Space Timeline

Hubble Finds New Planet That Could Change Planet Formation Theories

New Planet Change Planet-Forming Theories

The Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered evidence of an alien planet forming strangely far from its host star. Astronomers have said the discovery could challenge the prevailing theory about how planets form. Researchers with the Hubble program discovered a large gap in the planet-forming debris disk that surrounds TW Hydrae, a red dwarf star. The… Read more »

Webcam On The Moon Scheduled To Go Live In 2015

webcam on the moon to go live in 2015

Webcams are everywhere else, so why not a webcam on the moon? A joint private-sector venture by the International Lunar Observatory Association and Moon Express, Inc. of Silicon Valley intends to land a telescope on the moon by 2015. Calling it “citizen science” on the Earth’s natural satellite, Moon Express CEO Bob Richards said that… Read more »

Approaching Asteroid 1998 QE2 Boasts Its Own Moon

Approaching Asteroid Moon

Approaching asteroid 1998 QE2 boasts its own moon, according to NASA scientists, who discovered the object in a series of radar images taken Wednesday evening. While an asteroid having a moon might seem strange to us, about 16 percent of asteroids in the near-Earth population that measure 665 feet or larger are either binary or… Read more »

Rounded Pebbles On Mars Indicate Past Flowing Water

Mars Rounded Pebbles

Rounded pebbles discovered on Mars are giving scientists more evidence that water once flowed on the Red Planet. The pebbles were discovered by NASA’s newest rover Curiosity. The rover is on a trek to the middle of the Gale Crater, where Mount Sharp protrudes three miles into the air. The rover snapped several pictures of… Read more »

NASA Detects Explosion On Moon From Meteorite Collision

NASA Detects Explosion Moon

A boulder slammed into the moon on March 17, causing the biggest explosion on the celestial body NASA scientists have seen so far. The meteorite collided with the lunar surface at an incredible 56,000 mph. In doing so, it created a new crater measuring 65 feet wide. The crash also sparked a bright flash of… Read more »

Kepler Spacecraft Suffers Major Failure, Mission’s Future In Jeopardy

Kepler Failure May Scrub Mission

The Kepler space observatory suffered a major failure on Wednesday, putting into questions the future of NASA’s planet-hunting space observatory. Kepler’s controllers found on Tuesday that the observatory had gone into a “safe mode.” They also found that one of the reaction wheels needed to orient the spacecraft wasn’t spinning. Associate NASA Administrator John Grunsfeld… Read more »

Astronaut Chris Hadfield Covers Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’, Internet Thrilled

astronaut hadfield bowie cover

Canadian astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield covered David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” from the International Space Station, and the performance — posted by the frequently tweeting spaceman on Twitter — quickly began making the internet rounds. Hadfield’s Bowie cover also was posted by the astronaut himself over on Reddit, where he started a thread in the subreddit… Read more »

Monster Hurricane On Saturn Spotted By Cassini [Photo]

Saturn's Monster Hurricane

A monster hurricane was spotted on Saturn by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Scientists were treated to beautiful high-resolution photos and video, which show the behemoth storm swirling around Saturn’s north pole. The hurricane’s eye is about 1,250 miles wide, or about 20 times larger than the average hurricane’s eye on Earth. Thin, bright clouds traveling around… Read more »

Earth’s Core As Hot As Sun’s Surface, New Study Says

Earth's Core Hotter

The Earth’s core is as hot as the sun’s surface, according to a new study published in the journal Science. The study took measurements that suggest the planet’s inner core is much higher than prior measurements suggested. The new research puts the temperature at 6,000 degrees Celsius, or as hot as the surface of the… Read more »

Meteorite Crashes Into House, Space Origin Of Rock Confirmed

meteorite crashes into house

A meteorite crashed into a house in Wolcott, Connecticut on Friday night. The story might sound a little whackadoo, but scientists at the Yale Peabody Museum (YPM) have now examined that destructive baseball-sized rock and confirmed that it came from outer space. Homeowner Larry Beck heard the sound of what he thought was a joint… Read more »

Space Junk Debris Harpooning Talks Underway At European Space Agency

space junk space debris

Space debris, often called space junk, is a growing hazard in low-earth orbit. This week’s 6th European Conference on Space Debris is currently being held in Darmstadt, Germany to allow members of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the concerned public to address the problem of space junk leftover from the approximately 4,900 launches that… Read more »

Pink Full Moon Thursday, But Not For Everyone

pink full moon thursday 2013

Farmer’s Almanac readers may know a pink full moon Thursday will jazz up the night sky … but not all people of Earth will be able to see the spectacle live in person. Eager skywatchers will probably want to catch the pink full moon Thursday, which will coincide with a lunar eclipse. But many of… Read more »

Watch Spacewalk Streaming Live From International Space Station [Video]

spacewalk

Two members of the Expedition 35 crew will be embarking on a spacewalk today outside of the International Space Station. Astronauts Pavel Vinogradov and Roman Romanenko will spend six-hours outside of the ISS to retrieve several science experiments. NASA writes in a press release that the astronauts will also be installing a new navigational aid…. Read more »

NASA’s Planet Hunting Probe Launching In 2017

TESS and NICER - NASA Projects

NASA’s planet hunting probe is being planned for a 2017 launch. The Satellite (TESS) and Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) are the latest missions approved by NASA’s Astrophysics Explorer Program. The program’s officials say the project will cost $200 million for satellites and $55 million for space station experiments. To scan for exoplanets, the… Read more »

Asteroid Retrieval Mission May Be Joined By Russia [Video]

asteroid retrieval mission may be joined by Russia

NASA’s asteroid retrieval proposal was thrust back into the news Friday, when Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) announced that the ambitious plan to lasso an asteroid and bring it closer to earth had the president’s support. Now, you and I may have been asking ourselves just what the good senator was smoking, but the project is… Read more »