Space Science

Discovery Channel's Planet Earth Now Offered on Discovery Education Unitedstreaming Plus and Science Connection

Discovery Channel's Planet Earth Now Offered on Discovery Education Unitedstreaming Plus and Science Connection

NASA looks to private sector help for next shuttle

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - NASA wants the private sector to help develop the next generation of shuttle craft to serve the International Space Station and is providing $500 million in "seed" money to kick start work, its chief said on Sunday.

Research center cleared by state: NASA probing how UI office used grants

(Spokesman-Review, The (Spokane, WA) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) May 11--The Idaho attorney general's office has concluded that researchers at a University of Idaho center in Post Falls broke no state laws in blending the interests of the university and two private companies that benefited the researchers.

NASA Officially Names Science Chief

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NASA Considers Manned Mission To Asteroid

Usually it happens the other way around... but this time NASA is taking some cues from Hollywood on a possible future mission to an asteroid. Luckily, this one isn't on a collision course with Earth.

Data on disk drive from Columbia space shuttle survived

In this photo provided by Kroll Ontrack Inc., a data drive that fell from the space shuttle Columbia when it was destroyed in 2003 is shown.

NASA, Intel, SGI Plan to 'Soup Up' Supercomputer

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – NASA, Intel Corp., and SGI today announced the signing of an agreement establishing intentions to collaborate on significantly increasing the space agency's supercomputer performance and capacity.

SGI to Supply NASA's Next Major Supercomputer

More than 20,000 Intel Xeon Processor Cores to Give Scientists Unprecedented Resource for New Generation of Research and Engineering

Microsoft turns stargazer with Worldwide Telescope

Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope, a free tool that allows users to explore images of the sky at night, will be available at the end of May.

A cosmic spider web is unraveled

The composition of the universe still puzzles astronomers. Over 90 percent consists of unknown matter. Just four percent is the normal material of which humans are made — the so-called baryonic matter. Even this small part is not yet completely understood.

Weiler to remain NASA science chief

NASA boss Michael Griffin has announced that Edward Weiler will remain the agency’s chief executive of science after almost six weeks as an interim replacement.

Nasa plans manned mission to asteroid

Nasa is preparing a three-month manned mission to an asteroid that is scheduled to pass close to Earth in 2030.

Astronaut Hall of Fame inducts four; funds scholarships

Four outstanding veteran shuttle commanders were inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex May 3.

Help Wanted: Astronauts

NASA is now accepting applications for its 2009 astronaut class. The agency is looking for a few men and women who want to fulfill their dreams and be a part of the next generation of explorers.

Temporary parks dominate parking spaces across the U.S.

reporter's notebook SAN FRANCISCO--It's a gorgeous Friday morning and Jennifer McLaughlin is blending a smoothie in her rooftop garden.

Shuttles' retirement may leave space station lacking support: studynull

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Future NASA Astronaut Aiming for Space

Troy, N.Y. — It’s not every day that you meet someone who builds next-generation rocket engines — from scratch — for fun.

Microsoft turns stargazer with Worldwide Telescope

Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope, a free tool that allows users to explore images of the sky at night, will be available at the end of May.

Station Astronaut Laughs it up for 'Colbert Report'

NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman squeezed in some laughs amid his busy day aboard the International Space Station (ISS) Thursday during an orbital call from comedian Stephen Colbert.

Space Hotel Prototype Makes 10,000th Orbit

After 660 days in space and 10,000 orbits around Earth, the pioneering inflatable prototype is still going strong. Launched atop a converted intercontinental ballistic missile on July 12th, 2006, the Bigelow Aerospace vision for a space hotel is gradually being realized. The first test was to see whether the design could self-inflate and carry out basic operations automatically, but after nearly two years of travelling 270 million miles (435 million kliometers), the prototype has surpassed all expectations and provides an excellent foundation for the company's first manned mission in 2011…

That's WMAP, Seen from Earth

Okay, now astronomers are just showing off. See the three little multicolored dots in the upper right of this image? That's NASA's WMAP satellite, seen from a distance of 1.5 million km. The photograph was taken from the 2.2 meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory at La Silla, Chile. Apart from demonstrating some impressive imagine power and technique, the astronomers are testing out new tracking techniques for ESA's upcoming Gaia space observatory.

Learning to Breathe Mars Air (Video)

Talk about dedication! Volunteers in Russia are testing the ability of humans to breathe argon-enriched air, as part of a research program that simulates a manned trip to Mars. Researchers want to know if humans can survive breathing air similar to that found on Mars. Of the experiment one Russian scientist said, "Our experiments show that argon combined with the right portion of oxygen is safe for humans. I tested it on myself and I'm OK, and volunteers are also doing fine." Somehow, I'm not convinced about the rationale and safety of this test. This is preliminary research for the Russian Mars 500 project, which will simulate a manned Mars mission next year.

Rumor Mill Churns With NASA's Upcoming Announcement

This past Wednesday, NASA announced they have scheduled a press conference for next Wednesday, May 14, at 1 p.m. EDT, to reveal the discovery of an object in our galaxy that astronomers have been hunting for more than 50 years. This gives everyone an entire week to speculate, ruminate and in some cases go off the deep end about what the announcement will entail. On the internet the conjecture goes from logical (intermediate or supermassive black holes) to wacko (aliens, Planet X, or something to do with the Mayan calendar) to hilarious (the Death Star or socks lost in the dryer.)

Stars Orbiting Close to Black Holes Flattened like Hot Pancakes

Playing with black holes is a risky business, especially for a star that is unlucky enough to be orbiting one. Assuming an unfortunate star hasn't already had all of its hydrogen fuel and other component elements stripped from its surface, the powerful tidal forces will have some fun with the doomed stellar body. First the star will be stretched out of shape and then it will be flattened like a pancake. This action will compress the star generating violent internal nuclear explosions, and shockwaves will ripple throughout the tormented stellar plasma. This gives rise to a new type of X-ray burst, revealing the sheer power a black hole's tidal radius has on the smaller binary sibling. Sounds painful…

After the Shuttle, Should Astronauts be Launched on Satellite Rockets?

When the Shuttle fleet is retired in 2010, what other mode of transport could be used to take NASA astronauts into space? After all, we routinely launch satellites into orbit, why can't the same technology be adapted and used for human spaceflight? Well, the US Senate committee on space and aeronautics was told by a retired US Air Force general on Wednesday that this option should be considered. Rather than injecting billions to accelerate development of the Orion space vehicle or becoming dependent on the Russian Soyuz, the reliable workhorses of satellite launches, the Atlas V and Delta IV rockets, could be "human rated"…