Next Trick: Mining Asteroids?

He, Google execs back new space venture

(Newser) - After hanging out in the deepest depths of the oceans , how does a Hollywood super-director top himself? By space mining, of course. James Cameron has teamed up with two Google billionaires, several ex-NASA officials, and some other ambitious investors to form Planetary Resources Inc., a space exploration company that seems...

NASA Captures Massive Sun Blast

Huge solar explosion will affect spacecraft but not Earth

(Newser) - A blast of super-heated plasma big enough to scorch dozens of Earths erupted from the sun yesterday, providing NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory with stunning images. The coronal mass ejection, which followed a solar flare, was not aimed toward Earth, but two NASA spacecraft—including the Spitzer Space Telescope—will...

Discovery Takes Last Ride
 Discovery Ends Final Ride 
UPDATED
Apr 17, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

Discovery Ends Final Ride

Space shuttle soars above DC, heads for Smithsonian

(Newser) - Space shuttle Discovery landed today at Washington Dulles International Airport, where its wheels will stop for the last time at the Smithsonian. The world's most traveled spaceship landed after taking off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and soaring around the Washington Monument and White House in a salute to the...

Asteroid Flies Past Earth Closer Than Moon

NASA says we were never in danger

(Newser) - A 150-foot-wide asteroid whizzed stunningly close to Earth yesterday, passing within 143,000 miles of us—a hair more than half the distance from the Earth to the moon. NASA saw the rock coming two weeks ahead of time, and says there was never any danger of it actually hitting...

Apollo 11 Engines Found on Ocean Floor

Jeff Bezos plans to bring moon rocket engines to surface

(Newser) - Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says he's discovered the watery resting place of the engines that blasted Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 crew toward the moon in 1969—and he's not planning on leaving them there. A Bezos Expeditions team found the five F-1 engines at the bottom...

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