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May 06, 2013

Recent events highlight risks from orbiting space junk
Washington DC (UPI) May 04, 2013
Empty space. In discussions of things astronomical, the term pops up so often it's gone beyond cliche. "A voyage into empty space." "Across the vastness of empty space." Yet in point of fact, space is never empty, neither between the most distant galaxies nor in the space above our heads here on earth. Outer space is often described as a perfect vacuum - which would certainly meet the definition of empty - but it's not; there are always a few hydrogen atoms floating around. Clos ... read more

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Satellite instrument package to assess space weather ready for delivery by CU-Boulder A multimillion dollar University of Colorado Boulder instrument package to study space weather has passed its pre-installation testing and is ready to be incorporated onto a National Oceanic and Atm ... more		An Anarchic Region of Star Formation The Danish 1.54-metre telescope located at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile has captured a striking image of NGC 6559, an object that showcases the anarchy that reigns when stars form inside an i ... more		A Better View into the Heart of a Globular Cluster Astronomers at the Southern Observatory for Astrophysical Research (SOAR) and the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) have demonstrated the significant difference that sharp stellar image ... more
				Dawn On Route From Vesta to Ceres Nearly three times as far from Earth as the sun is, the Dawn spacecraft is making very good progress on its ambitious trek from Vesta to Ceres. After a spectacular adventure at the second most massi ... more		'Tis the Season -- for Plasma Changes at Saturn Researchers working with data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft have discovered one way the bubble of charged particles around Saturn - known as the magnetosphere - changes with the planet's seasons. ... more

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

Scientists say stones are linked to 1908 cosmic blast over Siberia A Russian researcher says stones he found in 1988 may be fragments of the largest celestial body to hit the Earth in recorded history. ... more		Studying meteorites may reveal Mars' secrets of life In an effort to determine if conditions were ever right on Mars to sustain life, a team of scientists, including a Michigan State University professor, has examined a meteorite that formed on the re ... more		Maintaining US space dominance requires rapid and reliable delivery of new systems Shield or Spark? The U.S. Golden Dome and the New Missile Arms Race Starcloud partners with Mission Space to protect orbital datacenters with real time space weather intelligence		Cluster hears the heartbeat of magnetic reconnection For the first time, scientists have resolved the detailed structure of the core region where magnetic reconnection takes place in the magnetosphere of Earth using unprecedented wave measurements. ... more
				How the Density of Exoplanets' Atmospheres Weighs on the Odds for Alien Life At this early stage in the search for extraterrestrial life in our solar system and beyond, the emphasis is on liquid water. Where it can exist on a planet's or moon's surface, so the thinking goes, ... more		See Saturn at its Best and Brightest The Solar System is a beautiful place filled with wonders that NASA space probes are only beginning to discover. There's a tendency, though, for people to become indifferent; every year Hubble, Cass ... more

Solar systems for home and business installations

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

New dark matter detector begins search for invisible particles Scientists this week heard their first pops in an experiment that searches for signs of dark matter in the form of tiny bubbles. Scientists will need further analysis to discern whether dark matter ... more		Nine-Year-Old Names Target of UA-led NASA Mission The target of NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is an asteroid that has had the provisional name (101955) 1999 RQ36. Believing the asteroid deserved a more memorable name, the OSIRIS-REx team, led by the ... more		Vast reserves, but little to drink: Tajikistan's water struggles Year after northern Nigeria floods, survivors left high and dry Africa's path to low-carbon food security		Older Is Wiser: Study Shows Software Developers' Skills Improve Over Tim There is a perception in some tech circles that older programmers aren't able to keep pace with rapidly changing technology, and that they are discriminated against in the software field. But a new ... more
				Scientists Use Laser to Find Soviet Moon Rover French scientists successfully used a laser to find the Soviet-era Lunokhod 1 rover on the surface of the moon, 42 years after the first planetary exploration vehicle to land on another celestial bo ... more		Astronaut Finds 'Bullet Hole' in ISS Solar Panel A small object, possibly a meteoroid, has flown through a solar panel on the International Space Station, leaving a "bullet hole," Canadian astronaut and Expedition 35 commander Chris Hadfield has s ... more

'Vulcan' wins Pluto moon name vote

Public to vote on names for Pluto moons

The PI's Perspective: The Seven-Year Itch

How the Density of Exoplanets' Atmospheres Weighs on the Odds for Alien Life

Flexible partnership allows lichens to occur in different habitats

Has Kepler Found Ideal SETI-Target Planets

Two New Exoplanets Detected with Kepler, SOPHIE and HARPS-N

Astronomer studies far-off worlds through 'characterization by proxy'

Mysterious Hot Spots Observed In A Cool Red Supergiant

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

NASA says Mars rover Opportunity back on the job after standby time

NASA Invites Public to Send Names And Messages to Mars

	Cassini Gets Close-Up Views of Large Hurricane on Saturn NASA's Cassini spacecraft has provided scientists the first close-up, visible-light views of a behemoth hurricane swirling around Saturn's north pole. In high-resolution pictures and video, sc ... more		Giant Gas Cloud in System NGC 6240 Scientists have used Chandra to make a detailed study of an enormous cloud of hot gas enveloping two large, colliding galaxies. This unusually large reservoir of gas contains as much mass as 10 bill ... more		Two New Exoplanets Detected with Kepler, SOPHIE and HARPS-N An international team of astronomers, including Alexandre Santerne of the EXOEarths team at CAUP, has identified and characterized two new exoplanets thanks to combined observations from the Kepler ... more		Bizarre binary star system pushes study of relativity to new limits An international team of astronomers and an exotic pair of binary stars have proved that Albert Einstein's theory of relativity is still right, even in the most extreme conditions tested yet. The re ... more

China sends 11th group of internet satellites into orbit for global constellation

NASA ISRO radar satellite beams first Earth images from space

NRL coronagraph on NOAA SWFO L1 will enhance space weather forecasts

Orbital Selected By NASA To Build Icon Space Weather Satellite		The Day NASA's Fermi Dodged a 1.5-ton Bullet		Saturn's youthful appearance explained		Does antimatter fall up or down		Solar Eclipse to Sweep Across Australia, Pacific Islands
Bold Move Forward in Molecular Analyses		Looking for Life by the Light of Dying Stars		A Heavyweight For Einstein: Probing Gravity Where No One Has Done It Before		Entire galaxies feel the heat from newborn stars - Bursts of star birth can curtail future galaxy growth		QandA on the Hubble Space Telescope with Jennifer Wiseman

Asteroid Could Fly 8,600 Km From Earth in 2026

Spacecraft returns dramatic images of massive hurricane on Saturn

NASA Mission to Study What Disrupts Radio Waves

Astronomer studies far-off worlds through 'characterization by proxy'

Einstein's gravity theory passes toughest test yet

NASA Invites the Public to Fly Along with Voyager

NASA Probe Observes Meteors Colliding with Saturn's Rings

Einstein was right - So far

Astronomer: Asteroid could make close flyby in 2026

Movement of pyrrole molecules defy 'classical' physics

Star-and Planet-Forming Regions May Hold Key to Life's Chirality

Newly Discovered Comet Imaged on Way to Inner Solar System Arrival

UCLA space scientists find way to monitor elusive collisions in space

Mysterious Hot Spots Observed In A Cool Red Supergiant

Flexible partnership allows lichens to occur in different habitats

Orbital Selected By NASA for TESS Astrophysics Satellite

Rare Galaxy Found Furiously Burning Fuel for Stars

Space debris problem now urgent - scientists

Einstein's theory holds up in deep space

Has Kepler Found Ideal SETI-Target Planets

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