outer space

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Earth-like Water Spotted on Comet

Oceans may have been formed by collisions with comets

(Newser) - Most of the water that fills the world's oceans—and makes up more than half of the human body—may have started out as comets, not asteroids as current theories hold, according to new research. Scientists using the Herschel telescope found that unlike other comets studied, the comet Hartley...

Europe Planning Mission to the Sun

Solar orbiter to come within 26m miles of sun

(Newser) - The European Space Agency is planning to send a probe much closer to the sun than any before it. The Solar Orbiter mission, to be launched in 2017, will send a heavily heat-shielded spacecraft to within 26 million miles of the sun—10 million miles closer than Mercury. The probe,...

You Can Orbit Earth, Thanks to Teacher

600 International Space Station shots take you from soup to nuts

(Newser) - What a world, what a world. Now anyone can (virtually) fly over the earth, thanks to an ingenious US science educator who has spliced together 600 publicly accessible photos snapped from the International Space Station. James Drake merged them in a minute-long video that leads the viewer over the world....

NASA Finds Planet Circling Two Stars

Sadly, it's not Tatooine

(Newser) - NASA has found another decidedly nifty planet. Meet Kepler-16b, the first planet ever verified to have two suns—kind of like Tatooine from Star Wars, NASA noted in its announcement . There’s no way the Saturn-sized world is habitable—it’s at least half gas—but “the discovery confirms...

NASA Reveals Massive Mars Rocket Plans

New $35B project could launch up to 165 tons into space

(Newser) - NASA today unveiled plans for a rocket that will power the next generation of space exploration, designed to take manned missions to distant asteroids and eventually Mars, Space.com reports. The uncreatively named “Space Launch System,” or SLS, uses bits of technology from the defunct space shuttle and...

Space Junk Passes 'Tipping Point'

Report urges NASA to ramp up efforts quickly

(Newser) - Astronauts on the International Space Station had a close call with space debris in June, and things are only going to get worse from here on out, warns a new report. In fact, the amount of junk orbiting earth has now passed the "tipping point," says the National...

Russian Company Plans Outer-Space Hotel

Commercial Space Station will include gourmet foods and space-age shower

(Newser) - A mere million bucks will soon earn you five days in a futuristic hotel, as long as you enjoy traveling at 17,500 miles an hour and having stellar views of planet Earth. The nimbly titled Commercial Space Station, designed by a Russian company, is the latest in a series...

NASA Probe to Blast Off, Destination: Jupiter

Juno to explore origins of the solar system; liftoff scheduled for 11:34am ET

(Newser) - Today NASA will launch a spacecraft that they're hoping will pry the secrets of the solar system from Jupiter. Dubbed "Juno" (Jupiter’s wife in Roman mythology, get it?), the probe will take five years to travel to Jupiter, arriving on July 4, 2016, the New York Times...

Scientists Find Orphan Planets Without Stars

Astronomers discover 10 in Milky Way that don't orbit another body

(Newser) - They're outcasts on a galactic scale, rebels without a star: Astronomers think they have discovered 10 massive planets that defy a standard definition of what it means to be a planet: They orbit no star. What's more, the astronomers believe there are many, many more roaming free about...

Scientists ID 'Habitable' Exoplanet

New model suggests Gliese 581D a likely candidate for life

(Newser) - A new computer climate model has turned up the strongest evidence yet that a planet in the Gliese system is capable of sustaining life, the Telegraph reports. Researchers believe Gliese 581d, which orbits a red dwarf 20 light years away, not only exists in the "Goldilocks zone" where water...

$750M Later, Einstein Proven Right

 $750M Later, Einstein 
 Proven Right 
in case you missed it
May 8, 2011 6:18 AM CDT

$750M Later, Einstein Proven Right

NASA's Gravity Probe B vindicates predictions about warping of space, time

(Newser) - Einstein was right: Observations from NASA’s Gravity Probe B have confirmed that the Earth really does warp time and space around it. The probe contained four perfectly engineered gyroscopes, and took incredibly precise measurements of their spin axes, expecting the curve of space-time around the Earth to cause predictable...

SETI Hangs Up Phone Line to ET

Budget cuts force institute to shut down search for extraterrestrial life

(Newser) - Budget cuts have forced the SETI Institute in California to shut down its famous search for extraterrestrial life, reports the San Jose Mercury News . The institute can no longer afford to operate its Allen Telescope Array, which has been scanning outer space for sign of communication since 2007. As a...

Spacecraft Orbiting Mercury for First Time

NASA's Messenger probe slips into orbit after 4.9B-mile journey

(Newser) - After a 4.9 billion-mile journey that required six years and some very tricky moves, NASA has put a spacecraft into orbit around Mercury for the first time ever. Researchers are eagerly awaiting their first extensive look at the solar system's smallest planet, AP reports. The Messenger probe will begin...

NASA Nabs Close-Ups of 'Spongy' Saturn Moon

NASA's Cassini probe snaps ultra-close image of Hyperion

(Newser) - NASA's Cassini probe did a fly-by of Saturn’s Hyperion moon, and came away with close-up images that show a remarkably sponge-like surface, the Daily Mail reports. The moon, one of at least 62 ringing the planet, is covered with deep craters, and NASA scientists are hoping to discover what’...

Discovery Astronauts Bottling Outer Space

Bottle will remain sealed, hit museums

(Newser) - The Discovery crew will leave the International Space Station today for the first of two spacewalks—and one of their missions is to capture a sample of space in a metal bottle. The bottle will be given to Japan's space agency, which says it will remain sealed and make the...

Radiation Threatens Deep-Space Sex: NASA

Protons could kill embryo's eggs, cut sperm count

(Newser) - Propagating the human race far away from home could be tough: Powerful radiation in space would likely sterilize female embryos conceived there, NASA finds, and it could shrink sperm counts, too. At the moment, we don’t have the technology required to create spacecraft shielding to block the radiation, the...

Asteroid Barely Misses Earth

Rock small enough that Earth's gravity bends its path

(Newser) - An asteroid all but buzzed Earth on Friday, NASA has revealed. The asteroid, known as 2011 CQ1, passed just 3,405 miles above the Earth’s surface as it hung a sharp turn around the planet. That's the closest near-miss ever recorded, beating a record set by a rock in...

5 New Earth-Like Planets Spotted

Hello, is anyone out there?

(Newser) - Scientists have spotted five new planets orbiting stars in our galaxy that are close to the size of Earth and are located in a "habitable zone," according to researchers. They're the right distance from their stars that make the existence of life-essential liquid water possible. The planets are...

NASA: Nearby Black Hole Is Enormous
NASA: Nearby Black Hole
Is Enormous
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 15, 2011 12:35 PM CST

NASA: Nearby Black Hole Is Enormous

M87 is bigger than six billion suns

(Newser) - NASA has taken new measurements of a black hole that’s just one galaxy over—and the results are staggering. The black hole, known as M87, is so big that you could fit roughly 6.6 billion of our suns inside it. Black holes that huge are a rare find,...

NASA Studying Strange, Star-Creating Blob

Hanny's Voorwerp creating 'lonely' stars 'in the middle of nowhere'

(Newser) - The Hubble Telescope has turned its gaze to a mysterious glowing green blob that’s creating stars where stars shouldn’t normally form. Dubbed Hanny’s Voorwerp, after the Dutch elementary school teacher who first discovered it in 2007, the blob is a swirling mass of hydrogen gas, caused by...

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