Return To The Moon
Sunday November 30, 2003
More than 30 years after the last person left the moon, are we on the verge of returning?
The Trans Lunar Research (TLR) Organization believes we are. Their major goal is ... Read More
SpaceShipOne Racks Up Sixth Test Flight
Sunday November 30, 2003
On November 19, the privately-built SpaceShipOne took another important step towards the X Prize -- a $10 million purse for the first private vehicle to propel passengers to the edge ... Read More
Dusty Disc May Mean Other Earths
Sunday November 30, 2003
Astronomers, using the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (Scuba), which is attached to the James Clerk Maxwell radio telescope in Hawaii, have analyzed a disc of dust circling the star, Vega. ... Read More
Giordano Bruno - Philosopher - Died For Astronomy
Saturday November 29, 2003
Giordano Bruno was a brilliant, if eccentric, philosopher, but the life of a Dominican priest apparently didn’t suit him. He left the order in 1576 and started wandering Europe as ... Read More
China Manned Moon Trip by 2020
Saturday November 29, 2003
According to CNN.com, China has plans to launch a human being to the Moon by the year 2020.
In comments broadcast by state television, Luan Enjie, director of the National Aerospace ... Read More
Japan Spy Satellites Fail to Reach Orbit
Saturday November 29, 2003
ABCNEWS.com reports that the troubled Japanese space program has again had a major malfunction. They say, "A Japanese rocket carrying two spy satellites meant to monitor North Korea fails to ... Read More
Mars Odyssey Mission Status
Thursday November 27, 2003
The martian radiation environment experiment on NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter has collected data continuously from the start of the Odyssey mapping mission in March 2002 until late last month. ... Read More
Space Station Not Hit By Object
Thursday November 27, 2003
Russian space officials are now saying that the noise heard by the crew of the Internationsl Space Station was not a collision.
The BBC now reports that the Russian space officials ... Read More
For Right Price, a Bit of the Moon, Perhaps
Thursday November 27, 2003
The New York Times is reporting that the largest samples of Moon rock ever to be offered for sale, legally, are now up for auction on the Internet.
The extremely tiny ... Read More
Junk Causes Noise at Space Station
Thursday November 27, 2003
This can't be blamed on noisy neighbors.
ABC News reports that the crew aboard the International Space Station reported hearing a noise that "sounded like a metal tin can kind of ... Read More
Special Recipes Give Space Station Crew A Taste Of Home
Tuesday November 25, 2003
There is a place where, no matter what you eat during the holidays, you'll never gain any weight.
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are preparing for the fourth holiday ... Read More
Black Holes Information Page
Monday November 24, 2003
Imagine an object that is so dense, it's gravity so strong, that escape velocity is more than the speed of light. That's a black hole, an object which has held ... Read More
Send your family to Space
Monday November 24, 2003
I don't think this is what Jackie Gleason, as Ralph Kramden, had in mind when he said, "To the Moon, Alice!"
Recently, one of the largest traveling museum exhibits on space ... Read More
Final Death Throes of Nearby Star Witnessed First-Hand
Sunday November 23, 2003
It takes only a few hundred to a thousand years for a dying Sun-like star, many billions of years old, to transform into a dazzling, glowing cloud called a planetary ... Read More
Eratosthenes of Cyrene
Friday November 21, 2003
Eratosthenes of Cyrene lived approximately 275-195 BC. He was born in Cyrene which is now in Libya in North Africa. He studied with the scholar Lysanias of Cyrene and the ... Read More
International Space Station Marks Five Years In Orbit
Friday November 21, 2003
The International Space Station reaches the historic five years in space milestone on November 20, 2003. The unique orbiting laboratory complex has grown from a lone, uninhabited module into a ... Read More
Japan Admits Its Mars Probe Is Failing
Friday November 21, 2003
As we recently reported, Japan's troubled Mars Probe has experiemced more difficulties. Hope of recovery is fading.
MSNBC now reports, "After months of silence and a week of hopeful half-truths, Japanese ... Read More
Asteroid May Have Hit 250M Years Ago
Friday November 21, 2003
Some researchers now believe that the Earth was struck by a massive asteroid around 251 million years ago. This impact killed 90 percent of all life on the planet, making ... Read More
NASA's Deep Space Network: Calling Home Is About to Get Easier
Monday November 17, 2003
This winter an unprecedented number of spacecraft will need to call home. Playing a critical role in these planetary missions is NASA's Deep Space Network, which provides the primary means ... Read More
NASA Reaches Milestone In Development Of An Autonomous Flight Safety System
Monday November 17, 2003
NASA has recently completed the design phase of a flight safety system to potentially lower range operations cost for the launch of expendable launch vehicles. The Autonomous Flight Safety System ... Read More
Gravity Probe B Launch Postponed
Monday November 17, 2003
After a review of test data, a decision has been made to reschedule the launch of Gravity Probe B (GP-B). The launch had been scheduled for Dec. 6 from Vandenberg ... Read More
Now in Their Sights, the Hubble's Demise
Monday November 17, 2003
The Hubble Space Telescope has lived past its original lifespan. "NASA officials, outside scientists debating how -- and when -- the historic telescope should fall."
According to the Washington Post, "The ... Read More
New NASA Safety Head Defends Promotion
Monday November 17, 2003
CNN.com says, "The director of NASA's new engineering and safety center defended his job promotion amid congressional criticism of his decision-making in the Columbia disaster."
Read More.
Sunspots Return For More Storms
Monday November 17, 2003
As The Sun Turns
No, it's not a soap opera. our sun does rotate on its axis every 27 days. This rotation carried those huge solar storms, which had affected communications, ... Read More
California Wildfires Captured From Space
Sunday November 16, 2003
The ferocious fires that have devastated much of California are easily seen from the International Space Station and the United States Geological Survey's LandSat satellite. Check out these awesome images ... Read More
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
Sunday November 16, 2003
Are you considering taking the family to visit Florida's Space Coast? Teresa Plowright, About's Guide to Travel With Kids has some great information about the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. ... Read More
Return to Flight Reference Page
Friday November 14, 2003
Here are links and information concerning NASA's plans to return the grounded space shuttle fleet to flight status. The entire fleet was grounded earlier this year after the space shuttle ... Read More
Cassini Captures Jupiter In Close-Up Portrait
Friday November 14, 2003
Jupiter, our solar system's most massive planet, has been captured in the most detailed global color view ever seen, courtesy of NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Cassini acquired the view during its ... Read More
Curtain Rises On Meteor Shower Tonight
Friday November 14, 2003
Watch the skies this eveing. It's time for the annual Leonids Meteor Shower. Expect to see a new "falling star" every minute or two, during its peak.
Hope Fades for Japan's Mars Probe
Friday November 14, 2003
Troubled from the beginning, Japan's first Mars probe is approaching its target. Nozomi blasted off on July 4, 1998. It was supposed to reach Mars by the end of ... Read More
About Astronomy/Space In The Classroom - Free Lesson Plans
Thursday November 13, 2003
Find free lesson plans and interesting articles at
About Astronomy and Space Top 25
Thursday November 13, 2003
Discover what others are reading about here at About Astronomy and Space by reading the "About Astronomy and Space Top 25" list. This list is updated weekly, but for more ... Read More
Russia's Space Agency Says It Gets More Government Funding
Thursday November 13, 2003
The Russian Space Agency will have more funds to help maintain the International Space Station. Accoring to Yahoo News, "Russia's space agency said on Thursday it had been promised a ... Read More
A Christmas Present For Mars
Thursday November 13, 2003
BBC News reports that the European Space Agency (ESA) expects their Beagle 2 lander to reach the Martian surface on Christmas day.
"Mission officials say its parent space craft, Mars Express, ... Read More
SpaceDev Auctioning Microsatellite Mission On Ebay
Wednesday November 12, 2003
SpaceDev is auctioning a world exclusive private space mission on eBay. This first of its kind eBay auction is being listed for the ten-day period of 8:00 PM (PST) Monday, ... Read More
Moon Definitely No Skating Rink
Wednesday November 12, 2003
According to CBS News, "The latest effort by science to answer whether there's ice on the moon has come up empty. There's no sign of a lunar skating rink in ... Read More
Hubble Photographs Turbulent Neighborhood Near Eruptive Star
Tuesday November 11, 2003
A small portion of the rough-and-tumble neighborhood of swirling dust and gas near one of the most massive and eruptive stars in our galaxy is seen in this NASA Hubble ... Read More
Space Artifacts Missing In Kansas
Tuesday November 11, 2003
After space artifacts began appearing in private collections, an audit conducted of the Cosmosphere museum in Kansas revealed that more than 100 artifacts have disappeared.
According to CNN.com, "The FBI is ... Read More
Planet Search Mission Cancelled
Tuesday November 11, 2003
The BBC reports that due to budget cuts, "The European Space Agency (Esa) has cancelled its space mission that was to look for planets circling other stars."
More than 400 astronomers ... Read More
Skylab Celebrates 30th Anniversary
Monday November 10, 2003
Eight astronauts who lived and worked on Skylab, America's first space station, will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the orbiting laboratory today, during the annual Von Braun Forum in Huntsville, ... Read More
Two Cosmic Explorers Named "Best Of What's New"
Monday November 10, 2003
Two recently launched NASA missions won "Best of What's New" awards from Popular Science magazine. The two missions, the Space Infrared Telescope Facility and Galaxy Evolution Explorer, which both probe ... Read More
NASA Names Crew Members For Shuttle Return To Flight Mission
Monday November 10, 2003
The STS-114 crew, augmented by three new members, is in place for the Space Shuttle's Return to Flight mission. Three Mission Specialists have been added to the four astronauts already ... Read More