NASA

Read the latest NASA news today on Newser.com

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Total Eclipse Coming Feb. 20
Total Eclipse Coming Feb. 20

Total Eclipse Coming Feb. 20

3 billion could see Earth's shadow blot moon

(Newser) - Nearly half the world's population will find themselves really in the dark Feb. 20 as Earth's shadow totally eclipses the moon, LiveScience reports. Visible to 3 billion residents of North and South America, Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia, the eclipsed moon will create a celestial triangle in the night...

Shuttle Atlantis Lifts Off
Shuttle Atlantis Lifts Off
UPDATED

Shuttle Atlantis Lifts Off

Weather doesn't delay mission to international space station after all

(Newser) - After bad weather prompted worries of a further delay, US space shuttle Atlantis successfully blasted into space today, the AP reports. NASA had feared the same cold front that ravaged the South with tornadoes would push the launch to tomorrow, or later. Aboard, with seven astronauts, is the European Space...

Weather May Postpone Atlantis Launch

Blast-off tomorrow has 70% chance of being rained out: NASA

(Newser) - Conditions don’t look great for tomorrow’s launch of the space shuttle Atlantis, Space.com reports. The scheduled 2:45 pm ET launch has a 70% chance of being rained out as the southern US continues to feel the cold front that loosed several deadly tornadoes yesterday. If a...

NASA Tests Beatles' Star Power
NASA Tests Beatles' Star Power

NASA Tests Beatles' Star Power

Agency will beam 'Across the Universe' into space as dual anniversary celebration

(Newser) - NASA will send the Beatles song "Across the Universe" into deep space Monday, the Houston Chronicle reports. In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of both the space agency and the band, NASA’s Deep Space Network will transmit the song toward the North Star, Polaris—which...

Mercury 'Spider Crater' Spotted
Mercury 'Spider Crater' Spotted

Mercury 'Spider Crater' Spotted

Probe reveals never-before-seen side of Mercury

(Newser) - NASA's first probe to Mercury in more than 30 years has made some spectacular finds, including a mysterious new crater dubbed "the spider," Space.com reports. The network of cracks radiating from the impact crater photographed by the probe is like nothing else ever seen in the solar...

Old Spy Satellite Falling to Earth
Old Spy Satellite Falling to Earth

Old Spy Satellite Falling to Earth

Inoperative device could hit in late February, March

(Newser) - A dead US spy satellite will likely tumble out of space and hit Earth late next month or early March, the AP reports. Unnamed officials admitted it may contain toxic material but refused to say where it might land or whether it could be shot from the sky. "We...

Asteroid to Whiz Past Earth
Asteroid to Whiz Past Earth

Asteroid to Whiz Past Earth

Space rock to be visible Tuesday even through amateur telescopes

(Newser) - A big asteroid is set to speed past Earth on Tuesday night, and those with amateur telescopes will get a peek. NASA discovered the object in October, and scientists believe it's between 500 and 2,000 feet in diameter, LiveScience reports. It won't come closer than 334,000 miles to...

OMG! Bigfoot on Mars! Run!
OMG! Bigfoot on Mars! Run!

OMG! Bigfoot on Mars! Run!

This just might be what jump-starts interest in space exploration again

(Newser) - After nearly four years of important discoveries, it has taken a tiny rock outcropping that looks like Bigfoot to make people passionate about the Mars rovers, the Telegraph reports. Conspiracy theorists are sure a photo snapped in 2004 reveals an alien, or perhaps a creature like Sasquatch. "I couldn’...

Probe Zips Over Mercury Today
Probe Zips Over Mercury Today

Probe Zips Over Mercury Today

Messenger will take 1,200 pictures from 124 miles up

(Newser) - NASA's Messenger spacecraft this afternoon will whiz past Mercury at 141,000 mph and snap an estimated 1,200 detailed photos of the planet's surface from a mere 124 miles up. It will be the first of three passes before the craft starts orbiting the planet closest to the sun...

Space Shuttle Astronauts Gain Fame
Space Shuttle Astronauts Gain Fame

Space Shuttle Astronauts Gain Fame

Hall to welcome 4 newcomers, including leader of Hubble launch mission

(Newser) - Four space shuttle pilots have taken one giant leap toward immortality, NASA announced this week: They'll make up the Astronaut Hal of Fame class of 2008. The inductees, who will be honored at a May ceremony, include the commanders who presided over the initial assembly of the International Space Station...

Asteroid Won't Slam Into Mars After All

Disappointed scientists were hoping to study collision

(Newser) - An asteroid heading toward Mars won't crash into it after all, according to disappointed scientists. They had initially calculated there was a 1-in-27 chance of the space rock hitting the red planet, but after new observations researchers estimate the odds are only 1 in 10,000, "effectively ruling out...

Evolution Coming to Space Race
Evolution Coming to Space Race

Evolution Coming to Space Race

Engineers apply natural-selection algorithm to flight paths for spacecraft

(Newser) - Engineers have devised a way of coming up with flight paths for space missions by using the laws of natural selection, Space.com reports. An algorithm called "differential evolution" treats different paths as individual organisms, which then "mutate," and the best solutions survive to the next generation....

NASA Plans Daring Hubble Fix
NASA Plans Daring Hubble Fix

NASA Plans Daring Hubble Fix

Unprecedented spacewalk will make for spiffier 'scope

(Newser) - Astronauts will save—and drastically upgrade—the Hubble Space Telescope in an unprecedented mission this year, NewScientist Space reports. The mission will make the Hubble 90 times more powerful than it originally was, but will require spacewalkers to complete a delicate electronics repair job in zero gravity while wearing bulky...

'08 NASA Missions Called Risky
'08 NASA Missions Called Risky

'08 NASA Missions Called Risky

Space agency pushing up against 2010 deadline

(Newser) - NASA is speeding up its space shuttle flight schedule to meet the 2010 deadline for the completion of the International Space Station. This year alone, the space agency will launch six missions—twice the number of the last two years—and some experts worry that the crunch is a recipe...

NASA Delays Launch of Atlantis Again

Faulty sensors push back date, possibly to next month

(Newser) - NASA has again pushed back the launch of the shuttle Atlantis as it wrestles with faulty fuel sensors, Space.com reports. The shuttle will go up Jan. 24 at the earliest, with a more likely launch either Feb. 2 or 7. Atlantis is due to begin an 11-day mission to...

NASA Releases Pilot Gripes on Tired Crews, Air Traffic

Surveys uncover twice as many problems as official reports

(Newser) - Bowing to pressure from Congress, NASA has grudgingly released thousand of pages of pilot complaints, CNN reports. They include complaints about crowded skies, tired crews, and communication problems. The surveys of more than 30,000 pilots found twice as many collisions with bird, near-collisions with other aircraft, and runway incursions...

Mars Smash Looking Likelier
Mars Smash Looking Likelier

Mars Smash Looking Likelier

Still a longshot, but cosmic collision now a 25-1 chance

(Newser) - Scientists say the chances of a giant asteroid smashing into Mars on January 30 have gone up steeply, the AP reports. It's still a 25-1 longshot, but stargazers have their fingers crossed. I think it'll be cool," said a NASA tracker. "Usually when an asteroid is headed toward...

Astronaut Grieves From Space Station

Tani speaks to family via teleconference to help plan mother's memorial service

(Newser) - Before they blast off for missions that could take months, NASA asks astronauts to choose if they want to learn if there's important news from home. Daniel Tani said yes, and is this week mourning his mother from space. Tani has chosen to continue his daily tasks, and yesterday spoke...

NASA Delays Mars Probe to 2013
NASA Delays Mars Probe to 2013

NASA Delays Mars Probe to 2013

Conflict of interest in purchasing phase pushes mission back

(Newser) - A conflict of interest has forced NASA to delay a scheduled Mars probe by two years and spend an extra $40 million, the Associated Press reports. The panel choosing between two firms for the mission had to be replaced, and because Mars is only within reach every 26 months, the...

In Space, a Son Mourns His Mother
In Space,
a Son Mourns
His Mother

In Space, a Son Mourns His Mother

Space Station astronaut Daniel Tani's mom dies in car accident

(Newser) - Astronaut Daniel Tani, orbiting 200 miles above the Earth in the International Space Station, learned yesterday that his 90-year-old mother, Rose, had been killed when her car was struck by a freight train outside Chicago, reports the Chicago Tribune. Police said she drove around a school bus stopped at the...

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