Space News
Europa: No Longer a "Should," But a "Must"
Planetary Society - 13 Dec 2013 03:51
We've waited long enough, Europa cries out for exploration and discovery. It's time to heed that cry.
GAO Denies Blue Origin's Bid Protest of Pad 39A Lease
Space News - 13 Dec 2013 00:38
Blue Origin has been at loggerheads with SpaceX about leasing Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy for months.
Weekly Space Hangout - December 13, 2013 - Europa's Water Jets and Chinese Lunar Lander
Universe Today - 13 Dec 2013 21:48
Host: Fraser Cain Guests: David Dickinson, Amy Shira Teitel, Jason Major, Nicole Gugliucci (...)Read the rest of Weekly Space Hangout – December 13, 2013 – Europa’s Water Jets and Chinese Lunar Lander (105 words) �...
Water Geysers on Jupiter Moon Europa May Boost Support for Life-Hunting Mission
SPACE.com - 13 Dec 2013 22:55
Scientists have detected transient plumes of water vapor erupting from Europa's south pole. The moon is thought to contain a subsurface ocean, and the geysers represent a way to sample this potentially life-supporting en...
The Art and Science of Snow
Scientific American - 13 Dec 2013 22:34
This excellent video from USC Dornsife is a fun collaboration between the arts and the sciences. [More] --
Big Bang to Civilization: 10 Amazing Origin Events (Op-Ed)
SPACE.com - 13 Dec 2013 22:09
The top 10 breakthroughs in the story of humanity.
NASA Negotiating Pad Lease with SpaceX after GAO Rejects Blue Origin Protest
Space News - 13 Dec 2013 22:09
NASA announced its decision in a press release a day after the GAO denied a protest from Blue Origin.
When Is a Star Not a Star?
Universe Today - 13 Dec 2013 21:24
When it’s a brown dwarf — but where do we draw the line? Often called “failed stars,” brown dwarfs are curious cosmic creatures. They’re kind of like swollen, super-dense Jupiters, containing huge amounts of ma...
US Air Force's Mysterious X-37B Space Plane Passes 1 Year in Orbit
SPACE.com - 13 Dec 2013 21:18
The U.S. Air Force's secretive X-37B space plane program has passed another milestone: Its latest mission marked one year in orbit this week.
CU-Boulder to fly antibiotic experiment, education project on ants to space station
Phys.org - 13 Dec 2013 21:11
A University of Colorado Boulder research center will launch two payloads aboard Orbital Sciences Corp.'s commercial Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station on Dec. 18, including a biomedical antibiotic expe...
NASA Selects SpaceX to Begin Negotiations for Use of Historic Launch Pad
PTTU - 13 Dec 2013 21:08
NASA Breaking News: NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, Calif., to begin negotiations on a lease to use and operate historic Launch Complex (LC) 39A at the agency's Kennedy...
Gaia "sees" its first stars during preparations for Arianespace's December 19 Soyuz launch
PTTU - 13 Dec 2013 20:36
Arianespace Press Releases: Europe's Gaia spacecraft - to be lofted by Arianespace next week on a mission to map the Milky Way - has "seen" its initial stars with the spacecraft's encapsulation in the payload fairing dur...
We're Observing at the Very Large Array!
Galaxy Zoo - 13 Dec 2013 20:12
I’m really excited to be able to post that galaxies selected with the help of Galaxy Zoo classifications are being observed at the VLA (Very Large Array) in New Mexico, possibly right now. The funny thing about observi...
Geminid Meteors Peak Tonight!
Bad Astronomy - 13 Dec 2013 20:05
If you're looking for a way to see an amazing sight while simultaneously freezing your butt off, do I have the meteor shower for you: the Geminids! This annual shower peaks tonight, when there should be very roughly 100 ...
Why Our Universe is Not a Hologram
Universe Today - 13 Dec 2013 20:01
Editor’s note: This article was originally published by Brian Koberlein on G+, and it is republished here with the author’s permission. There's a web post from the Nature website going around entitled "Simulations ba...
Planetary Nebula Sh2-71
PTTU - 13 Dec 2013 20:00
Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING): INT WFC image of the Planetary Nebula Sh2-71.
NASA Weighs Spacewalk To Fix Cooling Problem On Station
Universe Today - 13 Dec 2013 19:26
NASA may allow its first spacewalk since summer to deal with a malfunction that crippled a cooling loop on the International Space Station. If extravehicular activity is deemed necessary for a fix, it would be the first ...
Chang'e 3 landing tomorrow 13:40 UT, earlier than previously reported
Planetary Society - 13 Dec 2013 19:20
According to numerous Chinese news reports, Chang'e 3's landing on the Moon is now scheduled to begin at 21:40 Beijing time on December 14, which is 13:40 UT or 05:40 PT. That's about two hours earlier than previously st...
China's 1st Moon Rover Mission to Attempt Lunar Landing: Here's What It Could Do
SPACE.com - 13 Dec 2013 19:03
China's first moon rover mission is poised for weekend landing on the lunar surface, an event that -- successful -- will mark the country's first robotic landing on another celestial body. Here's what Chang'e 3 and the Y...
ESA Teams Are Ready for China's Moon Landing
SpaceRef - 13 Dec 2013 18:49
When China's Chang'e-3 makes a soft landing on the Moon on 14 December, ESA tracking stations will record crucial radio signals....
Earth Views from Space Station Star in Stunning Time-Lapse Video
SPACE.com - 13 Dec 2013 18:28
Astronauts have beamed down their views of the Earth from the International Space Station for years, but a new video shows their unique sights in a new light.
Crab Nebula as Seen by Herschel and Hubble
SpaceRef - 13 Dec 2013 18:21
This image shows a composite view of the Crab nebula, an iconic supernova remnant in our Milky Way galaxy, as viewed by the Herschel Space Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope....