http://www.redorbit.com Space http://www.redorbit.com/modules/news/images/tools/rss_logo.gif http://www.redorbit.com Image Caption: V838 Mon, a star with an expanding gas shell passed off as "photographic evidence" of Nibiru. Credit: Caption - Wikipedia, Image - NASA, ESA and H.E. Bond (STScI) http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1783834/nasa_says_world_will_not_end_in_2012/index.html?source=r_space Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:05:00 -0500 Space The Planetary Society on Monday announced plans to launch its second attempt at a spacecraft that will be powered by the sun.The first time the society attempted to launch a solar sail five years ago, it fell short of its orbital target and landed in the ocean.“We are going to merge the ultra-light technology of nanosats with the ultra-large technology of solar sails in an audacious new program-- setting a course to the stars,” said Louis D. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1783826/second_attempt_at_solar_sail_planned/index.html?source=r_space Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:33:06 -0500 Space Forty years after humans first walked on the moon, NASA is offering the next generation of explorers a chance to learn how the challenges of the Apollo 11 mission were met. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1782908/nasa_brings_apollo_11_experts_into_classrooms/index.html?source=r_space Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0500 Space Image Caption: A University of Colorado at Boulder educational payload containing butterfly larvae that will be monitored by thousands of elementary and middle school students around the country will launch to the International Space Station aboard NASA’s space shuttle Atlantis Nov. 16. Image courtesy NASA and www.pdphoto.org. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1783830/butterfly_payload_to_launch_on_space_shuttle/index.html?source=r_space Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:45:00 -0500 Space Image 1: A Leonid meteor at dawn, photographed in 2002 by Simon Filiatrault of Quebec, Canada.Image 2: This side of Earth will be facing the Leonid debris stream at the time of the Nov. 17th outburst. Observers in India, China and Indonesia are favored with dark, pre-dawn skies. Image credit: Danielle Moser of the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1783822/the_2009_leonid_meteor_shower/index.html?source=r_space Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:20:22 -0500 Space Russia’s space agency on Tuesday launched a new module with plans to revive its efforts to add to the International Space Station.The Poisk ("Quest") Mini-Research Module-2 represents the country’s first mission to resume construction on the ISS after almost a decade of economic problems that kept the space agency from any development on the orbiting outpost.The MIM-2 module launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 1422 GMT.The MIM-2 module is the first of three components Russia intends to add to its portion of the ISS over the next three years.The Mini-Research Module-1 (MIM-1) is being tested and prepped for its flight at RKK Energia near Moscow, according to BBC News.MIM-1 will be launched along with a NASA space shuttle from Cape Canaveral, Florida.The MIM-1 components were taken from the habitation section of a canceled power supply platform that never launched due to a lack of resources.It represents Russia’s first new construction to the ISS since 2001, when it launched the Pirs docking station.In 2012 Russia intends to launch a long-delayed multi-purpose module using a heavy-lift Proton rocket.The MLM would be carrying a remote manipulator arm, called ERA, BBC reported. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1783816/russia_begins_new_construction_on_iss/index.html?source=r_space Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:08:29 -0500 Space Image Caption: In this spectacular image, observations using infrared light and X-ray light see through the obscuring dust and reveal the intense activity near the galactic core. Image credit: NASA, ESA, SSC, CXC, and STScI http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1783809/nasa_celebrates_international_year_of_astronomy/index.html?source=r_space Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:45:00 -0500 Space NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a letter of intent that will combine their Mars programs for the greater goal of reaching the Red Planet, BBC News reported.Scientists and engineers will begin the joint planning of Mars missions, starting with a European-led orbiter in 2016, and surface rovers in 2018, and perhaps even a network of landers in 2018.Both programs share a mission to return Mars’ rock and soils to Earth labs.NASA administrator Charles Bolden and ESA director-general Jean-Jacques Dordain, the heads of the agencies, signed the documents in Washington DC.After several months of discussion, the Mars Joint Exploration Initiative (MEJI) has agreed upon several key elements involving covering scope, division of responsibility and financing. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1782883/nasa_esa_to_collaborate_on_future_mars_missions/index.html?source=r_space Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:45:00 -0500 Space A Russian rocket will next year for the first time blast off from a European launch pad in South America, officials said Saturday, as the first rockets headed for the site on board a ship.Two Russian Soyuz rockets bound for the French seas left late Saturday. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1782307/russian_rocket_to_launch_from_french_guiana_in_2010/index.html?source=r_space Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:37:40 -0500 Space A Seattle team has won a $900,000 prize in a NASA-supported competition to develop the concept of a space elevator.The winning team's robotic machine charged up nearly 3,000 feet of cable dangling from a helicopter.Powered by a ground-based laser pointed up at the machine’s photo voltaic cells, which convert the light into electricity, the LaserMotive completed one of its ascents in just three minutes and 48 seconds – fast enough to secure the second place prize.The three-day competition sought to encourage development of a theory conceived in the 1960s and popularized in 1979 by Arthur C. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1782306/900k_prize_awarded_in_space_elevator_games/index.html?source=r_space Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:25:00 -0500 Space The Catholic Church has come a long way since locking up Galileo for questioning whether the universe revolves around the Earth. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1784068/the_marriage_of_faith_and_reason_an_alien_concept/index.html?source=r_space Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:10:00 -0500 Space On Tuesday, former NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak pleaded guilty to reduced charges and avoided jail time for her 2007 attack on a romantic rival. Nowak apologized in court to her victim, which was former Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman, before being sentenced to a year on probation. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1784067/nowak_pleads_guilty_receives_probation/index.html?source=r_space Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:06:24 -0500 Space Image 1: Swift X-ray observations of galaxy NGC 5408 indicate its ultraluminous X-ray source undergoes periodic changes every 115.5 days. This cycle, astronomers suspect, is linked to the orbit of a donor star around a middleweight black hole, as shown in this artist's view. Credit: NASAImage 2: This archival image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope shows the location of NGC 5408's unusually luminous X-ray source (circled). The irregular-type galaxy lies 15.8 million light-years away in the constellation Centaurus. Credit: NASA/ESA/C. Lang, P. Kaaret, A. Mercer (Univ. of Iowa), and S. Corbel (Univ. of Paris) http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1783527/satellites_tune_in_to_middleweight_black_hole/index.html?source=r_space Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:35:00 -0500 Space Japan's space agency is serious when they say by 2030, they want to collect solar power in space and zap it down to Earth, using laser beams or microwaves.Japan has been a long time leader in solar and other renewable energies. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1782361/japan_targets_solar_station_in_space/index.html?source=r_space Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:35:00 -0500 Space Image Caption: This is a composite of false color images of the galaxies found at the early epoch around 800 million years after the Big Bang. The upper left panel presents the galaxy confirmed in the 787 million year old universe. These galaxies are in the Subaru Deep Field. Credit: These images are created by M. Ouchi et al. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1782264/dropouts_pinpoint_earliest_galaxies/index.html?source=r_space Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:28:59 -0500 Space Image 1: Planetary scientists believe that waterfalls may have once cascaded down these steep cliffs at Echus Chasma on Mars. Mars has many desiccated landscapes like this one, thought to have been sculpted by abundant water in the distant past. Photo credit: Mars Express/ESAImage 2: An artist's concept of solar wind blowing away the atmosphere of Mars. This is just one of several plausible explanations for what happened to the Red Planet. [ Video ]Image 3: The loss of martian atmosphere could be caused by a complex set of mechanisms working simultaneously. MAVEN is equipped with eight different sensors designed to sort out the confusion. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1782260/maven__a_tale_of_planetary_woe/index.html?source=r_space Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:15:00 -0500 Space NASA Seeks Student Payloads for High-Flying Research BalloonNASA is accepting applications from students at U.S. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1782085/nasa_looking_for_a_few_good_experiments/index.html?source=r_space Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:25:00 -0500 Space After the trajectory correction maneuver on October 22, Rosetta has lined up on a near-perfect Earth approach path. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1781963/rosetta_approach_on_schedule/index.html?source=r_space Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:40:00 -0500 Space Image 1: Students from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Credits: ESA photo/A. Le Floc'hImage 2: The 2009 campaign students together with the 'Fly Your Thesis!' team before their second flight. Credits: ESA photo/A. Le Floc'hImage 3: The ABC team working on their experiment. Credits: ESA http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1784080/fly_your_thesis_gives_students_a_taste_of_space/index.html?source=r_space Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:58:48 -0500 Space Image Caption: A Hubble Space Telescope observation showing the red ‘arc’ of the rapid star forming galaxy MS1358arc – seen as it was 12.5 billion years ago. The galaxy is magnified by a factor of 10 by the younger foreground galaxies. (Credit: Dr Johan Richard, Durham University.) http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1784079/rapid_star_formation_in_infant_galaxies/index.html?source=r_space Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:50:06 -0500 Space The 2009 edition of NASA's Spinoff, a publication that shows how NASA technology is being put to use in everyday life here on Earth, is available in print and online.The latest Spinoff highlights 49 significant examples of how NASA innovations have been transferred to the commercial marketplace, resulting in healthcare advances, transportation breakthroughs, public safety initiatives, new consumer goods, environmental protection, computer technology, and industrial productivity.In honor of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, this year's edition of Spinoff also recaps how Apollo continues to provide tangible benefits to the lives of people in the U.S. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1782265/technologies_that_improve_life_on_earth/index.html?source=r_space Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:31:02 -0500 Space NASA will hold a media briefing on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at noon EST, to discuss the upcoming launch of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, mission. WISE is scheduled to launch Dec. 7, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1784078/wise_spacecraft_topic_of_nasa_briefing/index.html?source=r_space Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:42:44 -0500 Space NASA will hold a news conference Friday to talk about early science results from its successful moon impacting mission, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS. The satellite gained worldwide attention when it plunged into a crater near the moon's south pole on Oct. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1783825/nasa_briefs_preliminary_plume_findings_from_moon_mission/index.html?source=r_space Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:26:49 -0500 Space NASA has selected C&C International Computers and Consultants Inc. of Hollywood, Fla., to provide institutional support services at the agency's Kennedy Space Center.The new indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract with time and material type task orders begins Dec. 1, 2009. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1783220/nasa_awards_institutional_support_services_contract_for_kennedy/index.html?source=r_space Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:21:39 -0500 Space NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST on Thursday, Nov. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1782892/nasas_stuck_martian_rover_spirit_topic_of_media_call_nov/index.html?source=r_space Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:56:42 -0500 Space