Headline Feeds|
Shining Some Light on Sunspots May 11, 2012 
Right now, if you look at the sky at sunrise or sunset when the sun's light is dim, you might be able to see Sunspot AR1476, which is now wending its way across the face of Sol, with your naked eye. The sunspot measures 160,000 km across, or about a dozen times Earth's diameter. Eyeballing the sun might hurt your eyes, of course, so it's better to avoid looking directly at it.
|
Asteroid Miners May Set the Stage for Space Colonization April 24, 2012 
On Tuesday, the founders of Planetary Resources held a press conference at the Museum of Flight in Seattle to announce a new megamillion-dollar plan to use commercially built robotic ships to travel to the asteroid belt to mine for valuable minerals including platinum and gold. "As we move beyond the bounds of Earth to a universe that is full of resources, we can finally bring those materials back to Earth," said speaker Peter Diamandis, cofounder of Planetary Resources.
|
|
IBM Plans Massive Computer System to Digest Big Telescope Data April 02, 2012 
IBM is teaming up with The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, otherwise known as "Astron," on a five-year project to look into very fast, low-power exascale computer systems for the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope. The project, to be called "DOME," will cost about $44 million.
|
Solar Belch Could Stink Up Energy and Communications Networks March 08, 2012 
Solar flares -- clouds of charged particles and plasma from the sun -- have hit Earth, according to the National Weather Service. The solar flares have been making their way toward the planet since Sunday. The storms can seriously disrupt GPS signals, radio communications and the power grid.
|
|
Protecting NASA From Hackers Is Not Rocket Science, Say Analysts March 05, 2012 
NASA has become a popular target of hackers. The space agency's computer network was breached 13 times in 2011 -- to the point where suspected Chinese hackers gained "full functional control" of computers used by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory," a government inspector general told congressional investigators.
|
NASA Dreams of Floating Space Station Twixt Earth and Moon February 14, 2012 
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration is looking into setting up a base near the moon to further space exploration. As it's envisioned, the base will go into a halo orbit of the Earth-moon libration point 2, known as "EM L-2," above the far side of the moon. Essentially, a spacecraft in a halo orbit goes around and around near a libration, or Lagrangian, point -- in this case E-M L2.
|
|
Intel Explores New Modes of Communication for Stephen Hawking January 10, 2012 
World-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking's physical condition is further deteriorating, and Intel wants to help the famous scientist continue to share his ideas with the world. Hawking, who at 21 was diagnosed with a motor neurone disease, has been able to communicate with others through adaptive speech and computing technologies.
|
Paul Allen Shoots for Low Orbit December 20, 2011 
Billionaire Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen has launched a new company that will launch payloads into space from a monster aircraft. Allen's set up a new company, Stratolaunch Systems, for this project. He has revived his relationship with aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan to further his plans.
|
|
NASA Spots Possible Earth 'Twin' 600 Light-Years Away December 05, 2011 
NASA's Kepler mission on Monday confirmed the discovery of a small planet 600 light-years away from Earth in the "habitable zone" of a star not unlike our own sun. About 2.4 times the size of Earth, the newly confirmed planet -- called "Kepler-22b" -- is the smallest yet found to orbit in the middle of the habitable zone, or the region where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface.
|
Fully Loaded Curiosity Rover Readies for Trek to Red Planet November 21, 2011 
Following a one-day delay, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission featuring its new Curiosity rover is now scheduled for launch on Saturday, Nov. 26, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Representing the largest and most advanced rover ever sent to the Red Planet, the automobile-sized Curiosity vehicle will look for evidence of water, carbon and other key elements in the Martian soil and atmosphere.
|
|
Google Dabbles in Dream Tech in Hush-Hush X Lab November 14, 2011 
Google scientists are laboring away on futuristic projects in a top-secret lab somewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area, The New York Times claims. This lab, which is apparently so hush-hush that few Googlers even knew it existed prior to the report, is allegedly called "Google X." More than 100 futuristic projects are said to be under way there.
|
NASA Researchers Aim to Reel In Tractor Beam Tech November 03, 2011 
Any science fiction fan or Trekkie knows what tractor beams are -- those beams that pull objects toward the device that generates them, sort of like an invisible fishing line and reel. NASA believes enough in the possibility of creating real tractor beams that it's provided a $100,000 grant to researchers at its Goddard Space Flight Center to look into the phenomenon.
|
|
Virgin Galactic Spacecraft Triumphs in Hair-Raising Test Flight October 18, 2011 
A recent test flight of Virgin Galactic's private SpaceShipTwo spacecraft caused some tense moments for those participating and observing, but ultimately a new safety feature on the suborbital craft allowed its three-person crew to regain control and bring it safely back down to Earth.
|
Storm of Controversy Bedevils NASA's New Deep Space Program September 19, 2011 
Struggling through a welter of controversy, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration this week announced plans for a new deep space exploration program. At the heart of the Space Launch System is development of an advanced heavy-lift launch vehicle that will enable human exploration in space.
|
|
DARPA's Long-Term Long Shot to the Stars August 22, 2011
In a few short weeks, the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, will award a $500,000 grant for a 100-year starship project. The grant will be awarded at the 100 Year Starship Study Symposium, which will be held in Orlando, Fla., Sept. 30 through Oct. 2. The symposium will deal with the practical issues humanity needs to address to achieve interstellar flight 100 years from now.
|
NASA: From Kennedy to the Ming Dynasty July 20, 2011 
The final voyage of NASA's space shuttle program represents the biggest collapse of a national exploration program since China turned inward after the remarkable 15th century voyages of Chinese Admiral Zheng He. The space shuttle descended from the original Kennedy-era response to the Soviet investment in technology development.
|
|
Final Shuttle Voyage Closes Chapter in Human Spacefaring Saga July 08, 2011 
With the weather barely permitting, the U.S. space exploration program reached another milestone on Friday: Atlantis blasted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on what will be the final space shuttle mission. The flight caps 30 years of achievements including the construction of the International Space Station. Atlantis will dock with the station on Sunday.
|
The Holographic Universe: Is Our 3D World Just an Illusion? July 06, 2011 
It's difficult enough for most humans to grasp the idea that our planet is just one of countless others in our galaxy -- and a pretty small one, at that. Then, of course, there's the concept that our galaxy is just one of billions of others in the universe -- sure to compound any confusion considerably. But neither of those notions can compete on the mind-bending scale with an idea that's currently being investigated at Fermilab.
|
See More Articles in Space Section >>
