Space News Archive - November 09, 2011

NASA engineers have produced a material that absorbs on average more than 99 percent of the ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and far-infrared light that hits it -- a development that promises to open new frontiers in space technology.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has named Cornell University Professor Mason Peck to be the agency's chief technologist, effective in January.

NASA will hold a media briefing at 1 p.m. EST on Thursday, Nov. 10, to discuss the upcoming launch of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), the largest and most capable rover to be sent to another planet.

As the only U.S. organization participating in the simulation, NSBRI monitored the Mars500 crew's rest-activity patterns, performance and psychological responses to determine the extent to which sleep loss, fatigue, stress, mood changes and conflicts occurred during the mission.

The Earth faced a close-call on Tuesday, or as close of a call as it will face from the same asteroid for the next 83 years.