Space

NASA to Webcast Lyrid meteor shower Monday night

The Lyrid meteor shower is peaking right now, and NASA wants to make sure you don't miss this once-a-year space fireworks show.

Mindful that some stargazers may not have optimum viewing conditions because of local weather conditions or the moon's glow, NASA has set up a camera at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., to broadcast live images of the meteor shower.

"If you'd like to catch a last look at 2013 Lyrid meteror shower, this is your chance!" NASA said in a statement. "Although a bright moon may interfere with viewing, … Read more

Orbital's Antares rocket makes successful test flight

After multiple scrubbed launches last week, an Antares rocket finally lifted off the ground from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia as part of Orbital Sciences' bid to transport cargo to the International Space Station.

The rocket lifted off at 5 p.m. ET Sunday and achieved orbit smoothly. It launched an 8,400-pound mock Cygnus supply ship into orbit about 158 miles above Earth.

Antares is a medium-class, two-stage, 13-storey rocket designed to carry payloads of up to 6,500 kg (14,329 pounds). Along with SpaceX, Orbital was awarded a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) contract to … Read more

Hubble captures Horsehead nebula in stunning infrared

I just rewatched Ridley Scott's "Prometheus," and I think the soundtrack's opening horn melody would go perfectly with this NASA pic.

The Hubble Space Telescope has photographed the Horsehead Nebula in stunning detail. The nebula, about 1,500 light years away in the constellation of Orion, was imaged in infrared wavelengths against the backdrop of the Milky Way.

The pink cast is from hydrogen gas behind the nebula, which is being lit up by Sigma Orionis, a five-star system. … Read more

Wringing out a space station washcloth makes water clingy

Thanks to astronaut Chris Hadfield and a series of videos from the Canadian Space Agency, we've had incredible access to all aspects of life on the International Space Station. Activities that are so mundane here on Earth (like clipping nails and heating up some spinach) become things of wonder in zero gravity. That's why we're all going ga-ga over Hadfield wringing out a washcloth.

If I told you nearly 600,000 people would tune into YouTube to watch a piece of cloth get wrung out, you would probably laugh and tell me to take the day off. Fortunately, we're not all suffering from a mass delusion. Hadfield soaking up a washcloth with water and then wringing it out really is that cool.… Read more

NASA has found 3 nice, habitable planets for us to choose from

NASA, that wily band of intergalactic peepers, says it's spied three distant planets in two different solar systems that are the proper distance from their suns to make them potentially habitable.

I can almost hear Elon Musk's pitch for time-shares in the Kepler-62 and Kepler-69 systems already.… Read more

NASA's Kepler spacecraft to reveal new planetary discoveries?

NASA's Kepler spacecraft has been in hot pursuit of extraterrestrial life for four years now. And, on Thursday, it's letting people know just what it's found lurking in the Milky Way.

NASA is holding a Kepler briefing at 11 a.m. PT on Thursday. It will be broadcast live on NASA Television and on UStream. The agency will also host a moderated Web chat with Kepler Deputy Project Scientist Nick Gautier of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab. During the briefing, people can submit questions to the Kepler scientists via Twitter with the hashtag #AskNASA.

Kepler launched in … Read more

NASA experimenting with 3D printing for space exploration

NASA is getting into the 3D printing business. At NASA's Ames Research Center, engineers and researchers are experimenting with the technology with the hope that one day their creations will be used in space exploration. "Space Shop is our attempt to take the best practices and lessons learned from what we call the maker community," said Dave Korsmeyer, the director of engineering at NASA Ames.

The program is still in its nascent stages. But NASA sees potential in the technology because it enables designers and engineers to get the manufacturing information early in the design process and … Read more

Construction of world's largest optical telescope approved

If you love eye-popping images of space, here's welcome news: the Hawaiian Board of Land and Natural Resources has backed building what's to be the world's largest, most powerful optical telescope above the clouds atop the volcano Mauna Kea.

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) will have a primary mirror of 492 segments measuring some 100 feet across, giving it the power to image objects 13 billion light years away, near the beginning of the universe.

It may also photograph planets outside our solar system with unprecedented detail. … Read more

Friday Poll: Is Hawking right about us needing to colonize space?

Stephen Hawking's mind is reaching out into the far depths of space as he contemplates the survival of humanity over the very long term. He doesn't hold out much hope for us here on Earth. Instead, the famous physicist is looking to the stars for an answer.

"We must continue to go into space for humanity. We won't survive another 1,000 years without escaping our fragile planet," Hawking said in a recent lecture, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The delicate nature of Earth and humanity's propensity for steamrolling over the environment both spell doom as far as Hawking is concerned. He has been talking about the need to colonize space for years, but his latest comments have ramped up the discussion.… Read more