Kepler-444: An Ancient System with Five Planets
The tightly packed system, named Kepler-444, is home to five small planets in very compact orbits that formed when the Milky Way galaxy was a youthful two billion years old. original
Beagle-2 lander found on Mars
The UK-led Beagle-2 Mars lander, which hitched a ride on ESA’s Mars Express mission and was lost on Mars since 2003, has been found in images taken by a NASA orbiter at the Red Planet. To source
Ten years at Titan
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the pioneering Huygens mission to Saturn’s moon Titan, the first successful landing on an outer Solar System world To source
NASA Takes Giant Leaps on the Journey to Mars, Eyes Our Home Planet and the Distant Universe, Tests Technologies and Improves the Skies Above in 2014
In 2014, NASA took significant steps on the agency’s journey to Mars — testing cutting-edge technologies and making scientific discoveries while studying our changing Earth and the infinite universe as the agency made progress on the next generation of air travel. To source
Venus Express goes gently into the night
ESA’s Venus Express has ended its eight-year mission after far exceeding its planned life. The spacecraft exhausted its propellant during a series of thruster burns to raise its orbit following the low-altitude aerobraking earlier this year. To source
NASA Delivers Futuristic Aircraft Part to Virginia for Structural Testing
Media are invited to view the unloading of a representative test article of a futuristic hybrid wing body aircraft Thursday, Dec. 11 at the agency’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. To source
Pioneering Philae completes main mission before hibernation
Rosetta’s lander has completed its primary science mission after nearly 57 hours on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. To source
Three touchdowns for Rosetta’s lander
After achieving touchdown on a comet for the first time in history, scientists and engineers are busy analysing this new world and the nature of the landing. To source
Incoming!
The final stages of Philae’s touchdown seen through the eyes of the lander’s downwards-looking descent camera To source
Ambition
How Rosetta is turning science fiction into science fact To source
Fly over Mars in 3D
Enjoy a 3D flight over ‘chaotic terrain’ on Mars To source
A Sunny Outlook for 'Weather' on Exoplanets
Scientists were excited to discover clear skies on a relatively small planet, about the size of Neptune, using the combined power of NASA’s Hubble, Spitzer and Kepler space telescopes. The view from this planet — were it possible to fly a spaceship into its gaseous layers — is illustrated at right. original
Best Astronomy Binoculars (Editors' Choice)
Most people have two eyes. Humans evolved to use them together (not all animals do). People form a continuous, stereoscopic panorama movie of the world within in their minds. With your two eyes tilted upward on a clear night, there’s nothing standing between you and the universe. The easiest way to enhance your enjoyment of […]