Space News
Elon Musk's Hyperloop Might Become A Reality After All
Universe Today - 24 Dec 2014 17:42
Fans of Elon Musk and high-speed transit are sure to remember the Hyperloop. Back in 2013, Musk dropped the idea into the public mind with a paper that claimed that using the right technology, a high-speed train could ma...
No, a Planetary Alignment on Jan. 4, 2015 Won't Decrease Gravity
Bad Astronomy - 24 Dec 2014 14:15
[Note: The very first nonsense I had to debunk in 2014 was a claim that on January 4 of that year a planetary alignment would cause gravity to decrease, allowing you to float momentarily or fall more slowly if you jumped...
Macy's Takes Window Shoppers on Cosmic Christmas Journey in NYC
SPACE.com - 24 Dec 2014 22:46
A Christmas tradition in New York City has taken on a decidedly cosmic twist at Macy's.
NASA Looks at Some Severe Holiday Weather from Space
PTTU - 24 Dec 2014 21:34
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center: Severe weather in the form of tornadoes is not something people expect on Christmas week but a storm system on Dec. 23 brought tornadoes to Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana.
Severe Holiday Weather Seen from Space
SpaceRef - 24 Dec 2014 21:20
Severe weather in the form of tornadoes is not something people expect on Christmas week but a storm system on Dec. 23 brought tornadoes to Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana....
NORAD Santa Tracker Tails St. Nick for Christmas
SPACE.com - 24 Dec 2014 21:18
NORAD -- short for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a joint effort of the United States and Canada-- is keeping an eye on the jolly old elf's annual gift-giving trek, and you can follow along at the "NORAD T...
GPS 3 Ground System Test Demonstrates Labor-saving Capability
Space News - 24 Dec 2014 20:49
The ground system for the next generation of GPS satellites is being designed to automate various functions, which is especially important to the U.S. Air Force as it considers scaling back its corps of satellite operato...
NASA's Ape-like RoboSimian Set for DARPA Robot Challenge
SPACE.com - 24 Dec 2014 20:22
A NASA team is putting the finishing tweaks on its amazing, and somewhat creepy, climbing robot RoboSimian, a four-limbed automaton built to compete in a U.S. military robotics challenge in 2015.
Astronauts Deck the Zero-G Halls for Space Station Christmas
SPACE.com - 24 Dec 2014 19:59
Astronauts in space have decked the halls of the International Space Station in honor of the holiday season.
The top 101 astronomical events to watch for in 2015
Phys.org - 24 Dec 2014 19:22
Now in its seventh year of compilation and the second year running on Universe Today, we're proud to feature our list of astronomical happenings for the coming year. Print it, bookmark it, hang it on your fridge or obser...
After SpaceShipTwo Tragedy, How Will Virgin Galactic Return to Flight?
SPACE.com - 24 Dec 2014 18:43
The fatal crash of a SpaceShipTwo space plane earlier this year sent shockwaves through the world of private space travel, but suborbital spaceship's builder Virgin Galactic is making strides to learn from the tragic acc...
Image of the Day: A Colossal Galaxy Almost as Old as the Universe
The Daily Galaxy - 24 Dec 2014 18:28
"AzTEC-3 is a massive galaxy that already contains billions of stars at this early epoch, but has the potential to form many more by present day. It produces a thousand times more stars each year than what our own Milky....
Image of the Day: A Colossal Galaxy Almost as Old as the Universe
The Daily Galaxy - 24 Dec 2014 18:28
"AzTEC-3 is a massive galaxy that already contains billions of stars at this early epoch, but has the potential to form many more by present day. It produces a thousand times more stars each year than what our own Milky....
Solved: The Mystery of Earth's Theta Aurora
Universe Today - 24 Dec 2014 17:20
The mystery of the northern lights - aurora – spans time beyond history and to cultures of both the southern and northern hemispheres. The mystery involves the lights, fantastic patterns and mystical changes. Ancient m...
European Space Agency Highlights 2014
SpaceRef - 24 Dec 2014 16:00
A look back at 2014 for Europe in space, a year that will be remembered as the 'Rosetta' year when, for the first time, we landed on a comet. 2014 has been a very busy year with many missions and...
NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 23 December 2014
SpaceRef - 24 Dec 2014 15:59
Today: Neuromapping: The crew supported operations to complete objectives of the NeuroMapping Neurocognitive Test....
Researchers propose ballistic capture as cheaper path to Mars
Phys.org - 24 Dec 2014 15:40
(Phys.org)--Space scientists Francesco Topputo and Edward Belbruno are proposing in a paper they have written and uploaded to the preprint server arXiv, the idea of using ballistic capture as a means of getting to Mars, ...
The First Christmas in Space: An Apollo 8 Holiday History
SPACE.com - 24 Dec 2014 15:12
Nowadays, astronauts on the International Space Station can record video messages, talk with their family on the ground and have holiday parties in orbit. But the first Christmas humans spent in space, back in 1968, was ...
NASA image: Frosty slopes on Mars
Phys.org - 24 Dec 2014 14:50
This image of an area on the surface of Mars, approximately 1.5 by 3 kilometers in size, shows frosted gullies on a south-facing slope within a crater.
Can astronomy explain the biblical Star of Bethlehem?
Phys.org - 24 Dec 2014 14:40
Bright stars top Christmas trees in Christian homes around much of the world. The faithful sing about the Star of Wonder that guided the wise men to a manger in the little town of Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. They're...
Dr. Chris Okubo discusses the most detailed geologic map of Mars
Phys.org - 24 Dec 2014 13:50
Earlier this month, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released its highest-resolution geologic map of Mars. The new geologic and structural map uses the highest-resolution, orbiter-based images currently available for Ma...
Hubbles spies the beautiful galaxy IC 335
Phys.org - 24 Dec 2014 13:40
This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the galaxy IC 335 in front of a backdrop of distant galaxies. IC 335 is part of a galaxy group containing three other galaxies, and located in the Fornax Galaxy Cluste...