NASA

Read the latest NASA news today on Newser.com

Stories 701 - 720 | << Prev   Next >>

Giant Asteroid Headed Toward Fly-by of Earth

Astronomers call it a rare chance to learn about life's origins

(Newser) - We're just five days away from an aircraft-carrier-sized asteroid passing less than 202,000 miles from the Earth, a rare near-miss for an object this large, reports ABC News . The object called 2005 YU55 is a circular c-type asteroid—carbon-based, darker than charcoal, and the kind likely responsible for...

Beam Me Up: NASA Explores 'Tractor Beams'

Study will examine ways to move objects via laser light

(Newser) - "Tractor beams" could soon move from science fiction to science fact, thanks to a NASA-funded study. Ideas for tractor beams—"the ability to trap and move objects using laser light," explains NASA —have been published, but none has been put into practice. "Though a mainstay...

NASA-Backed 'Space Taxi' to Fly Next Year

Dream Chaser's first test flight scheduled for summer 2012

(Newser) - With the space shuttles retired, NASA currently has to rely on the Russians to ferry astronauts and cargo to and from the International Space Station. But it hopes to be able to hail a taxi soon. Dream Chaser, one of four "space taxis" being developed by private industry with...

NASA: We've IDed Most Killer Asteroids Out There

911 of the 981 big ones have been found

(Newser) - You can sleep easy tonight. Or easy-ish. NASA today announced that it has identified more than 90% of the giant asteroids out there that could threaten Earth (think dinosaur-killing size). "We know now where most of them are and where most of them are going. That really has reduced...

Another Falling Satellite on Its Way

1.6 tons of space junk could land somewhere on Earth

(Newser) - Brace yourself: Another satellite is falling, and this time the chances are one in 2,000 that it’ll hit someone. A German satellite known as ROSAT is due to plummet around the end of October, and while a lot of it will disintegrate before returning to Earth, experts say...

ISS Captures Southern Lights
 ISS Captures Southern Lights  
Sep 29, 2011 5:30 AM CDT

ISS Captures Southern Lights

Rare footage of Aurora Australis released

(Newser) - An increase in solar activity is causing more spectacular displays of the northern—and southern—lights, as recently captured by the crew of the International Space Station. NASA has released rare footage of the Aurora Australis, or southern lights, taken by ISS astronauts as the station passed over the Indian...

NASA: Satellite Fell in Remote South Pacific

Scientists think UARS picked the perfect spot

(Newser) - Now that NASA's had time to crunch the numbers regarding last weekend's falling satellite , it has a pretty good idea of where it splashed down—in the middle of nowhere in the South Pacific. The dead UARS craft entered the atmosphere generally above American Samoa, according to the...

So Where Did Satellite Land? NASA May Never Know

Need more exact data to pinpoint where UARS and debris hit the Earth

(Newser) - NASA's just-crashed UARS satellite may have been the size of a bus and weighed 6 tons, but, because of its speed and uncertainty about the exact time it hit the Earth, scientists say they don't know exactly where their space junk crashed, reports the Chicago Tribune . "We...

Falling Satellite: NASA Says It Might Come Down Tonight or Early Tomorrow in North America
 Satellite Splashes Down 
 Over Pacific 
UPDATED
Sep 24, 2011 5:15 AM CDT

Satellite Splashes Down Over Pacific

Dead UARS craft finally comes down

(Newser) - Your luck held: NASA's dead six-ton satellite came down without apparent harm somewhere over the Pacific between 11:23pm EDT and 1:09am, the agency says . The exact spot isn't yet known, but the UARS craft likely broke up along a 500-mile path, notes AP . Most of the...

With Satellite Set to Hit, World Uneasy

26 pieces of NASA spacecraft to likely reach Earth tomorrow

(Newser) - The 6.5-ton Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite is going to plummet to Earth tomorrow afternoon , and the fact that NASA can't say exactly where is making some people uneasy. Some 26 pieces of the satellite, ranging in size up to a few hundred pounds, are likely to survive re-entry...

NASA's New Worry: Astronauts Going Blind

It could happen on a trip to Mars

(Newser) - NASA has a serious health concern to resolve before it fires up a manned mission to Mars or some other way-off locale: Astronauts might not be able to see anything once they get there. As the Orlando Sentinel explains, the space agency is seeing more cases of astronauts reporting blurred...

Satellite to Hit Earth Friday—or Fridayish

NASA's latest calculations get a little more specific

(Newser) - We know it's coming ... and now we sort of know when. The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite—the 1,100 pounds of it that make it through Earth’s atmosphere—will crash onto land or sea on Friday. Give or take a day . The Washington Post notes NASA will get...

5 Weird Examples of Space Junk Hitting Earth

Meanwhile, expect falling satellite next Friday

(Newser) - The 6-ton satellite about to fall on Earth is coming faster than expected, and NASA now thinks it will arrive next Friday, give or take a day, reports Space.com . NASA still isn't sure where the defunct UARS satellite will land, but it thinks the odds of it hurting...

Mysterious Light Dazzles Southwest

Object streaking across sky probably a fireball, NASA says

(Newser) - A mysterious blue-green streak of light was spotted moving across the sky over the US Southwest last night, prompting a flood of 911 calls from Phoenix to Los Angeles, CNN reports. There were no reports of impact or damage and NASA says it believes the object was probably a fireball...

NASA Reveals Massive Mars Rocket Plans

New $35B project could launch up to 165 tons into space

(Newser) - NASA today unveiled plans for a rocket that will power the next generation of space exploration, designed to take manned missions to distant asteroids and eventually Mars, Space.com reports. The uncreatively named “Space Launch System,” or SLS, uses bits of technology from the defunct space shuttle and...

NASA Heads to Moon Today
 NASA Heads Back to Moon 
Sep 10, 2011 6:39 AM CDT

NASA Heads Back to Moon

... But it's an unmanned mission to explore the lunar gravity field

(Newser) - NASA's not done with the moon yet. It launched two unmanned spacecraft today (Grail A and Grail B) to study the lunar gravitational field and interior, reports Space.com . The $496 million mission has an interesting twist, notes the PopSci blog: a MoonKAM that will allow students to log...

NASA: Watch Out for Falling Satellite

Half-ton of metal on its way to Earth

(Newser) - We’ve heard that quantities of space junk are past the “tipping point” ; now NASA tells us pieces of a “dead” satellite will soon plummet to Earth. But don’t worry—there’s only a one-in-3,200 chance a chunk will hit somebody, the Telegraph reports. The Upper...

NASA Clip Shows 9/11 From Space

Smoke rises from New York in ISS video

(Newser) - As the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaches, NASA has provided a stunning new look at the tragedy—which was visible all the way from the International Space Station. American astronaut Frank Culbertson and two Russians were orbiting the earth in the ISS when they caught video of smoke...

New Moon Images Show Astronaut Tracks

They also show debris left behind from Apollo missions

(Newser) - NASA today released a batch of high-resolution images of the moon that show close-ups of landing sites from three Apollo missions, reports Space.com . (NASA has labeled and unlabeled versions of the images, taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, here .) They show astronauts' footprints, the tracks of their lunar...

New Mars Sample Astounds Scientists, Hints at Water

Rocks may contain clay minerals that form in wet conditions

(Newser) - Scientists are marveling over the latest discovery by the Mars rover Opportunity, which seems to suggest that the red planet may be more hospitable to life than previously believed. The venerable robot—now 7.5 years into its exploration of the planet—has found a lighter-colored rock that “is...

Stories 701 - 720 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser