outer space

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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...

Space Junk Passes 'Tipping Point'

Report urges NASA to ramp up efforts quickly

(Newser) - Astronauts on the International Space Station had a close call with space debris in June, and things are only going to get worse from here on out, warns a new report. In fact, the amount of junk orbiting earth has now passed the "tipping point," says the National...

Russian Company Plans Outer-Space Hotel

Commercial Space Station will include gourmet foods and space-age shower

(Newser) - A mere million bucks will soon earn you five days in a futuristic hotel, as long as you enjoy traveling at 17,500 miles an hour and having stellar views of planet Earth. The nimbly titled Commercial Space Station, designed by a Russian company, is the latest in a series...

NASA Probe to Blast Off, Destination: Jupiter

Juno to explore origins of the solar system; liftoff scheduled for 11:34am ET

(Newser) - Today NASA will launch a spacecraft that they're hoping will pry the secrets of the solar system from Jupiter. Dubbed "Juno" (Jupiter’s wife in Roman mythology, get it?), the probe will take five years to travel to Jupiter, arriving on July 4, 2016, the New York Times...

Scientists Find Orphan Planets Without Stars

Astronomers discover 10 in Milky Way that don't orbit another body

(Newser) - They're outcasts on a galactic scale, rebels without a star: Astronomers think they have discovered 10 massive planets that defy a standard definition of what it means to be a planet: They orbit no star. What's more, the astronomers believe there are many, many more roaming free about...

Scientists ID 'Habitable' Exoplanet

New model suggests Gliese 581D a likely candidate for life

(Newser) - A new computer climate model has turned up the strongest evidence yet that a planet in the Gliese system is capable of sustaining life, the Telegraph reports. Researchers believe Gliese 581d, which orbits a red dwarf 20 light years away, not only exists in the "Goldilocks zone" where water...

$750M Later, Einstein Proven Right

 $750M Later, Einstein 
 Proven Right 
in case you missed it
May 8, 2011 6:18 AM CDT

$750M Later, Einstein Proven Right

NASA's Gravity Probe B vindicates predictions about warping of space, time

(Newser) - Einstein was right: Observations from NASA’s Gravity Probe B have confirmed that the Earth really does warp time and space around it. The probe contained four perfectly engineered gyroscopes, and took incredibly precise measurements of their spin axes, expecting the curve of space-time around the Earth to cause predictable...

SETI Hangs Up Phone Line to ET

Budget cuts force institute to shut down search for extraterrestrial life

(Newser) - Budget cuts have forced the SETI Institute in California to shut down its famous search for extraterrestrial life, reports the San Jose Mercury News . The institute can no longer afford to operate its Allen Telescope Array, which has been scanning outer space for sign of communication since 2007. As a...

Spacecraft Orbiting Mercury for First Time

NASA's Messenger probe slips into orbit after 4.9B-mile journey

(Newser) - After a 4.9 billion-mile journey that required six years and some very tricky moves, NASA has put a spacecraft into orbit around Mercury for the first time ever. Researchers are eagerly awaiting their first extensive look at the solar system's smallest planet, AP reports. The Messenger probe will begin...

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’...

Discovery Astronauts Bottling Outer Space

Bottle will remain sealed, hit museums

(Newser) - The Discovery crew will leave the International Space Station today for the first of two spacewalks—and one of their missions is to capture a sample of space in a metal bottle. The bottle will be given to Japan's space agency, which says it will remain sealed and make the...

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...

Asteroid Barely Misses Earth

Rock small enough that Earth's gravity bends its path

(Newser) - An asteroid all but buzzed Earth on Friday, NASA has revealed. The asteroid, known as 2011 CQ1, passed just 3,405 miles above the Earth’s surface as it hung a sharp turn around the planet. That's the closest near-miss ever recorded, beating a record set by a rock in...

5 New Earth-Like Planets Spotted

Hello, is anyone out there?

(Newser) - Scientists have spotted five new planets orbiting stars in our galaxy that are close to the size of Earth and are located in a "habitable zone," according to researchers. They're the right distance from their stars that make the existence of life-essential liquid water possible. The planets are...

NASA: Nearby Black Hole Is Enormous
NASA: Nearby Black Hole
Is Enormous
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 15, 2011 12:35 PM CST

NASA: Nearby Black Hole Is Enormous

M87 is bigger than six billion suns

(Newser) - NASA has taken new measurements of a black hole that’s just one galaxy over—and the results are staggering. The black hole, known as M87, is so big that you could fit roughly 6.6 billion of our suns inside it. Black holes that huge are a rare find,...

NASA Studying Strange, Star-Creating Blob

Hanny's Voorwerp creating 'lonely' stars 'in the middle of nowhere'

(Newser) - The Hubble Telescope has turned its gaze to a mysterious glowing green blob that’s creating stars where stars shouldn’t normally form. Dubbed Hanny’s Voorwerp, after the Dutch elementary school teacher who first discovered it in 2007, the blob is a swirling mass of hydrogen gas, caused by...

10-Year-Old Is Youngest to Find a Supernova

Canadian girl inherits dad's love of the stars

(Newser) - While most 4th-graders are playing with dolls, this little astronomer found something stellar 240 million light years away. Kathryn Aurora Gray of New Brunswick, Canada, pored over images of a galaxy made on New Year's Eve and—with the help of her astronomer father—made an excellent discovery: the remnants...

Death of a Moon Created Saturn's Rings
Death of a Moon Created Saturn's Rings
in case you missed it
Dec 18, 2010 1:45 PM CST

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,...

Neil Armstrong: Why I Didn't Walk Far on Moon
Neil Armstrong: Why I
Didn't Walk Far on Moon
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Dec 12, 2010 7:16 AM CST

Neil Armstrong: Why I Didn't Walk Far on Moon

For one thing, it was really hot

(Newser) - When NPR's Robert Krulwich wondered aloud on his blog why Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked such a short distance on the moon—less than 100 yards—he got a surprise reply from none other than Armstrong himself. Among the reasons: NASA wanted them to stay within the range of...

Private Spaceship to Attempt to Reach Orbit, Return

NASA's future could hinge on Elon Musk's SpaceX launch

(Newser) - Elon Musk’s SpaceX firm is ready to boldly go where no non-governmental entity has gone before. Tomorrow, the company will launch what, if all goes well, will be the first private spacecraft to reach orbit, and then return to earth. The spacecraft, dubbed the "Dragon," won’t...

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