Space News
Companies Praise Commercial Weather Data Bill, but No Floor Vote Yet
Space News - 7 Apr 2015 14:15
Aspiring commercial weather-data providers lauded the U.S. House Science Committee's passage of a bill that would require NOAA to publish standards for commercial data buys by Dec. 31, and buy data from at least one such...
13 MORE Things That Saved Apollo 13
Universe Today - 7 Apr 2015 19:35
"Things had gone real well up to at that point of 55 hours, 54 minutes and 53 seconds (mission elapsed time)," said Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise as he recounted the evening of April 13, 1970, the night the Apollo 13’...
Airbus Charges Ahead with Electric Propulsion
Space News - 7 Apr 2015 22:21
After booking its third all-electric spacecraft earlier this year, the head of Airbus Defense & Space's satellite division says the firm's all-electric portfolio is well-positioned to capture a big share of demand for th...
How Alien Planets Can Change Each Other's Habitability Over Eons
SPACE.com - 7 Apr 2015 14:35
A new study sheds light on how exoplanets in tightly-packed solar systems interact with each other gravitationally by affecting one another's climates and their abilities to support alien life.
Search for Alien Life Should 'Follow the Methane,' Scientists Say
SPACE.com - 7 Apr 2015 14:26
When it comes to the search for life beyond Earth, the mantra is always 'follow the water.' But could an environment without H2O give rise to life in a different form? Scientists now say it's theoretically possible.
IceMole Drill Built to Explore Saturn's Icy Moon Enceladus Passes Glacier Test
SPACE.com - 7 Apr 2015 14:26
For the first time, scientists have broken through the icy crust of a glacier and extracted an uncontaminated sample of water that has been trapped beneath the ice for millions of years.
Dawn Is In Excellent Shape One Month After Arriving at Ceres
SpaceRef - 7 Apr 2015 03:24
Since its capture by the gravity of dwarf planet Ceres on March 6, NASA's Dawn spacecraft has performed flawlessly, continuing to thrust with its ion engine as planned....
"Galaxy" Fans! Your Comments Needed for Daily Galaxy Radio
The Daily Galaxy - 7 Apr 2015 23:21
Galaxy Fans....We need your comments and thoughts (hopefully good!) about our new venture, Daily Galaxy Radio, on our Indiegogo subscriber outreach platform. It's a critical component of their algorithm that will move us...
Signs of Alien Life Will Be Found by 2025, NASA's Chief Scientist Predicts
SPACE.com - 7 Apr 2015 23:21
Solid signs of alien life will be spotted within 10 years, and definitive evidence will roll in within 20 to 30 years, NASA chief scientist Ellen Stofan said Tuesday (April 7).
Saturn Shines with the Moon Tonight: How to See It
SPACE.com - 7 Apr 2015 22:28
Saturn will shine near the moon late Tuesday and early Wednesday (April 7-8), making the ringed planet a great target for amateur astronomers. Here's how to see it.
Blue Origin Completes BE-3 Engine as BE-4 Work Continues
Space News - 7 Apr 2015 22:28
Blue Origin has completed testing of one engine, the BE-3, it is developing for its own suborbital vehicle as it continues work on a second, much larger engine for United Launch Alliance's new orbital launch vehicle. The...
Guiding Our Search for Life on Other Earths
SPACE.com - 7 Apr 2015 21:48
A telescope will soon allow astronomers to probe the atmosphere of Earthlike exoplanets for signs of life. To prepare, astronomer Lisa Kaltenegger and her team are modeling the atmospheric fingerprints for hundreds of po...
Kicking The Can Down the Road to Mars
SpaceRef - 7 Apr 2015 21:41
I just listened to 45 minutes of NASA presentations at the NASA Advisory Committee's Human Exploration and Operations Committee Meeting. The topic: radiation risks during a human mission to Mars. I have seen this movie b...
Venus and the Pleiades - See the Spectacle!
Universe Today - 7 Apr 2015 20:16
If you’ve ever been impressed by the brilliance of Venus or the pulchritude of the Pleiades, you won’t want to miss what’s happening in the western sky this week. Venus has been inching closer and closer to the sta...
The Solar System and Beyond is Awash in Water
PTTU - 7 Apr 2015 20:09
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope:
What It Would Be Like to Live On a Comet
SPACE.com - 7 Apr 2015 19:46
Living on comets requires great care -- the gravity is so weak that you could easily jump off the frozen bodies and into space.
Was This Past Weekend's Lunar Eclipse Really Total?
Universe Today - 7 Apr 2015 19:43
Millions of viewers across the western United States and across the Pacific, to include Australia and New Zealand were treated to a fine Easter weekend lunar eclipse on Saturday. And while this was the third of the ongoi...
NASA: "The Milky Way and Universe is Awash in Water"
The Daily Galaxy - 7 Apr 2015 19:39
As NASA missions explore our solar system and search for new worlds, they are finding water in surprising places. Water is but one piece of our search for habitable planets and life beyond Earth, yet it links many seemin...
Living on a Comet: 'Dirty Snowball' Facts Explained (Infographic)
SPACE.com - 7 Apr 2015 19:32
Halley's Comet, a dusty ball of ice and frozen gases, spends most of its time in the chilly outland of the solar system. See what it would be like to live on a comet in this infographic.
NASA World Map Shows Where Lightning Strikes Most
SPACE.com - 7 Apr 2015 19:17
A new satellite map shows where lightning flashes most often on Earth.
Rosetta Spacecraft Gets Confused by Rough Comet 'Weather'
SPACE.com - 7 Apr 2015 19:15
As the European Rosetta spacecraft continues to explore Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as it gradually gets closer to the sun, it's having to deal with some very inclement orbital weather.
Sen: Venus and the Seven Sisters
Bad Astronomy - 7 Apr 2015 19:14
If you've been outside the past few days around sunset and peered west, you may have noticed Venus ostentatiously glaring there. If it was dark enough you may have also noticed the Pleiades not too far away from it. Over...