space news stories on Newser

Check Out Last Night's Supermoon

Matt Cantor — Sun, 06 May 2012 07:01:00 CDT

Last night brought this year's "supermoon," the point in which the moon is closest to the Earth in its orbit. The moon was some 15,300 miles closer to us than usual, making it look about 14% bigger, an expert tells the AP . Unfortunately, "you'd be very hard-pressed to detect...

Five-Rocket NASA Mission Lights Up Sky

Kevin Spak — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 08:15:39 CDT

After almost two weeks of delays, NASA finally launched its ATREX experiment this morning, lighting up the early morning sky as five rockets hurtled into the air. The rockets released chemicals into the air to create artificial glowing clouds at the edge of space, MSNBC reports. Those clouds will help...

Russia Plans Moonwalk by 2030

Dustin Lushing — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:35:45 CDT

Russia will finally send a human to the moon. At least it's planning to—by 2030, according to a leaked document from Roskosmos, the Russian Space agency. The Russians have intermittently laid forth enthusiastic goals for space exploration in recent years, reports the Telegraph , but never with a set deadline...

For Rent: Slightly Used Space Shuttle Launchpad

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:50:05 CST

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, no longer need," adds Kennedy’s...

NASA Releases Flip Side of High-Res Earth Image

John Johnson — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:51:43 CST

NASA released its 2012 version of the "Blue Marble" image of earth from space last month, and it went viral in a hurry. What to do for an encore? Show the other side. The first image focused on the western hemisphere. Citing huge demand, NASA this week released a companion...

Want to Copy Lego Launch? Not So Fast...

Mark Russell — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:19:15 CST

Lego men in space —like the one recently sent 14 miles above sea level by two Toronto teens—may be cool, but pilots have a warning for would-be copycats: Your weather balloon could endanger airplanes, reports the Toronto Star . Were a plane to fly into a large balloon, the damage...

Scientists Find 11 New Planetary Systems

Matt Cantor — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:17:05 CST

The Kepler space telescope has discovered a whopping 11 new planetary systems that are home to 26 planets—thus tripling the number of stars that have more than one planet that passes in front of them and doubling the number of exoplanets confirmed by the Kepler mission. "Prior to the...

Mars Rocks Fell to Earth in July: Scientists

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:52:02 CST

We may not be able to get people to Mars yet, but Mars can get to us. Fifteen pounds of meteorite that fell to Earth over Morocco last July came from the red planet, scientists confirm. The largest chunk is more than two pounds, the AP reports. Astronomers believe something...

Coming Soon: First-Ever Picture of a Black Hole

Evann Gastaldo — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:15:59 CST

How do you photograph a black hole, which is normally invisible due to the fact that its gravity is so intense it pulls in even light ? You probably won't be surprised to hear that it's never been done before—and that to do it for the first time will...