space exploration

Stories 61 - 80 | << Prev   Next >>

Astronauts Try to Make Complicated Repair

Cosmic ray detector wasn't designed to be worked on in orbit

(Newser) - Spacewalking astronauts worked Saturday to complete repairs to a cosmic ray detector outside the International Space Station and give it new life. It was the fourth spacewalk since November for NASA's Andrew Morgan and Italy's Luca Parmitano to fix the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, the AP reports. They installed...

Theory on Getting to Mars &#39;Not So Crazy&#39;
Theory
on Getting
to Mars
'Not So Crazy'
new study
Nov 18, 2019 12:03 PM CST

Theory on Getting to Mars 'Not So Crazy'

Hibernating astronauts might do the trick, says new study

(Newser) - Hibernation might be the key to Mars travel. The European Space Agency says putting astronauts into a state of suspended animation could make it easier to reach other planets, per the AP . The agency said Monday that its researchers examined how hibernation would affect the design of a crewed mission...

Secretive Space Plane Left in 2017, Just Returned

Air Force's X-37B spent 780 days aloft

(Newser) - The Air Force's mystery space plane is back on Earth, following a record-breaking two-year mission. The X-37B landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida Sunday, per the AP . The Air Force is mum about what the unmanned plane did in orbit after launching aboard a SpaceX rocket...

Big Ask From NASA for Its 2024 Moon Expedition

Agency says it will need between $20B and $30B over the next 5 years

(Newser) - Back in March, Vice President Mike Pence vowed we'd get to the moon by 2024 by "any means necessary." Now, there's a number that NASA is pinning to "necessary": The agency says it will need between $20 billion and $30 billion over the next five...

Astronomers Find 'Forbidden Planet'

It's an exoplanet extremely close to a star

(Newser) - You can call it NGTS-4b if you're being formal, but astronomers have given their unprecedented new discovery a much sexier name—the Forbidden Planet. The reason for a label right out of a sci-fi thriller is that this exoplanet has been found where scientists didn't think one could...

SpaceX's Latest Launch Could Be a Big Deal

Elon Musk's company sends 60 satellites into orbit, and lots more will follow

(Newser) - SpaceX launched its heaviest load yet into space Thursday night—60 separate satellites weighing 500 pounds apiece, reports CNN . And if everything goes according to plan, Elon Musk's company will launch hundreds and perhaps thousands more such satellites, all part of an ambitious system called Starlink designed to beam...

Something Went Really Wrong in SpaceX Test

Company reports 'anomaly' in engine test

(Newser) - "Anomaly" might be an understatement. SpaceX was running engine tests on an unmanned space vehicle over the weekend at Cape Canaveral when something went seriously wrong. "The initial tests completed successfully but the final test resulted in an anomaly on the test stand," said the company in...

Israel's Ambitious Moon Landing Attempt Fails

It was supposed to be the first privately funded lunar mission

(Newser) - An Israeli spacecraft lost contact with Earth and crashed just moments before it was to land on the moon late Thursday, failing in an ambitious attempt to make history as the first privately funded lunar mission . The spacecraft lost communication with ground control as it was making its final descent...

Waiting for Astronauts Back on Earth: Fame, Accolades ... Herpes?
Astronauts'
Newest Health
Concern: Herpes
NEW STUDY
Mar 19, 2019 2:03 AM CDT

Astronauts' Newest Health Concern: Herpes

Study finds dormant viruses can reactivate in individuals who've endured stresses of space travel

(Newser) - Astronauts who "boldly go where no man has gone before," as William Shatner's Captain Kirk once put it , likely anticipate their body will undergo certain changes while in space. But how many have guessed they might see a herpes flare-up? New research from NASA shows that the...

China Just Made History on the Moon

Craft lands on the far side of the moon, the first to do so

(Newser) - A Chinese spacecraft on Thursday made the first-ever landing on the far side of the moon, state media said. The lunar explorer Chang'e 4 touched down at 10:26am, China Central Television said during its noon broadcast. The far side of the moon faces away from Earth and is...

NASA Spacecraft to Whiz By Most Distant Target Yet
New Year, New NASA
Milestone
Dec 31, 2018 2:30 PM CST

New Year, New NASA Milestone

A spacecraft is set to swing by the most distant celestial body ever

(Newser) - A NASA spacecraft is set to make a New Year's Day rendezvous with a tiny, icy world a billion miles farther than Pluto, in what would make it the most distant cosmic body ever explored by humankind. New Horizons was on course to fly past the mysterious, primitive object...

Humans to Mars? 'Stupid' Idea, Says Apollo Astronaut

Bill Anders, now 85, thinks the idea is 'almost ridiculous'

(Newser) - NASA aims to send humans to Mars in the not-too-distant future. One of its more famous former employees thinks it's a dumb idea. "Stupid" is actually the word used by astronaut Bill Anders in an interview with the BBC . The 85-year-old, who went up with Apollo 8 in...

Earthlings Can Celebrate a Huge Space Milestone
Voyager 2 Cracks Big
Boundary in Deep Space
the Rundown
Dec 10, 2018 10:00 AM CST

Voyager 2 Cracks Big Boundary in Deep Space

Spacecraft becomes 2nd man-made craft to enter interstellar space

(Newser) - NASA is now two for two in regard to a huge achievement in space. Voyager 2 has become only the second man-made object to enter interstellar space, or the "space between the stars," as a release from the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory puts it. The first was...

Rovers Send Back First Photos of Asteroid Surface

'Jumping' robots are now on Ryugu

(Newser) - New photos taken on the surface of an asteroid show that it is (drum roll, please) ... rocky. It may be no surprise, but Japanese space agency scientists and engineers are thrilled by the images being sent to Earth by two jumping robotic rovers that they dropped onto an asteroid about...

Newly Detected Particle Is Huge for Astronomy

Scientists detected a subatomic neutrino and traced it back to its origins

(Newser) - Astronomers are jazzed about a major milestone being reported in Science : Researchers for the first time have detected the source of a high-energy "ghost particle" known as a neutrino. If that doesn't mean much to you, this from the Washington Post might help put it in context: The...

Lightning Strikes on Jupiter Differ From Ours in One Way

Strikes can occur at same rate and in the same frequency, but the where isn't the same

(Newser) - Astronomers have been intrigued at the notion of lightning strikes on Jupiter since Voyager 1 detected flashes nearly four decades ago, notes Space.com . Now the Juno orbiter has revealed a surprise: Those strikes are more similar to lightning strikes on Earth than previously thought. For one thing, Jupiter's...

NASA Will Soon Get Unprecedented Look at Mars

InSight lander will explore the planet's interior

(Newser) - NASA launched another spacecraft toward Mars on Saturday, and this one is designed to provide an unprecedented look at the planet's interior. You can watch the liftoff the InSight lander, a 790-pound probe, here . The spacecraft won't reach Mars until November, but when it does, it will fill...

Uranus Discovery Fulfills Cosmic Punchline

Clouds smell like rotten eggs thanks to smelly gas hydrogen sulfide

(Newser) - Scientists using the huge telescope on Hawaii's Mauna Kea volcano have discovered the world's most obvious space joke. "Uranus smells like farts" is an actual, and correct, headline making the rounds, as here and here . But as the BBC explains, it's no joke. It seems the...

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a ... Giant Disco Ball in the Sky?

Rocket Lab says its 'Humanity Star' will shine in the sky for next 9 months

(Newser) - What's being described as a "giant disco ball" was launched into space last week from a New Zealand sheep and cattle farm, and astronomers are miffed, the Guardian reports. Rocket Lab, the space exploration startup responsible for hurling the "Humanity Star" skyward, says the 3-foot-wide carbon-fiber orb...

Behold, a 'New Era in Astronomy' Is Born

Researchers witness collision of 2 neutron stars, and the result is monumental

(Newser) - It was a faint signal, but it told of one of the most violent acts in the universe, and it would soon reveal secrets of the cosmos, including how gold was created, per the AP . What astronomers witnessed in August and revealed Monday was the long-ago collision of two neutron...

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