'Star Wars' for Real: US Military Wraps Up Space War Games
The United States’ Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) program supports missile early warning, missile defense, battlespace awareness and technical intelligence mission areas.Credit: Lockheed Martin Think of it as “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” — but for real. The United States Air Force Space Command’s ninth Schriever Wargame, which took place from Dec. 11 through Dec. […]
Holiday highlights
Images from Rosetta taken over the holiday period To source
Power to ISS
Sunrise strikes the solar panels that power the International Space Space Station, caught by astronaut Tim Peake on New Year’s Eve To source
The First Meteor Shower of 2016 Is Peaking, and It's an Exceptional One
The 2016 Quadrantid meteor shower of 2016 peaks before dawn on Monday Jan. 4, and could be one of the best of the year, weather permitting. Here, astrophotographer Roberto Porto captures a Qudrantid meteor over Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands in 2012.Credit: Roberto Porto The first meteor display of 2016 – the Quadrantid meteor shower […]
Manned Orbiting Laboratory: Secrets of a US Military Space Station (Infographic)
By Karl Tate, Infographics Artist | January 01, 2016 09:42am ET Announced to the pubic in August 1965, the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) was described as a technology-development platform that would aid manned and unmanned space efforts. The project also had a top-secret mission: MOL was to be the first U.S. manned spy satellite. The […]
Space Plutonium: US Once Again Producing Fuel for Deep-Space Missions
For the first time in 30 years, the United States produced an isotope of plutonium that powers NASA’s deep-space missions. A total of 50 grams of plutonium-238 was produced at the Department of Energy (DOE)’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee, in the first end-to-end demonstration of the material’s production in the United States […]
Astronauts Ring In New Year from Space (Video)
Happy New Year from space! Three of the six people living aboad the International Space Station have beamed home a special New Year’s video message for the 7.3 billion people confined to Earth’s surface. “I’d like to wish everyone down on our beautiful planet Earth a very happy New Year, and a fantastic 2016,” British […]
Mars Orbiter Catches a Crater Full of Cracks
This HiRISE observation shows the northwest quadrant of a fracture-filled crater on Mars.Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona A lacy web of bright frost-filled fractures fills a crater near the north pole of Mars in this image, acquired Sept. 20, 2015 with the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). PHOTOS: Weirdest Mars Craters Spotted by […]
Russia's Monkeys-to-Mars Mission Draws PETA Protest
The word from Russia is that the country wants to send monkeys to the Red Planet by 2017. But waving the red flag on such a plan are the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). A few months ago, it was reported that researchers from the Russian Academy of Science are busy training […]
Happy New Year Message From Space Station | Video
President Obama Calls Space Station To Congratulate Scott Kelly | Video ‘The Martian’ – Controversial Mars’ Storm Aborts Mission | Film Clip Flame Retardant Materials To Be Evaluated On Space Station | Video Ballet of Space Station Reconfiguration At 17,000+ MPH | Time-Lapse Video Space Station Twang: NASA Goes ‘Backwoods’ For Anniversary Music Video Blast-Off! […]
Student Experiments Vital for Space Research, Spaceflight Meeting Founder Says
Patricia Hynes, speaking at the 2015 International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight, of which she is cofounder and chair. In a recent interview with Space.com, Hynes emphasized the value of getting college students involved in spaceflight.Credit: Calla Cofield/Space.com The International Symposium on Private and Commercial Spaceflight is an annual meeting for the industry’s top […]
Best Night Sky Events of January 2016 (Stargazing Maps)
Monday, January 4, midnight to dawn. The Quadrantid meteor shower, one of the most reliable in the year, peaks 3 a.m. on January 4, so the best times to…Read More » observe will be between midnight and dawn on the morning of the 4th. Look for Comet Catalina in close to Arcturus in Boötes. Less « […]
Spinning Fire Under the Milky Way Makes an Awesome Photo
Resembling a thousand sparklers on fire, this stunning image pits the shining Milky Way as a backdrop to the spinning landscape below. This unique method of photography is called steel wool spinning. This image was taken by Nimit Nigam from Kaza, Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India on Sept. 17. Steel wool spinning uses wire wool to […]