Space: Final Frontier

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October 2008
- Trick Telescopy Aids in Search for Alien Life
  
  Wired | Oct 13, 08 2:03 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Telescope technology currently in the works will use light measurements to search for planets beyond our solar system whose orbit around a star means they could support life, Wired reports. The system, called nulling interferometry, uses tiny mirrors that move at atomic levels to combine the power of several telescopes, creating a device that could see a quarter on the moon. More »
- Space Tourist Video Gamer Blasts Off
  
  Reuters | Oct 12, 08 4:44 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - US video game magnate Richard Garriott blasted off into space today aboard a Russian rocket—and all it cost him was $35 million. The "space tourist" was cheered on by his father, a one-time NASA astronaut, Reuters reports. "I can see he is really enjoying it like a little kid in a candy shop," said Garriott's girlfriend. The craft is already in orbit and will dock with the International Space Station in two days. More »
- Diary That Survived Shuttle Blast Goes on Display
  
  Associated Press | Oct 4, 08 7:21 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Pages from the diary of an Israeli astronaut who perished with the space shuttle Columbia go on display tomorrow at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the AP reports. Ilan Ramon's diary was found in a field 2 months after the crash. It had fallen 37 miles to earth when the shuttle disintegrated. The museum's curator says its survival defies rational explanation. More »
September 2008
- It's Snowing on Mars
  
  Washington Post | Sep 30, 08 4:27 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Snow has been falling nightly in the Mars atmosphere for about a month now, giving scientists more reason to believe that life may have once existed in the red planet's polar regions. Lasers onboard the Phoenix lander have tracked icy snow falling for a mile from clouds drifting 2.5 miles above the planet’s surface, but they can’t tell whether the snow is reaching the ground, the Washington Post reports. More »
- Hubble Glitch Delays NASA Repair Mission
  
  Orlando Sentinel | Sep 29, 08 5:13 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope has been delayed after the apparatus stopped transmitting data Friday, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Shuttle crews will be retrained to deal with the new problem, and the launch rescheduled so NASA can have a second shuttle ready in case a rescue mission is needed. More »
- Chinese Astronaut Takes Spacewalk
  
  Associated Press | Sep 27, 08 6:52 AM CDT
  
  (AP) - A Chinese astronaut took the nation's first spacewalk today, floating outside the orbiter module's hatch for about 13 minutes. "Greetings to all the people of the nation and all the people of the world," he declared in a live broadcast on state TV, waving a Chinese flag. More »
- Planned Spacewalk Would Be Giant Leap for Chinese
  
  Time | Sep 24, 08 4:33 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - China is set to become the third nation to send a human strolling through space this week, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The shuttle Shenzhou VII will launch tomorrow with a crew of three, one of whom will don a Chinese- or Russian-made spacesuit for the spacewalk, seen as another signal of China’s arrival among top-tier world powers. More »
- Experiment Raises Hope of Solar Power From Space
  
  Space.com | Sep 13, 08 10:19 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - An experiment in beaming solar power has raised hopes that humanity can harness huge amounts of solar energy from satellites, Space.com reports. Researchers sent the energy about 90 miles between two Hawaiian islands via radio waves. The transmission of energy a hundred times further than earlier experiments proves the concept can work, said the former NASA scientist behind the test. One hurdle: Only a small fraction of the energy survived the transmission. More »
August 2008
- Mission Accomplished on Mars
  
  Wired | 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 groundbreaking analysis of Martian ice and water. More »
- Iran Aims to Put a Man in Space
  
  CBC (Canada) | Aug 21, 08 5:30 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Iran plans to send a manned mission into orbit within the next 10 years, the CBC reports. The news comes on the heels of a recent, and disputed, rocket launch the Iranians claim put a satellite, its first, into space. The country says its space presence would monitor weather and improve communications, but the international community is wary of military applications. More »
- Experts: Warp Drive Is Possible
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | Aug 16, 08 5:20 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Two physicists believe the fictional "warp drive" of Star Trek fame could someday become a reality, the Daily Telegraph reports. The scientists theorize that a mysterious cosmic force called dark energy could be harnessed to warp space around a vessel, allowing a spacecraft to travel faster than light—"like a surfer riding a wave." More »
- Dutch Teacher Discovers Green 'Space Ghost'
  
  NPR | Aug 10, 08 2:14 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A Dutch schoolteacher earned her moment in the sun by discovering a cosmic ball of gas some have labeled a space “ghost,” NPR reports. Hanny van Arkel, 25, was working as a volunteer with a galaxy-classifying website when she came upon what “looked like a regular galaxy but much bluer.” Experts say it consists of hot gas that is perhaps reflecting the light of a distant galaxy. More »
- Branson's Aircraft: Beyond Space Tourism
  
  Economist | Aug 3, 08 11:19 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Though space tourism is an exciting feat in itself, it’s just the beginning of the possibilities for Virgin Galactic’s White Knight Two , the Economist notes. The carbon-composite plane doubles as a spaceship’s first stage, and is capable of launching satellites, transporting replacement engines, and facilitating the study of the inaccessible “ignorosphere” —believed central to climate change. More »
- NASA Briefs White House on Possible Martian Life
  
  Aviation Week | Aug 2, 08 3:23 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - NASA has briefed the White House on its plan to announce a new finding on the "potential for life" on Mars, Aviation Week reports. NASA has no evidence that the red planet has harbored life, but new Phoenix lander discoveries suggest it is possible—a finding that Phoenix officials call far more “provocative” than the mere presence of water. More »
July 2008
- NASA Lander Confirms Water on Mars
  
  Associated Press | Jul 31, 08 8:50 PM CDT
  
  (AP) - The Phoenix spacecraft has tasted Martian water for the first time. By melting icy soil in one of its lab instruments, the robot confirmed the presence of frozen water lurking below the Martian permafrost. Until now, evidence of ice in Mars' north pole region has been largely circumstantial. Scientists popped open champagne today when they received confirmation. More »
- Branson Rolls Out Space Plane
  
  Los Angeles Times | Jul 28, 08 5:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - At a remote airfield in the Mojave Desert today, Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson unveiled the flagship of his new venture, an aircraft that will carry the first passenger space rocket to its launch height of 48,000 feet, the Los Angeles Times reports. Tickets are going for $200,000-plus, with the maiden voyage possible before decade’s end. More »
- Sticky Soil Foils Mars Work
  
  Space.com | Jul 28, 08 8:19 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - NASA is revising its soil-harvesting method because the Phoenix Mars lander is having trouble with its icy finds, Space.com reports. The lander’s attempts to analyze the soil have been troubled because the soil is sticking to its scoop, stubbornly refusing to fall into the tiny oven designed to melt and study it. Next time, the scoop will dig less and vibrate more. NASA is studying the soil to see whether it could have ever supported life. More »
- Astronaut Reports Alien Visits
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | Jul 25, 08 3:44 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, who walked on the moon during the Apollo 14 mission, says aliens have visited Earth but the information has been covered up by the government. The 77-year-old astronaut told a radio interviewer he was "privileged enough to be in on the fact that we've been visited," reports the Daily Telegraph . More »
- Scientists Explain Northern Lights
  
  Wired | Jul 24, 08 7:01 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Scientists say they have solved the mystery of what causes the dazzling northern lights to seemingly dance across the sky, Wired reports. The light show, also known as aurora borealis, is triggered by explosions of magnetic energy about 80,000 miles away. The findings—drawn from five NASA satellites working in tandem with ground observers—might help scientists better predict geomagnetic storms that take out satellites. More »
- Dwarf Planet Gets a Name
  
  USA Today | Jul 22, 08 10:17 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The neighborhood of the solar system beyond Neptune has a new resident—or rather, an old resident with a new name. The dwarf planet originally dubbed Easterbunny will now be known as Makemake (pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh), reports USA Today. More »