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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: space exploration

space exploration stories: 57 news summaries

21 - 40 of 57 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 Next >>

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Private Firms Hope to Haul NASA's Space Cargo

And US agency wants their help

Sep 25, 08 1:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Hauling crew and equipment between earth and the international space station is expensive work, and NASA is looking to private entrepreneurs to pick up some of the slack, the Washington Post reports. Among the front-runners is Elon Musk, a founder of Paypal, who has seen his three prototype shuttles crash... More »

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Russia • NASA • entrepreneurs • space exploration • space tourism • International Space Station • PayPal

ANALYSIS

 Mission Accomplished on Mars

Time is up, but Phoenix keeps digging

Aug 29, 08 5:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - Time's almost up for NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander: With its 90-day mission complete, the $480 million project will continue testing soil samples until the punishing winter puts it out of commission. Wired recaps Phoenix triumphs with an interactive timeline, from its flawless landing at Mars' north pole to its... More »

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NASA • space exploration • Mars • Phoenix Mars Lander • robot • Wired

 There's a New
 Space Race,
 and US Is Losing 

Rest of the world collaborates while fearful US falls behind

Jul 9, 08 2:19 PM CDT
(Newser) - While the rest of the world cooperates incessantly on all matters extraterrestrial, the US, hampered by self-imposed regulations meant to keep weapons out of enemies' hands, is swiftly losing dominance of the final frontier, the Washington Post reports. The US’ military space program is still gargantuan, but the civil... More »

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China • NASA • space exploration • European Space Agency • space • space shuttle • satellite • rocket • space program

Thinking 'Bots May Probe Planets for Us

Gizmos could direct airships over Titan, Europa by 2017

Jul 6, 08 6:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - WALL-E they aren't, but future space robots may decide how and where we explore other planets, Space.com reports. Using what expert Wolfgang Fink calls “tier-scalable reconnaissance,” orbiting spacecrafts could choose where to deploy airships that drop rovers on planet surfaces. NASA and Europe may test the software... More »

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artificial intelligence • space exploration • planet • space • robot • Wall-E

OPINION

 New Planets Yield 
 Hopes of Life 
 Beyond  

Rocky, Earth-like orbs appear to be out there; might we indeed have company?

Jun 24, 08 1:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - The discovery, announced last week, that rocky, Earth-sized planets appear to be circling sun-sized stars in our own galaxy should thrill the closet Star Trek geek in all of us, Natalie Angier writes in the New York Times. "If planets abound, scientists suspect that life abounds, too, at... More »

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astronomy • space exploration • planet • deep space • extraterrestrial life • Milky Way • galaxy • Kepler spacecraft

Computer Woes Slow Mars Craft

Soil photos lost in transmission 'not really critical,' but lander's mission delayed

Jun 19, 08 3:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Phoenix Mars Lander stopped digging yesterday to give its memory a rest after a computer glitch caused the loss of photographs and scientific data, the AP reports. Scientists were alerted to the problem after the lander transmitted a single piece of information 45,000 times. "It's unfortunate to... More »

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NASA • space exploration • Mars • Phoenix Mars Lander • robotic arm • computer glitch • JPL • transmission

 Shake 'N Bake:
 Unclogged Phoenix
 Ovens Ready 

Scientists hope cooking Martian soil will yield clues to its nature

Jun 12, 08 7:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists were cheering yesterday after a tricky operation succeeded in shaking Martian dirt into the Phoenix lander's oven, the Los Angeles Times. The spacecraft will now spend the next few weeks heating up soil samples and analyzing gases. Scientists hope the tests and photos being sent back today will help... More »

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NASA • space exploration • Mars • Phoenix • Phoenix Mars Lander • soil sample

Stowaway Molecules
Could Taint Mars Results

Microscopic hitchhikers might provide false evidence in search for life

Jun 5, 08 4:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Missions searching for signs of life on Mars could be fooled by organic molecules that hitched a ride from Earth, a new study suggests. University of Florida researchers using simulated Martian conditions found that ATP, an energy-storing molecule fundamental to terrestrial life, could survive the trip and hang around for... More »

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NASA • space exploration • Mars • extraterrestrial life • Phoenix Mars Lander • ATP • Mars rover

Discovery's
New Fuel Tank Passes With
Flying Colors

First test of redesign after 2003 disaster

Jun 2, 08 3:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Discovery shuttle launch Saturday marked the first use of a new fuel tank designed after flaws led to the 2003 Columbia disaster, Space.com reports, and tests yesterday showed the new design to be successful. The external tank, designed to minimize the release of falling debris  during launch, shed... More »

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NASA • space exploration • aerospace • space shuttle • International Space Station • Columbia Space Shuttle • Discovery space shuttle

Discovery Launches, With Kibo Aboard

Shuttle also bears a new toilet for space station crew

May 31, 08 4:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - The space shuttle Discovery blasted into a clear blue sky today, carrying Kibo, a huge Japanese laboratory for the International Space Station. The $1 billion lab will be the station’s biggest room. “This is a real milestone,” said one NASA administrator. The Discovery is also bringing a... More »

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NASA • space exploration • aerospace • space shuttle • International Space Station • Kibo • Discovery space shuttle

 NASA Deploys Mars 
 Probe's Robotic Arm  

Radio glitch delays plan by 1 day

May 29, 08 1:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander extended its robotic arm for the first time late last night, the AP reports, a day late because of a temporary radio blackout. The arm, which will unfurl over a 2-day period, will eventually be used to take samples of ice below the surface in... More »

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NASA • space exploration • Mars • space • Arctic • Phoenix Mars Lander • soil sample

 $4M NASA Cut May Strand 
 Mars Rover  

Shrinking budget could also leave 300 jobless

Mar 24, 08 8:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - NASA confirmed and denied plans today to scuttle a Mars rover and fire 300 employees, CNN reports. The space agency first announced a $4 million cut to the Mars program's $20 million budget and vowed to unplug one of two rovers roaming the red planet. Then a NASA spokesman told... More »

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NASA • space exploration • Mars • Opportunity • Spirit • rover • budget cuts • job cuts

Want Oil? Try Saturn's Titan

Moon has hundreds of times more oil and natural gas than Earth

Feb 14, 08 5:09 PM CST
(Newser) - Titan, one of Saturn's dozens of moons, has supplies of natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons hundreds of times greater than Earth’s oil reserves, Space.com reports. The unmanned Cassini spacecraft has mapped only 20% of Titan’s surface with radar, and has already discovered dozens of bodies of hydrocarbon... More »

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NASA • oil • space exploration • hydrocarbon • Earth • Saturn • Titan • Cassini • organic chemistry

OMG! Bigfoot on Mars! Run!

This just might be what jump-starts interest in space exploration again

Jan 24, 08 6:19 PM CST
(Newser) - After nearly four years of important discoveries, it has taken a tiny rock outcropping that looks like Bigfoot to make people passionate about the Mars rovers, the Telegraph reports. Conspiracy theorists are sure a photo snapped in 2004 reveals an alien, or perhaps a creature like Sasquatch. "I couldn’... More »

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NASA • space exploration • Mars • aliens • bigfoot

Branson Unveils SpaceShipTwo

Double-hulled plane will carry rocket to high altitude

Jan 23, 08 5:31 PM CST
(Newser) - Richard Branson has unveiled the ship that will carry paying passengers to space. Slightly different from its original prototype, SpaceShipTwo will be carried to high altitude by a double-hulled plane called White Knight, where the rocket will then separate and launch. Branson's Virgin Galactic startup hopes to start test flights... More »

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Richard Branson • space exploration • Virgin Galactic • SpaceShipTwo • Burt Rutan

Evolution Coming to Space Race

Engineers apply natural-selection algorithm to flight paths for spacecraft

Jan 9, 08 2:33 PM CST
(Newser) - Engineers have devised a way of coming up with flight paths for space missions by using the laws of natural selection, Space.com reports. An algorithm called "differential evolution" treats different paths as individual organisms, which then "mutate," and the best solutions survive to the next generation.... More »

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NASA • evolution • space exploration

NASA to Boost Brits to the Moon

British moon probe plans to get the agency's backing

Dec 15, 07 6:20 AM CST
(Newser) - NASA is likely to help Britain send a probe to the moon by 2012, reports the BBC. A study found that the British "Moonlite" proposal fit a gap in NASA's plans. The project will fire darts from an unmanned probe into the moon's surface to discover what lies beneath.... More »

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NASA • space exploration • moon • Mike Griffin • space probes

Asian Space Race Stirs Friction, Pride

Moon shots spark
suspicion about military plans in space

Oct 25, 07 10:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - With China, India and Japan all launching civilian moon missions, the Christian Science Monitor examines the  Asian space race, driven by what one expert calls "techno-nationalism."  They "generate pride domestically and they demonstrate prowess internationally," but they're also inflaming security concerns and suspicions, as all... More »

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China • NASA • space exploration • India • Japan • aerospace • space race • moon colonization • lunar exploration

China Launches 1st Lunar Probe

Plans to land astronaut on lunar surface by 2020

Oct 24, 07 12:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - China launched its first lunar mission today, beginning its gambit to be the third country to put a man in space. The Chang'e-I probe fired into space unmanned, but the lunar orbiter should earn China’s space program respect—and lucrative contracts, Bloomberg reports. China next plans to land a... More »

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China • NASA • space exploration • European Space Agency • space • moon • Chinese space program • Discovery space shuttle

Japan Sets
Its Sights
on the Moon

China, India lead race to put unmanned craft on lunar surface

Oct 9, 07 12:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - Japan is officially joining the ranks of countries intent on lunar exploration. The country plans to land an unmanned rover on the lunar surface "in the middle of the 2010s," a government official announced today. China and India have already announced plans to place a spacecraft on the... More »

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space exploration • Japan • moon

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