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NY Times: Faster, NASA, Faster
To meet its new goals for human spaceflight, NASA should launch early and launch often.
Supernova Remnants Reveal How Star Exploded
At a very early age, children learn how to classify objects according to their shape. Now, new research suggests studying the shape of the aftermath of supernovas may allow astronomers to do the same.A new study of images from NASA\'s Chandra X-ray Observatory on supernova remnants -- the debris from exploded stars -- shows that the symmetry of...
Nerd alert: what if Earth really *did* have rings?
A recent viral video showed what the Earth would look like with Saturn\'s rings. But was it accurate? What if we really *did* have rings? The Bad Astronomer takes an in-depth look at what rings like this would look like, how they would behave, and what it would mean for us.
Year in Space 2009 [PICS]
Images: 2009’s outer-space highlights.
APOD: 2009 December 21 - Star Cluster R136 Bursts Out
Star Cluster R136 Bursts Out
Piercing the Plasma:Ideas to Beat the Communication Blackout
Anticipating novel spacecraft and Mach 10 missiles, the U.S. Air Force considers new ways around an old problem. The frustrating communications blackout that can occur when a spacecraft reenters the atmosphere caused some tense moments in the earlier years of the space age—perhaps most memorably during the crippled Apollo 13 mission.
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Explanation: If you went outside at exactly the same time every day and took a picture that included the Sun, how would the Sun appear to move? With great planning and effort, such a series of images can be taken. The figure-8 path the Sun follows over the course of a year is called an analemma. This coming Tuesday, the Winter Solstice day in Earth
NASA Maps Night-shining Clouds
NASA\'s Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) satellite has captured five complete polar seasons of noctilucent cloud coverage, showing that they can quickly form and disperse, and that they are highly dependent on weather systems.
All About Hayabusa (The Spacecraft, Not The Halo Armor)
I know my kids get tired of me tilting my head out from behind my laptop screen and proclaiming the next great achievement from the space realms: “Hey kids, Hayabusa is on its way back!”. This time however, their little faces actually turned toward me and smiled: “Hayabusa? Are you talking about Halo?”
APOD: 2009 December 19 - Aurora Shimmer, Meteor Flash
A different astronomy and space science\\rrelated image is featured each day, along with a brief explanation.
Stellar Nursery: Inside the Dark Heart of the Eagle
Herschel has peered inside an unseen stellar nursery and revealed surprising amounts of activity. Some 700 newly-forming stars are estimated to be crowded into filaments of dust stretching through the image, the first new release of \'OSHI\', ESA\'s Online Showcase of Herschel Images.
Shining Lake Confirms Presence of Liquid on Titan
A glint of light from a large lake confirms the presence of surface liquid in Titan\'s northern hemisphere.
Meteorite Study Brings More Evidence of Ancient Life on Mars
In 1996, when scientists examined a meteorite from Mars previously uncovered in Antarctica, they were intrigued by what looked like microscopic fossils of ancient Martian life forms. Now, using new technology that wasn\'t available 13 years ago, NASA scientists have found further evidence ...
The Known Universe: Most Complete 4D Map of Cosmos
The American Museum Of Natural History has put together an amazing video tour of the known universe. Watch it in HD with headphones.
\"Space Beer\" - In Space, No One Can Hear You Barf
Just when you think they can\'t possibly top themselves with out-of-this-world product tomfoolery, the Japanese have done it again. Sapporo sent up some barley to the International Space Station a few years ago. They grew it for five months. Then they made it into beer.
Company Plans To Pull Solar Energy From Orbit
As companies go to great lengths to find nonpolluting energy sources, Solaren is preparing to go 22,000 miles, to trap solar power in orbit around the Earth. With the blessing of California regulators, it already has its first client: Pacific Gas and Electric.
NASA\'s Planetary Grand Tour Salvaged: Sending Voyager 2
The twin Voyagers set the pace for planetary exploration. And although the technology on new probes far surpasses theirs, no other spacecraft has yet explored more of the solar system and its interstellar environs. On March 5, 1979, Voyager 1 arrived at Jupiter, followed by Voyager 2 on July 9.
Close-up photos of dying star show our sun\'s fate
About 550 light years from Earth, a star like our sun is writhing in its death throes. Chi Cygni has swollen in size to become a red giant star so large that it would swallow every planet out to Mars in our solar system. Moreover, it has begun to pulse dramatically in and out, beating like a giant heart.
Saving Earth From an Asteroid Will Take Diplomats, Not Heroe
“Whether or not the international community, within or outside the United Nations, can rise to the demands of such a challenge in advance of an impact … is problematic,”
The Physics of Space Battles
We have theorized about space battles for decades in films and TV, but what happens if we get out there, go terraform Mars, and the Martian colonists actually revolt. Or suppose we encounter hostile aliens. How would space combat actually go?

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