Could meteorite discovery weaken dark energy's case?
(Feb 29, 2008)
Whiskers of carbon found in ancient meteorites could hold clues to the earliest days of the solar system. More controversially, they might cast a shadow over the concept of dark energy, the unknown force that seems to be accelerating the expansion of the universe.
Spacecraft at Mars prepare to welcome new kid on the block
(Feb 29, 2008)
Three Mars spacecraft are adjusting their orbits to be over the right place at the right time to listen to NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander as it enters the Martian atmosphere on May 25. Every landing on Mars is difficult. Having three orbiters track Phoenix as it streaks through Mars' atmosphere will set a new standard for coverage of critical events during a robotic landing.
Universe's biggest stars form in the densest gas clouds
(Feb 28, 2008)
What is the magic "X factor" that determines which stars become the biggest and brightest in the universe? The answer, new calculations suggest, is how dense their parent gas clouds are. Denser clouds heat up more evenly, preventing the clouds from fragmenting into lots of tiny stars and allowing one or two big stars to form instead.
Spitzer's eyes perfect for spotting diamonds in the sky
(Feb 27, 2008)
Diamonds may be rare on Earth, but surprisingly common in space – and the super-sensitive infrared eyes of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope are perfect for scouting them, say scientists at the NASA Ames Research Center. Using computer simulations, researchers have developed a strategy for finding diamonds in space that are only a nanometer (a billionth of a meter) in size.
A US team has won a $50,000 (£25,000) competition to design a spacecraft to rendezvous with and track the path of an asteroid which may threaten Earth. The winning entry, led by SpaceWorks Engineering, will shadow asteroid Apophis for 300 days. The measurements it takes will be used to refine what is known about the orbit of this 300m-wide space rock.
Galaxy portrait reveals a blaze of newborn stars
(Feb 27, 2008)
Newborn stars shine like celestial sparklers in a new portrait of the nearby Triangulum Galaxy – the most detailed ultraviolet image of a galaxy ever taken. Astronomers will use the image, taken by NASA's Swift telescope, to create an "age map" of the galaxy's components to understand how galaxies evolve over time.
Exoskeleton shows running, not walking, best on Moon
(Feb 26, 2008)
Future astronauts should run, not walk, across the lunar surface to conserve energy, new laboratory tests suggest. The tests were done using an MIT-built exoskeleton that mimics the experience of moving around in a spacesuit.
International solar mission to end following stellar performance
(Feb 24, 2008)
The joint NASA and European Space Agency Ulysses mission to study the Sun and its influence on surrounding space is likely to cease operations in the next few months. The venerable spacecraft, which has lasted more than 17 years or almost four times its expected mission lifetime, is succumbing to the harsh environment of space.
Hope dims that Earth will survive Sun's death
(Feb 23, 2008)
The future looks bright for the Earth – but not in the way we'd hoped. The slim chance our planet will survive when the Sun begins its death throes has been ruled out.
Giant ropes of dark matter found in new sky survey
(Feb 22, 2008)
Huge filaments of dark matter have been detected in a survey of thousands of distant galaxies. The discovery supports the idea that dark matter drove the formation of galaxies and larger cosmic structures and resolves a discrepancy in previous studies about how much dark matter the universe contains.
