Space News
Robotic Rock Climbers Could Aid Hunt for Mars Life
SPACE.com - 29 Nov 2014 15:18
A robot that can scale the faces of steep cliffs might one day help explore Mars and find signs of life.
Japan asteroid probe to lift off Monday after delay
Phys.org - 29 Nov 2014 12:13
Japan on Monday will launch a space probe on a six-year mission to mine a distant asteroid after the event was postponed due to bad weather, officials said.
Space Rock Sheds Light on Mysterious Mineral on Earth
SPACE.com - 29 Nov 2014 01:24
A rock from space is giving scientists the first natural sample of a mysterious mineral that has never been seen before.
New 'Star Wars' Trailer A Force Among Fans -- And An Inspiration For Lego Parody
Universe Today - 29 Nov 2014 20:26
Just how fast can X-wings hope of Star Wars fans go? In the first day since the new Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens trailer was released, the YouTube channel racked up more than 19 million views, inspiring d...
Earth From Space: Quelccaya Ice Cap, Peru
SpaceRef - 29 Nov 2014 19:59
This image features Peru's Quelccaya ice cap, the largest in the Tropics. Resting high up in the Cordillera Oriental of the Peruvian Andes, the ice cap has been shrinking due to rising temperatures in the region, losing ...
This Week at NASA: Expedition 42 Launch, 3-D Printing and More
SpaceRef - 29 Nov 2014 19:51
NASA's Terry Virts and Expedition 42/43 crewmates, Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency and the European Space Agency's Samantha Cristoforetti, launched Nov. 23 at 4:01 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, from Ba...
The Hunt for Colossal "Quark" Stars --Do They Exist? (Holiday Weekend Feature)
The Daily Galaxy - 29 Nov 2014 18:10
"We haven't found strange stars yet," explains Prashanth Jaikumar from the Argonne National Laboratory. "But that doesn't mean they don't exist. Maybe we have found them. Maybe some of these neutron stars are really stra...
Astronomers Poised to Capture Image of Supermassive Milky Way Black Hole
Universe Today - 29 Nov 2014 16:20
Scientists have long suspected that supermassive black holes (SMBH) reside at the center of every large galaxy in our universe. These can be billions of times more massive than our sun, and are so powerful that activity ...
Goodnight, Moon
Bad Astronomy - 29 Nov 2014 14:00
On Thanksgiving night (Nov. 27, 2014), I was getting ready to settle down and watch a movie with the family when I saw the waxing crescent Moon hanging outside a southwest window. The moonlight was reflecting off a still...