Space, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 30, 2013

Long Ago and Far Away | Space Wallpaper

This space wallpaper is a NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope view looking long ago and far away at a supernova that exploded more than 10 billion years ago — the most distant Type Ia supernova ever detected. The supernova’s light is just arriving at Earth, having travelled more than 10 billion...

Mar 31, 2013

NASA to Get $100 Million for Asteroid-Capture Mission, Senator Says

NASA will likely get $100 million next year to jump-start an audacious program to drag an asteroid into orbit around the moon for research and exploration purposes, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson says. The $100 million will probably be part of President Barack Obama's federal budget request for 2014, which is...

Mar 31, 2013

Lyrid Meteor Shower Is Peaking Now

The annual Lyrid meteor shower will peak tonight (April 21) and early Monday, but the moon's bright light may spoil the celestial fireworks display. The Lyrid meteor shower occurs each year in mid-April when the Earth passes through a trail of dusty debris from the Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1), which...

Mar 31, 2013

Eco-Friendly Galaxy Wastes Nothing to Build Stars

Scientists have found what may be the most environmentally friendly galaxy ever seen, a galactic star factory that operates with a nearly 100-percent efficiency rate. It is located about 6 billion light-years from Earth. NASA unveiled the galaxy discovery today (April 23), one day after Earth Day, and dubbed the...

Feb 28, 2013

Comet Impacts May Have Jump-Started Life on Earth

Life's building blocks can form in the harsh environment of deep space, a new study suggests, bolstering the odds that a comet or meteorite strike may have jump-started biological evolution on Earth. Linked pairs of amino acids called dipeptides can take shape in space-like conditions, a team of chemists found....

Feb 28, 2013

SpaceX's Reusable 'Grasshopper' Rocket Makes Highest Flight Yet

A private experimental rocket that could lay the foundation for a fully reusable launch system has passed its most ambitious test yet, flying 24 stories high and then sticking its landing. SpaceX's Grasshopper rocket ascended 263 feet (80 meters) into the Texas sky during its fourth-ever test flight on March...

Feb 28, 2013

New Map of Big Bang Light Hints at Exotic Physics

Europe's Planck spacecraft has revealed the most detailed map yet of the earliest light in the universe, which reveals some tantalizing anomalies that could point toward new physics. The new map tracks small temperature variations in the glow pervading space called the cosmic microwave background (CMB). This light was released...

Feb 28, 2013

Ever-Changing Venus Superstorm Sparks Interest

Elements of a giant cyclone circling above the south pole of Venus constantly break apart and re-form, according to new research. Scientists studying observations of the planet taken over the last six years have concluded that the long-lived storm is constantly evolving, raising even more questions about the unusual weather...

Jan 31, 2013

Space Exploration Still US Priority, NASA Says

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Though NASA's share of the federal budget has dropped dramatically since the space-race heyday of the 1960s, the United States still regards space exploration as a key priority, NASA's deputy chief says. The agency's allotted $17.7 billion budget represents less than 0.5 percent of federal spending...

Jan 31, 2013

Meteorite Collectors Race to Find Fragments in Russia

The biggest meteor blast in a century is expected to kick off a booming market in rocks from space. Collectors are already heading for the Chelyabinsk region in Russia, hoping to find a fragment of the 7,000-ton object. NASA estimates the Russian meteor was roughly 50 feet (15 meters) in...

Jan 31, 2013

Red Planet Mars Not So Red Beneath the Surface

The Red Planet's signature color is only skin deep. NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drilled 2.5 inches (6.4 centimeters) into a Red Planet outcrop called John Klein earlier this month, revealing rock that's decidedly gray rather than the familiar rusty orange of the Martian surface. We're sort of seeing a new...

Jan 31, 2013

Did a Comet Really Chill and Kill Clovis Culture?

A comet crashing into the Earth some 13,000 years ago was thought to have spelled doom to a group of early North American people, and possibly the extinction of ice age beasts in the region. But the space rock was wrongly accused, according to a group of 16 scientists in...

Dec 31, 2012

Earth from Space: Mediterranean Pearls

This Envisat image shows the island of Elba off Italy’s north western coast. To the east is the Italian mainland and region of Tuscany, while the small island of Pianosa is visible in the lower-left corner.This image is a compilation of three Envisat radar images acquired on 29 November 2008,...

Dec 31, 2012

Crash of the Titans

NGC 520 — also known as Arp 157 — looks like a galaxy in the midst of exploding. In reality, it’s the exact opposite. Two enormous spiral galaxies are crashing into each other, melding and forming a new conglomerate. This happens slowly, over millions of years — the whole process...

Dec 31, 2012

NASA Planet Hunter Bill Borucki Gets Astronomy Award

Bill Borucki, the principal investigator for NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, will be awarded the National Academy of Sciences' 2013 Henry Draper Medal for his work on the prolific planet-hunting mission. This is a commendable recognition for Bill Borucki and the Kepler mission, John Grunsfeld, a former astronaut and NASA's associate...