Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines

Hubble finds that monster 'El Gordo' galaxy cluster is bigger than thought

The Hubble data show that the cluster is roughly 43 percent more massive than earlier estimates based on X-ray and dynamical studies of the unusual cluster.

April 3, 2014 Read more

Fermi data tantalize with new clues to dark matter

A new study of gamma-ray light from the center of our galaxy makes the strongest case to date that some of this emission may arise from dark matter, an unknown substance making up most of the material universe.

April 3, 2014 Read more

NASA challenge invites students to design exploration systems

College and university students have an opportunity to help design systems for future space habitats and exploration systems through NASA's Exploration Habitat (X-Hab) Academic Innovation Challenge. Applications for the fifth annual challenge will be accepted through April 30.

April 3, 2014 Read more

Researchers find regolith of small asteroids formed by thermal fatigue

The centimeter-sized fragments and smaller particles that make up the regolith - the layer of loose, unconsolidated rock and dust - of small asteroids is formed by temperature cycling that breaks down rock in a process called thermal fatigue, according to a paper published today.

April 2, 2014 Read more

Ethics guidelines for next generation of risky NASA missions

A new Institute of Medicine report says NASA should use an ethics framework to determine if extended or exploratory spaceflights that do not meet current health standards are acceptable.

April 2, 2014 Read more

The tell-tale radiation from metallic asteroids

In the process of evaluating thousands of datasets from the NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope, planetary researchers at DLR have been tracking metallic asteroids.

April 2, 2014 Read more

Galactic serial killer

A new image from the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile shows two contrasting galaxies: NGC 1316, and its smaller neighbour NGC 1317. These two are quite close to each other in space, but they have very different histories. The small spiral NGC 1317 has led an uneventful life, but NGC 1316 has engulfed several other galaxies in its violent history and shows the battle scars.

April 2, 2014 Read more

Misleading mineral may have resulted in overestimate of water in moon

The amount of water present in the moon may have been overestimated by scientists studying the mineral apatite, researchers have discovered.

April 1, 2014 Read more

Osiris has its target in sight

The scientific imaging system on board ESA's spacecraft Rosetta gets its first glimpse of comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

April 1, 2014 Read more

Study finds astronauts' hearts become more spherical in space

New findings from a study of 12 astronauts show the heart becomes more spherical when exposed to long periods of microgravity in space, a change that could lead to cardiac problems.

March 31, 2014 Read more

'Cosmic barometer' could reveal violent events in universe's past

Scientists have developed a way of reading the universe's 'cosmic barometer' to learn more about ancient violent events in space.

March 31, 2014 Read more

A better ruler in the search for extrasolar planets

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have rejuvenated a technique for finding planets near distant stars. New measurements of light from special lamps could help astronomers find planets hidden in data from more than a decade's worth of extrasolar planet searches, as well as improve telescopes' current capabilities.

March 27, 2014 Read more

Hubble sees Mars-bound comet sprout multiple jets

The feature should allow astronomers to measure the direction of the nucleus's pole, and hence, rotation axis.

March 27, 2014 Read more

First sightings of solar flare phenomena confirm 3D models of space weather (w/video)

Scientists have for the first time witnessed the mechanism behind explosive energy releases in the Sun's atmosphere, confirming new theories about how solar flares are created. New footage put together by an international team led by University of Cambridge researchers shows how entangled magnetic field lines looping from the Sun's surface slip around each other and lead to an eruption 35 times the size of the Earth and an explosive release of magnetic energy into space.

March 27, 2014 Read more

The ringed asteroid

Two thin rings made of ice surround the asteroid Chariklo.

March 27, 2014 Read more

New planet-like body found sneaking through the inner Oort cloud

A new, planet-like body has been found on the outer edges of the solar system. This object is the second body of its class found since the identification of the dwarf planet Sedna in 2003. It joins an exclusive club composed of some of the strangest objects in the solar system.

March 26, 2014 Read more

Dark energy hides behind phantom fields

Quintessence and phantom fields, two hypotheses formulated using data from satellites, such as Planck and WMAP, are among the many theories that try to explain the nature of dark energy. Now researchers suggest that both possibilities are only a mirage in the observations and it is the quantum vacuum which could be behind this energy that moves our universe.

March 26, 2014 Read more

Philae lander - nearing the end of hibernation

A rocket launch in March 2004, multiple swing-bys past Earth and Mars, high-speed fly-bys of asteroids Steins and Lutetia - after all this, the Philae lander on board ESA's Rosetta spacecraft, which is en route to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, is in good shape.

March 26, 2014 Read more