Artist’s conception of the “boiling disk” surrounding the massive young stellar object known as Orion Source I. A disk of hot, ionized gas surrounds the central star, blocking our view
The constellation of Orion is a hotbed of massive star formation, most prominently in the Great Nebula that sits in Orion’s sword. The glowing gas of [...]

Cassini-Huygens swings by Earth and accelerates towards Saturn.

When Europe’s comet chaser Rosetta swings by Earth on Nov. 13 for a critical gravity assist, tracking data will be collected to precisely measure the satellite’s change in orbital energy. The results could help unravel a cosmic mystery that has stumped scientists for two decades.

The first Solar Sail spacecraft met an untimely end, crashing into the ocean instead of making it into orbit. But now, in 2010, a new, improved version of that craft–an entire spaceship that’s propelled only by the sun’s rays–is set to launch. And scientists will be see if this unique spaceship will become the prototype [...]

Graphic illustration released from Japan’s Institute for Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer (USEF) shows a system of space solar power system (SSPS)
It may sound like a sci-fi vision, but Japan’s space agency is dead serious: by 2030 it wants to collect solar power in space and zap it down to Earth, using laser beams or [...]

Galactic Suite
Anyone with a cool $4 million and change might consider doing what 43 other people have done, and sign up for an orbital space vacation in 2012 with Galactic Suite Space Resort. The Barcelona-based company plans to open the first space hotel if all goes according to plan.
 

David Bashford, lead of the LaserMotive team, preparing their robotic climber entry in the $2 million Space Elevator Games
A robot powered by a ground-based laser beam climbed a long cable dangling from a helicopter on Wednesday to qualify for prize money in a $2 million competition to test the potential reality of the science fiction [...]

Scientists from Purdue University have prepared a new solid propellant with explosive results. The fuel, a combination of nanoaluminum and ice, is a new kind of environmentally friendly solid rocket fuel that could someday be used in missions to outer space. With the motive to minimize fuel consumption onboard, the fuel has been successfully field-tested [...]

Just call me Captain Cutie!

ThinkGeek’s Star Trek onesies are a great change from the boring old Bob the Builder and Disney Princess junk you’ll get heaped on you the second your kid emerges.

The galaxy cluster named JKCS041 is some 10.2 billion light years away
The furthest galaxy cluster from Earth has been spotted some 10.2 billion light years away.  The group of galaxies, known as JKCS041 has beaten the previous record holder by around a billion light years.  It appears as it was when the Universe was only [...]

A bright ribbon of hydrogen atoms marks the edge of the solar system
A bright ribbon of hydrogen atoms marks the edge of the solar system, where the Sun’s wind meets emissions from the rest of the galaxy, researchers reported.   They used telescopes aboard the orbiting Interstellar Boundary Explorer spacecraft or IBEX to look toward the [...]

Model of Europa’s interior, including a global ocean
New research suggests that there is plenty of oxygen available in the subsurface ocean of Europa to support oxygen-based metabolic processes for life similar to that on Earth. In fact, there may be enough oxygen to support complex, animal-like organisms with greater oxygen demands than microorganisms.
 

This artist’s illustration simulates an infrared view of the giant ring. Saturn appears as just a small dot within the band of ice and dust. The ring’s diameter is equivalent to roughly 300 Saturns lined up side to side
Saturn’s biggest and never-been-seen before ring has been discovered.  The ’super-sized’ halo was found by Nasa’s Spitzer [...]

VASIMR rocket
The Ad Astra Rocket Company tested what is currently the most powerful plasma rocket in the world. As the Webster, Texas, company announced, the VASIMR VX-200 engine ran at 201 kilowatts in a vacuum chamber, passing the 200-kilowatt mark for the first time. The test also marks the first time that a small-scale prototype [...]

Return to the moon is part of the Google Lunar X Prize
Today, Team Selenokhod, a Russian group of engineers and managers, announced its official entry into the Google Lunar X PRIZE – a $30 million competition that challenges space professionals and engineers from across the globe to build and launch to the moon a privately [...]

The photo actually shows a trail of urine and waste water streaming out of the shuttle Discovery.
The beautiful trail in the sky looked like a mysterious celestial event. In reality, it was urine.  Some skygazers were treated to the unexpected view of a bright sparkling glow Wednesday night, created when astronauts aboard the space shuttle [...]

Astronomers have found the coldest spot in our solar system and it may be a little close for comfort. It’s on our moon, right nearby.
 

The Japanese are preparing to develop a two trillion yen (approximately $21 billion USD) space solar project that will beam electricity from space in the form of microwaves or lasers to around 300,000 homes in Japan within three decades.
 

A computer graphic depicting gravitational corridors that weave around planetary bodies.
Gravitational corridors could help spacecraft fly across the solar system like ships on ocean currents, it was revealed.  Scientists in the United States are trying to map the twisting ‘tubes’ so they can be used to cut the cost of space travel.
 

A small region inside the globular cluster Omega Centauri, which has nearly 10 million stars
Astronomers unveiled new pictures and observations from the Hubble Space Telescope. With the exception of a picture last month of the bruise on Jupiter caused by a comet, they were the first data obtained with the telescope since a crew spent 13 [...]

A camera on board India’s maiden unmanned lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 has recorded images of the landing site of US spacecraft Apollo 15, a scientist said on Wednesday, rubbishing conspiracy theories that the fourth US mission to land on the moon four decades back was a hoax.
 

British space scientists have designed a special spacecraft that can save the earth from a catastrophic asteroid collision.
 

There are many people confused about how the Big Bang Theory works but after reading about how it happened in the middle of nothing even more people are scratching their heads.
If you’re having a hard time visualizing the Big Bang, let astronomy and physics professor Janna Levin show you how it all started. In this [...]

Scientists have uncovered fresh evidence that life could exist beyond Earth, with research published on Tuesday showing that comet dust contained traces of a compound vital to human existence.
 

Final frontier just an elevator ride away, entrepreneurs say
Welcome aboard the space elevator folks. Our first stop will be the Bigelow Hotel where some of you will depart for a vacation among the stars; we will then continue on to Geosynchronous Way where the rest of you will transfer to an L5 shuttlecraft. The trip [...]

This article is for everyone who has their head in the clouds
The deputy commander of a US Air Force base in England was baffled by what he’d seen: bright, pulsing lights in the night sky.