Space Research & Astronomy
A decade of infrared space astronomy comes to a close
The end of the Herschel Space Observatory mission
By Don Barrett, 7 May 2013
On April 29, the Herschel Space Observatory exhausted its supply of ultra-cold liquid helium coolant, required to do its most sensitive observations.
Two planetary systems with potentially Earth-like conditions
By Bryan Dyne, 22 April 2013
Earth-like extra-solar planets have been found orbiting in the “habitable zone,” where radiation levels would permit the existence of the building blocks of life.
US sequester cuts force NASA to halt outreach programs
By Bryan Dyne, 28 March 2013
NASA is halting all public outreach programs as a result of $900 million in budget cuts forced by the sequester.
Earth-mass planet found orbiting the nearest star
By Bryan Dyne, 24 October 2012
A planet with similar mass to the Earth has been found orbiting α Centauri B, our closest interstellar neighbor.
Voyager spacecraft approaching interstellar space—35 years after launch
By Bryan Dyne, 28 September 2012
Voyager 1 and 2 have flown through the Solar System for 35 years and now Voyager 1 is on the verge of becoming humanity’s first interstellar spacecraft.
The Mars landing
By Patrick Martin, 10 August 2012
Despite efforts to portray it as a triumph for “American values,” the successful landing of the Curiosity rover was the product of collective social effort and scientific planning that is the antithesis of profit-mad individualism.
Curiosity rover lands on Mars: A milestone of space exploration
By Bryan Dyne, 7 August 2012
Curiosity, NASA’s latest Mars rover, has successfully landed on target at Gale crater.
The 2012 transit of Venus
By Don Barry, 5 June 2012
The Sun, the planet Venus and the Earth will line up so that Venus appears to pass across the disk of the Sun.
New search for life among Jupiter’s ice moons
By Aidan Claire, 17 May 2012
The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced a €1.1 billion unmanned mission to the ice moons of the planet Jupiter.
The end of the US space shuttle program
By Patrick Martin, 19 August 2011
The American manned space program is shutting down indefinitely, an event that has considerable historical significance.
Herschel telescope discovered twisted ring of gas and dust at the centre of our galaxy
By William Whitlow, 5 August 2011
The Herschel Space Observatory has identified a twisted ring of dust and gas at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy. Parts of the ring have been seen before but this is the first time it has been observed as a whole.
Dawn spacecraft reaches the asteroid Vesta
By Patrick Martin, 20 July 2011
The NASA mission will study the two largest asteroids, first Vesta, then Ceres.
Extra-solar planet could sustain Earth-like life
By Bryan Dyne, 6 June 2011
The planet Gliese 581 d is believed to be twice the mass of Earth, and could sustain liquid water on the side that faces its star.
First spacecraft begins orbiting the planet Mercury
By Patrick Martin, 25 March 2011
MESSENGER is the first space mission to Mercury in more than three decades.
Large Hadron Collider will continue experiments into 2012
By Bryan Dyne and Don Barry, 18 March 2011
The physics research conducted in 2010 has allowed for the Large Hadron Collider to extend its operations through 2011 and 2012.
Planet formation viewed by astronomers
By Chris Talbot, 11 March 2011
Astronomical observation directly confirms the nebular hypothesis of Kant and Laplace.
Stardust spacecraft gives second glimpse of comet Tempel 1
By a reporter, 18 February 2011
The fly-by took place on February 14, some 210 million miles from Earth
Smallest rocky planet outside our solar system discovered
By Chris Talbot, 28 January 2011
NASA has confirmed this month that its Kepler space observatory has now identified the smallest yet planet outside our solar system, exoplanet Kepler-10b.
Mars rovers mark seven years on the planet’s surface
By Patrick Martin, 22 January 2011
The two robot exploration vehicles have revolutionized scientific understanding of the planet.
Bacteria that consumes arsenic boosts search for “alien” life
By Chris Talbot, 10 December 2010
The new bacteria was discovered by a research team at Mono Lake, California.
Gamma-ray bubbles discovered around our galaxy
By Chris Talbot, 18 November 2010
A giant structure around our Milky Way galaxy has been discovered by the NASA Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.
Scientists directly image an extra-solar planet’s orbit around a young star
By Bryan Dyne, 19 July 2010
For the first time in the history of the search for planets outside the solar system, astronomers have observed a planet going from one side of its parent star to the other.
Solar Dynamics Observatory―an eye on the Sun
By Bryan Dyne, 13 March 2010
One month after its successful launch, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has begun capturing high-resolution images of solar phenomena at 10-second intervals.
Spacecraft Kepler discovers five extrasolar planets
By Bryan Dyne, 2 February 2010
NASA reported last month that Kepler, the first spacecraft dedicated to searching for planets beyond our solar system, has discovered its first five extrasolar planets. Though they are uninhabitable for Earth-like life—four of the five are even larger than Jupiter—their rapid discovery indicates that Kepler is fully capable of achieving its primary mission, finding a planet resembling Earth, in future years.
Moon experiment shows presence of water
By Patrick Martin, 17 November 2009
The deliberate crashing of a US rocket into the surface of the Moon has produced evidence of “a significant amount” of water ice, a discovery that could revolutionize the exploration of the Earth’s satellite and even open the way to long-term settlement.
Newly repaired Hubble telescope releases first images
By Bryan Dyne, 23 September 2009
The first images from the repaired and upgraded telescope include a dazzling combination of planetary nebula, star clusters and galaxies.
Four hundred years since Galileo’s astronomical discoveries
By Hector Cordon, 15 August 2009
The International Year of Astronomy 2009 has been designated by the International Astronomy Union and UNESCO in honor of the 400th anniversary of the discoveries of Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler, two of the most important pioneers of modern astronomy.
Forty years since the first Moon landing
By Patrick Martin, 20 July 2009
Forty years ago, two American astronauts became the first human beings to land on the Moon. This historic feat is all the more remarkable because manned exploration of Earth’s satellite inaugurated by Apollo 11 ended little more than three years later.
Hubble Space Telescope receives final upgrade
By Bryan Dyne, 23 June 2009
New instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope are currently undergoing calibration following the latest upgrade to the venerable scientific instrument.
New space telescope to search for earth-sized planets
By Bryan Dyne, 24 March 2009
On March 6, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration successfully launched the Kepler mission, which will observe 100,000 stars in search of smaller, Earth-sized planets.
First images taken of extrasolar planets
By Hector Cordon, 1 December 2008
In a breakthrough expected to foster further discoveries, two teams of astronomers have for the first time directly imaged planets orbiting stars outside the solar system.
China’s first space walk signals new rivalry in outer space
By John Chan, 13 October 2008
China's third manned space flight, launched on September 25 and returning to earth on September 28, was its most ambitious. Some 40 years after the Soviet Union and the US, China has become only the third country to conduct a space walk.
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