Space News
What is Orbital Sciences?
Phys.org - 29 Oct 2014 23:30
NASA pays it billions. Its rockets sport mythical names like Minotaur and Pegasus. And its $2 billion deal to resupply the International Space Station had gone well--until this week.
ISS-Bound Antares Explosion --Space X's Elon Musk: Rocket's Outdated Technology "A Joke"
The Daily Galaxy - 29 Oct 2014 22:33
An Orbital Sciences rocket operating under a NASA contract exploded shortly after launch on Tuesday evening, much to everyone's surprise -- except, perhaps, PayPal founder Elon Musk. Musk, today the the CEO of Tesla and ...
NASA's Asteroid-Capture Mission Won't Help Astronauts Reach Mars: Scientist
SPACE.com - 29 Oct 2014 20:14
NASA should scrap its bold asteroid-capture mission idea and instead launch a comprehensive search for near-Earth asteroids to visit in their native orbits, MIT professor Richard Binzel says.
NASA Warns Not To Touch Antares Rocket Debris, Contact Authorities | Video
SPACE.com - 29 Oct 2014 04:00
Orbital Sciences' Frank Culbertson and NASA's Bill Wrobel explained that any debris that is found in surrounding area should be considered dangerous, not be touched and authorities should be immediately contacted at 757-...
Russian rocket engines suspected in launch blast
Phys.org - 29 Oct 2014 23:50
Crews searched for scorched wreckage along the Virginia coast Wednesday in hopes of determining why an unmanned commercial rocket exploded in a blow to NASA's strategy of using private companies to send supplies and, eve...
NRO Contractor Engility Acquires Rival TASC for $1.1 Billion
Space News - 29 Oct 2014 22:25
Engility Corp. will acquire rival systems engineering company TASC in a $1.1 billion all-stock deal.
Contractor Engility Acquires TASC for $1.1 Billion
Space News - 29 Oct 2014 22:25
Engility Corp. will acquire systems engineering company TASC in a $1.1 billion all-stock deal.
Orbital Minimizes Financial Impact of Antares Failure
Space News - 29 Oct 2014 22:08
Orbital officials sought to reassure investors that the Oct. 28 failure of the company's Antares rocket just 15 seconds after ignition will have minimal impact on Orbital's financial performance and operations.
Antares Rocket Explosion: Full Coverage and Investigation
SPACE.com - 29 Oct 2014 22:06
What caused Orbital Sciences' private Antares rocket to explode on Oct. 28, 2014? Here's our complete coverage of NASA's investigation and findings.
"A Cosmic Wheel Within a Wheel" --Binary Star Planet Lifeline Discovered
The Daily Galaxy - 29 Oct 2014 22:00
"Almost half the Sun-like stars were born in binary systems," says Emmanuel Di Folco with the Observatoire de Paris. "This means that we have found a mechanism to sustain planet formation that applies to a significant nu...
How Sending Humans to an Asteroid Would Work (Infographic)
SPACE.com - 29 Oct 2014 21:59
NASA's plan is to bring a distant asteroid nearer to Earth, but a competing idea would send humans to one or more asteroids in their native orbits.
This Dark Nebula Looks Like it is Writhing in Agony
Universe Today - 29 Oct 2014 21:43
We’ve got at least one scary night ahead with Halloween falling on Friday. Adam Block, manager at the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter at the University of Arizona sent us this image of the nebula LBN 438, explaining that this d...
An Orbital Sunrise Seen From the International Space Station
SpaceRef - 29 Oct 2014 21:28
NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman posted this image of a sunrise, captured from the International Space Station, to social media on Oct. 29, 2014....
Double Disc Found Feeding Each Other In Binary Star System
Universe Today - 29 Oct 2014 20:27
Deep within the Taurus Dark Cloud complex, one of the closest star-forming regions to Earth has just revealed one of its secrets – an umbilical cord of gas flowing from the expansive outer disc toward the interior of a...
How Planets Get Multiple Suns Like 'Star Wars'' Tatooine
SPACE.com - 29 Oct 2014 20:13
A planet may be forming in a star system with more than one sun, making it sort of like an early Tatooine, the fictional home world of Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars," new research shows.
US Air Force Launches Military GPS Satellite on 50th Atlas 5 Rocket
SPACE.com - 29 Oct 2014 20:03
The U.S. Air Force launched a 19-story rocket from the coast of Florida today to carry a next-generation GPS satellite into space.
Photos: Atlas 5 Rocket Launches Military GPS 2F8 Satellite
SPACE.com - 29 Oct 2014 20:03
An Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Wednesday to loft a military GPS satellite into space.
Delay Saved NanoRacks External Platform from Antares Failure
Space News - 29 Oct 2014 20:01
NanoRacks decided last month to wait for Orbital's fourth paid cargo run to send the External Research Platform to the ISS.
Planet-forming lifeline discovered in a binary star system
Phys.org - 29 Oct 2014 20:00
Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have detected a streamer of dust and gas flowing from a massive outer disk toward the inner reaches of a binary star system. This never-before-seen...
Planet-forming Lifeline Discovered in a Binary Star System
PTTU - 29 Oct 2014 20:00
ESO Top News: For the first time, researchers using ALMA have detected a streamer of gas flowing from a massive outer disc toward the inner reaches of a binary star system. This never-before-seen feature may be responsib...
Turbulent Hot Gas Stunts Star Growth In Galaxy Clusters | Video
SPACE.com - 29 Oct 2014 19:51
A study in X-rays of the Perseus, Virgo clusters and others has revealed that supermassive black holes' jets are "pumping energy out into the gas," keeping it from forming stars.
"A Vast Place of Stellar Life" --An Infrared Probe of Ringed Galaxy NGC 1291
The Daily Galaxy - 29 Oct 2014 19:06
This ringed galaxy is actually a vast place of stellar life. Though galaxy NGC 1291 shown in this newly released image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is quite old, roughly 12 billion years, it is marked by an unusua...