Space & Astronomy News

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Scientists with the US Phoenix lander will make their first analysis of Martian ice fragments in coming days but it could be the last done in one of the probe's small ovens, NASA said on its website Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Volcanic activity has played a central role in forging the surface of Mercury, scientists said on Thursday based on data collected by a NASA spacecraft that zoomed past the closest planet to the sun in January.

A NASA spacecraft's first flyby of Mercury has yielded a wealth of information about the inner-most planet, some of which confirms volcanism occurred there, settling a longstanding debate.

This story inaugurates a new monthly feature that will highlight the research undertaken by SETI Institute scientists, as well as provide an opportunity for you to join an expedition or participate directly in science or science education.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The solar system may not be a nice round shape, but rather a bit squashed and oblong, according to data from the Voyager 2 spacecraft exploring the solar system's outer limits, scientists said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (AFP) - The Russian space agency has sealed a deal with a private investor to build a Soyuz spacecraft specially for tourist hire and operational in 2011, a statement said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON - When viewed from the rest of the galaxy, the edge of our solar system appears slightly dented as if a giant hand is pushing one edge of it inward, far-traveling NASA probes reveal.

Voyager 2's journey toward interstellar space has revealed surprising insights into the energy and magnetic forces at the solar system's outer edge, and confirmed the solar system's squashed shape.

LANCASTER, Calif. - A man and his friend have been charged with stabbing and beating the man's ex-wife, her two children and her relative, a NASA scientist, before setting fire to a Mojave Desert home to cover up the crime.

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon will buy and operate one or two commercial imagery satellites and plans to design and build another with more sophisticated spying capabilities, according to government and private industry officials.

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander scraped up some icy soil to analyze in its instruments, NASA announced on Tuesday.

BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Commission invited bids on Tuesday for contractors to participate in the construction of the European Union's much delayed Galileo satellite navigation network.

Earth emits an ear-piercing series of chirps and whistles that could be heard by any aliens who might be listening, astronomers have discovered.

American astronaut Garrett Reisman is getting reacquainted with gravity and baseball as he readjusts to life on Earth after three months living in space.

GOLDEN, Colorado — NASA's Opportunity Mars rover is getting an eyeful, wheeling itself ever closer to a cliff wall that's part of the huge Victoria Crater. A camera campaign is underway, with early imagery producing anticipation within the rover science team back on Earth.

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has scraped to icy soil in the "Wonderland" area on, NASA announced on Friday.

WASHINGTON  - A tiny weld defect discovered in one of the Falcon 1's engine nozzles as the rocket was being readied for a late June launch contributed to Space Exploration Technologies' (SpaceX) decision to postpone its third attempt to put the rocket into orbit by at least a month.

Space teacher Barbara Morgan, NASA's first professional educator astronaut, will hang up her spaceflight wings in August after a two-decade trek to orbit that culminated with a shuttle launch last year.

The discovery last week of water ice just under the surface of Mars has researchers buzzing, given that water is a key ingredient for life. The finding, by the Phoenix Mars Lander, is the most recent hint that the Red Planet might be habitable to microbes.

The SOHO spacecraft discovered its 1,500th comet this week, making the observatory the most successful comet detector.

LANCASTER, Calif. - Four people including a NASA engineer were beaten and stabbed to death in the engineer's Mojave Desert home, which was then set afire, authorities said.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Flabbergasted" NASA scientists said on Thursday that Martian soil appeared to contain the requirements to support life, although more work would be needed to prove it.

NASA will start fixing a damaged Florida launch pad Friday in preparation for the October launch of space shuttle Atlantis in a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved a NASA authorization bill this week that would forbid the U.S. space agency from retiring the space shuttle before completing all remaining missions, including an additional flight to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) to the International Space Station.

What is the Carl Sagan Center? Astrobiology has become one of the hottest fields of science, and one of the most interesting to the general public. Research in astrobiology has spread widely, with many major universities and other research institutions establishing active programs. Scientists at the SETI Institute have been doing astrobiology research for more that two decades.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - NASA unveiled a beefed-up redesign of a proposed moon rocket Wednesday, saying the Ares V spacecraft that is to carry astronauts to the lunar surface in 12 years will be around 38 stories tall and carry a heftier load than originally planned.

"Please give a big green welcome to everybody's favorite space ranger ... Buzz Lightyear!" hollered the sergeant of the green army men, as Sheriff Woody, his horse Bullseye, cowgirl Jessie and Bo Peep looked on.

Europe's first orbital cargo ship is pulling double duty as an astronaut washroom and will spend an extra month at the International Space Station (ISS).

GOLDEN, Colo. — China is stepping up and out in the world of space exploration.