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Curiosity Rover Snaps Stunning Mountain Vista on Mars (Photo)

NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity captured this image, which looks toward the higher regions of the 3.4-mile-high (5.5 kilometers) Mount Sharp, on Sept. 9, 2015.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has beamed home a gorgeous postcard of the mountainous Red Planet landscape it’s exploring. The car-size Curiosity rover has been studying the foothills of the 3.4-mile-high […]

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[Project Topics] “Ryugu” was selected as name of Hayabusa2 target asteroid

Topics List Oct. 5, 2015 Updated“Ryugu” was selected as name of Hayabusa2 target asteroid Asteroid 1999 JU3, a target of the Asteroid Explorer “Hayabusa2,” was named “Ryugu”.One major reason for the selection was that, in the Japanese ancient story “Urashima Taro”, the main character, Taro Urashima, brought back a casket from the Dragon’s palace, or […]

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Best Space Photos of the Week – Oct. 3, 2015

PREVIOUS | NEXT 1 of 16 Hurricane Joaquin Seen by the GOES West Satellite Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) posted this image of Hurricane Joaquin obtained by its GOES West satellite on Oct. 1, 2015.…Read More » They wrote on Facebook: “Many portions of the eastern […]

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NASA Satellite Spies Hurricane Joaquin Replacing an Eye

Hurricane Joaquin over the Bahamas at 1:55 p.m. EDT (1755 GMT) on Oct. 1, 2015. This visible image was captured by NASA’s Aqua satellite.Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team Hurricane Joaquin, a Category 4 storm that is currently battering the central Bahamas, appears to be replacing its eye, according to weather forecasters. New satellite […]

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Dazzling Rocket Launch Marks 100th Liftoff for United Launch Alliance

An Atlas V 421 rocket launched the Morelos-3 mission for Mexico’s Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes (Ministry of Communications and Transportation) on Oct. 2, 2015, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.Credit: United Launch Alliance A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket blasted a communications satellite into orbit today (Oct. 2), marking the 100th […]

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Ariane 5 Rocket Delivers 2 Communications Satellites Into Orbit

Ariane 5 lifts off with Sky Muster and ARSAT-2 satellites from Europe’s spaceport on Sept. 30, 2015.Credit: Arianespace PARIS — Europe’s Ariane 5 heavy-lift rocket on Sept. 30 placed telecommunications satellites for Australia and Argentina into geostationary transfer orbit in the vehicle’s 68th consecutive success. The satellites — the first of two Sky Muster Ka-band […]

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Seeing Starlight Through a Planet's Rim

Oxygen on Exoplanets May Not Mean Alien Life

An artist’s impression of the Neptune-size planet HAT-P-11b as it crosses in front of its star. Astronomers found water in the atmosphere of the exoplanet. Similar studies may reveal oxygen in the air of other worlds.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Although scientists have long considered oxygen a sign that life exists on an alien planet, new research suggests […]

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Ring in Oktoberfest with These Space Beers

Ring in Oktoberfest with These Space Beers

The beloved German folk festival known as Oktoberfest wraps up this weekend (at least in Munich), so we decided to get in on the celebration and taste-test a beer made with yeast that’s been to space. In 2014, the Oregon-based Ninkasi Brewing Co. sent vials of brewer’s yeast on a rocket to more than 70 […]

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Space, astronomy and science