Nick's Space / Astronomy Blog December 2003 Archive

2003 - Year in Review. The year 2003 dawned brightly with hope and promise on January 1. Here at About Astronomy and Space, we provided you with great information and ... Read More

When the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31, heralding the start of 2004, dash outside and look up. Directly overhead you'll see a yellow star outshining the others around it. ... Read More

According to the BBC, all efforts to communicate with the European Space Agency's Beagle 2 Mars probe have failed. "Scientists have now set up a "tiger team" to work through all ... Read More

To support NASA's Mars exploration program and to coincide with the January landings of the Mars Exploration Rover mission, NASA Ames Research Center will unveil its new Mars Center on ... Read More

BBC NEWS reports on the latest news concerning the Beagle 2 Mars probe. "The British team behind the Beagle 2 mission to Mars has failed to contact the lander after several ... Read More

Telescopes come in three basic designs; Refractor, Reflector, and Catadioptric. A refractor telescope uses two lenses to gather light and focus an image visible to the eye. A reflector uses ... Read More

According to the BBC News, scientists have not given up hope on the Beagle 2 Mars probe. "On Thursday night, the giant Jodrell Bank radio telescope, in Cheshire, UK, will listen ... Read More

Reuters is reporting that the Beagle 2, the European Space Agency's Mars probe, has not reported in as it was supposed to. "Scientists said on Thursday that the silence from space ... Read More

Contact Awaited With Beagle 2 On The Surface This morning, after a journey lasting 205 days and covering 400 million km, the European Mars Express space probe fired its main engine ... Read More

Much like the shepherds and wise men during the first Christmas, people around the world had their attention turned toward the heavens 35 years ago this week, when the Apollo ... Read More

Santa will have company in the sky above most U.S. cities on Christmas Eve. The International Space Station will be visible, weather permitting, with its two crewmen snug in sleeping ... Read More

During the Christmas season, the thoughts of stargazers often turn to one of the most famous celestial events of all time, the Star of Bethlehem. MSNBC takes a closer look ... Read More

About Astronomy & Space Celebrates a Century of Flight and the men and women who have taken us from that first historic flight of Wilbur and Orville Wright at Kitty ... Read More

As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers first flight, we can also look to the future of aviation. Yahoo News says, "In the second century of flight, private ... Read More

Many people discover About Astronomy and Space by searching for some specific information. It appears that many people find what they are looking for here. Check out the top search ... Read More

A new educational software product designed by the educational technology team at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., has been licensed to MakerToys Inc., Silver Creek, N.Y., and soon ... Read More

On the phone, tones can signal a connection. On paper, they can add shape and dimension. On Mars, they can do both. This is why members of the Mars Exploration ... Read More

High school and college teams nationwide are gearing up to compete and learn in NASA's 11th Annual Great Moonbuggy Race April 2-3, 2004, in Huntsville, Ala. Students are working on ... Read More

From a small, wood-and-fabric glider that lifted just 12 inches off the sands of Kitty Hawk, N.C., in 1903, human flight has made astonishing progress in the past century. NASA ... Read More

NASA will rely on Russia to deliver crews and supplies to the International Space Station again next year, according to Space.com. "Yuri Koptev, director of Rosaviakosmos, said that Russia expected to ... Read More

It looks like lottery players in Florida don't want to fly high, just live that way. Lotery officials in Florida decided this week not to offer a spaceflight on a ... Read More

According to the BBC, a NASA satellite, which was launched earlier this year is doing justice to its design to measure the Earth's ice sheets. It has shown incredibly detailed ... Read More

NASA engineers have been trying to develop a method for astronauts in orbit to repair a hole in a space shuttle wing, similar to the one which caused the break ... Read More

An image of an elliptical galaxy by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has revealed a trail of black holes and neutron stars stretching more than fifty thousand light years across space. ... Read More

NASA astronaut Michael Foale, International Space Station Expedition 8 Commander and NASA Science Officer, is the new U.S. space endurance record holder, and he's not finished yet. Just before 2 ... Read More

Yahoo News reports that the first of Boeing's Delta 4 heavy-lift rockets was delivered to the launch pad on Tuesday where it will be tested for several months. It is ... Read More

According to the BBC, "Scientists say measurements taken by the US space agency's Mars Odyssey craft prove that a human mission could survive on the Martian surface." The Mars Odyssey has ... Read More

More information is coming out about a proposed US mission to the moons of Jupiter. The Galileo mission that ended in September gave hints that three of Jupiter's moons; Europa, ... Read More

Don't expect to make a fast buck on the new hero in China, astronaut, Colonel Yang Liwei. The space agency of China has trademarked his image, name and signature, according ... Read More

We have talked about the troubled Japanese Mars Mission recently. According to the BBC, the Japanese have decided to give up on their attempt to reach another planet. "Officials have decided ... Read More

One year since last sighting Saturn, and less than eight months before reaching the planet, the cameras on NASA's Cassini spacecraft have caught another glimpse of the ringed planet, growing ... Read More

Mars may be going through a period of climate change, new findings from NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter suggest. Odyssey has been mapping the distribution of materials on and near Mars’ ... Read More

NASA researchers will present findings on various topics at the American Geophysical Union Meeting at the Moscone Convention Center (MCC), San Francisco, December 8-12.

With renewed interest in going to the moon, including China's proposed manned attempt, and some commercial efforts, Space.com provides ten reasons to put humans back on the moon.

A new malfunction in the US built motion-control system aboard the International Space Station caused a need to fire the Russian built thrusters to position the facility. According to CNN.com, "Flight ... Read More

Singer Patti LaBelle has been nominated for a Grammy for her rendition of "Way Up There." LaBelle was one of five nominees in the Traditional Rhythm & Blues category for ... Read More

In December of 1978, two US spacecraft from the Pioneer series of missions reached Venus. One dropped four probes into the atmosphere, while the other mapped the surface. The Orbiter, Pioneer ... Read More

The Stafford-Covey Return to Flight Task Group will hold its second public meeting at 9 a.m. CST, Thursday, Dec. 11, in the Hilton NASA Clear Lake, 3000 NASA Road 1, ... Read More

The Washington Post examines changes to the space shuttle program in the aftermath of the loss of Columbia. These changes, including new maneuvers and devices are designed to help discover ... Read More

Ten years ago, today, the first HST servicing mission had three primary objectives: restoring the planned scientific capabilities; restoring reliability of HST's systems; and validating the HST on-orbit servicing concept. December ... Read More