space exploration

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NASA Unveils Next Mars Mission

InSight lander will look deep inside red planet

(Newser) - As Curiosity begins its work on the surface of Mars , NASA has unveiled plans to study the red planet's interior. The agency aims to send the InSight robotic lander to Mars in 2016 to detect "marsquakes," determine whether the planet's core is solid or liquid, and...

Rover to Zap Martian Rock Tonight

NASA's 'curiosity' will test one of its tools

(Newser) - Ready, set, fire. The NASA Mars rover Curiosity is preparing for its first laser target practice—zapping a Martian rock 10 feet away tonight. Since landing in an ancient crater Aug. 5, the car-size Curiosity has been getting a full health checkup. Scientists said yesterday they have chosen a generic-looking...

Rover Spies &#39;Earth-Like&#39; Scene
 Rover Spies 'Earth-Like' Scene 
Aug 9, 2012 7:50 AM CDT

Rover Spies 'Earth-Like' Scene

Gale Crater reminiscent of Mojave Desert: scientists

(Newser) - Curiosity may have landed in a Martian crater, but it could just as easily be somewhere in California, say scientists who have studied the photos and video it has beamed back to Earth. With mountains visible in the distance—through the hanging haze—the scene from the Gale Crater looks...

On NASA's Mars Menu: Thai Pizza, Martian Veggies

Astronauts on the 3-year mission could grow some of their own produce

(Newser) - Here's a real head scratcher: How do you feed a crew of six to eight astronauts on a mission to Mars that will last almost three years? It's a question NASA is working at already, even though the mission won't happen for at least another 10 to...

China's First Female Astronaut Blasts Off

Liu Yang is part of first manned docking at space lab

(Newser) - China's space program hit two milestones today, one of the cultural variety. On the latter, its first female astronaut blasted into space, reports the BBC . Liu Yang, 33, is one of three astronauts who lifted off aboard the Shenzhou-9 capsule to spend a week in orbit at China's...

China Readies for 1st Manned Space Docking

Milestone comes 6 months after China announced 5-year space plan

(Newser) - Yet another advance is in the works for China's space program. China will try for its first manned space docking later in June, its space agency announced today, according to the New York Times . The Shenzhou 9 will dock with the Tiangong 1 space lab "sometime in June,...

NASA Scraps Telescope to Study Black Holes

'GEMS' project was coming in way over budget

(Newser) - NASA killed a new X-ray telescope mission today, two years before its planned launch. The Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer mission, or GEMS for short, was supposed to blast off in 2014 to study black holes and neutron stars. But external reviews found the project would likely come in...

SpaceX Dragon Returns to Earth

It splashed into Pacific after historic trip to space station

(Newser) - A little bit of history splashed into the Pacific this morning: The SpaceX Dragon capsule returned to Earth from its supply run to the International Space Station, reports the AP . SpaceX reports that NASA's planes have spotted Dragon's parachutes in the water, and that it landed right on...

SpaceX's Dragon Heads Back to Earth

Cargo ship successfully completes first mission to space station

(Newser) - SpaceX's much-celebrated supply ship "Dragon" departed from the International Space Station this morning, setting course for a Pacific Ocean splashdown, just off California's Baja peninsula. The station's Canadian-built robot arm unbolted the capsule at about 4am EDT, then held it in place for a full orbit...

Neil Armstrong: Moon Landing Had 50-50 Chance

He gives rare interview ... to Australian accountants

(Newser) - Fans of the space program are in for a treat: The normally reticent Neil Armstrong sat down for an hourlong interview about that moon landing of his with, of all outlets, the Certified Practicing Accountants of Australia. Some highlights:
  • 50-50: "I thought we had a 90% chance of getting
...

NASA's Goal: Man Near Mars in 21 Years

NASA wants to put humans in orbit around Mars by 2033

(Newser) - NASA wants to put humans into Mars' orbit by 2033, with the goal of having astronauts return to Earth with a canister of Mars rocks that would have been collected earlier and put into orbit. The goal was unveiled this week by an internal NASA study group working on the...

SpaceX Flight Aborted at Last Second

Tuesday morning next chance for 1st private launch to space station

(Newser) - History is on hold , at least until Tuesday, as SpaceX's maiden flight was aborted at the very last second this morning, reports CBS News . The unmanned Falcon 9 rocket was poised to become the first by a privately funded company to try to send a capsule to the International...

European Mission: Can Life Exist on Jupiter's Moons?

JUICE probe will launch in 2022

(Newser) - The first Europe-led mission to the outer solar system will explore the icy moons of Jupiter. The European Space Agency approved the JUICE—JUpiter ICy moons Explorer—mission yesterday. The project's solar-powered spacecraft is scheduled to launch in 2022 and arrive in the Jovian system by 2030 to spend...

James Cameron's Next Trick: Mining Asteroids?

He, Google execs back new space venture

(Newser) - After hanging out in the deepest depths of the oceans , how does a Hollywood super-director top himself? By space mining, of course. James Cameron has teamed up with two Google billionaires, several ex-NASA officials, and some other ambitious investors to form Planetary Resources Inc., a space exploration company that seems...

Long Missions May Wreck Astronauts' Vision

Brain scans show abnormalities in eyeballs, optic nerves

(Newser) - NASA has been worried for a while now about astronauts returning from space with blurred vision and other eyesight problems. A new study in the journal Radiology might help explain why: Brains scans of 27 astronauts who had been on missions longer than a month showed that they had abnormalities...

Japanese Firm Plans Space Elevator

Mammoth device would carry passengers more than 22K miles into the sky

(Newser) - Obayashi Corp. likes building tall towers—it's days from completing a 2,080-foot skyscraper in Tokyo— and now it's working on the granddaddy of them all: A "space elevator" that could carry people 22,370 miles into the air. On Monday, the company announced that it was...

For Rent: Slightly Used Space Shuttle Launchpad

Kennedy Space Center is looking for tenants

(Newser) - Wondering where to park your space shuttle? Consider Cape Canaveral's Kennedy Space Center. "We’re putting out the word officially and unofficially that Kennedy Space Center is open for business," says a chief architect at the facility. "I have a lot of facilities that we, NASA,...

Astronomers: Yep, Milky Way Is White

And it has a lot of planets

(Newser) - What does the Milky Way look like, from outside the Milky Way? It seems like an impossible question to answer, but astronomers found a way—and discovered in the process that the Milky Way is, as one might have guessed, white. "If you looked at new spring snow, which...

Russia Suspects Spacecraft Was Shot Down

Failed Mars probe may have been hit by weapon, says official

(Newser) - Russia suspects sinister forces may have been at work in the failure of its Phobos-Grunt probe, which was supposed to make it to one of Mars' moons. The probe was launched in November, but it failed to make it out of low orbit , and is now plummeting Earth-ward instead. The...

China Plans to Grab Moon Rocks by 2016

Beijing unveils new goals for space exploration

(Newser) - Might China soon be the new king of space? With NASA cooling its jets and Russia misfiring repeatedly on rockets and satellites, Beijing is steadily working toward filling the void. It unveiled a five-year plan yesterday to launch a space lab, collect samples from the moon on an unmanned mission,...

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