Exoplanet hunting takes time, a fact that is well demonstrated in the case of a newly confirmed gas giant. Eight times as massive as Jupiter, it orbits a star much like the Sun but at a distance vast enough (300 AU) to place it well within the Kuiper Belt if it were in our own [...]
The solar sail news continues to be positive, a welcome relief after so many years of delay and frustration. Now that we finally have an operational sail in space, it’s worth noting how the Japanese IKAROS sail differs from earlier sail concepts. For IKAROS is designed to use two kinds of power. The first comes [...]
Combining the assets of multiple telescopes in the technique known as interferometry has a long pedigree. Using a cluster of small telescopes rather than a single gigantic one is a way to achieve high resolution at sharply lower costs. Take a look at this list of astronomical interferometers working from the visible to the infrared [...]
Alien Spacecraft Alien Spacecraft_Rear Alien Spacecraft_Landed Alien Spacecraft_exaust This is the a
Suppose for a moment that you have some novel ideas about astrobiology on Io. The idea seems extreme, but there are scientists who argue for the notion, as we’ll see in a moment. In any case, if you wanted to observe Io, how would you go about it? The best solution is a spacecraft, as [...]
Long-term thinking means planning for the consequences of things that are beyond our current capacity. What happens on the farside of the Moon is a case in point. Getting humans back to the Moon is going to happen sooner or later, and one day we will have bases there, as well as a human or [...]
A quick update on the recently-launched IKAROS Japanese solar sail spacecraft: Earlier this week th
Scientists believe that the Voyager 2 probe, which NASA launched into space in 1977, may have been h
When I was a kid, interstellar destinations were sharply defined. It seemed obvious that you didn’t even consider Alpha Centauri, because a double-star primary system surely wouldn’t allow stable planetary orbits. So you looked around for single stars. Moreover, these should be stars a lot like the Sun, so that when Frank Drake began SETI [...]
Russian Space Tug, "Parom." Credit: Vassili Petrovich With the imminent retirement of the 
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At 1400 hours UT on Sunday June 13 a brilliant fireball will appear over Australia. Unlike most fire
******************************UPDATE****************************** Touchdown, the crowd goes wild! S
From the article: The unfurling of a Japanese solar sail, the first demonstration of a new space pro
It’s with no small sense of excitement that I report two important developments this past week
Quite frankly, I’m stunned. An Australian amateur astronomer has just observed his second ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ event: an impact in the atmosphere of Jupiter. Phil Plait was very quick to get the news out, describing it as a “major coincidence,” and he ain’t wrong! Anthony Wesley’s first event was the famous July 2009 observation of what was [...]
Gulf of Mexico oil slick captured by satellite Space blog Gulf of Mexico oil slick captured by satellite SSTL’s satellite imaging subsidiary DMCii has used its UK-DMC2 satellite to monitor the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico Satellite imagery is being supplied to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Noaa and the US Geological Survey USGS following an activation of the International Charter Space and Major Disasters UK-DMC2 Image C DMCii , 2010. UK-DMC2 and its five siblings in the Disaster Monitoring Constellation DMC of satellites are able to provide daily imaging of the oil slick if required , detecting changes in the spill and tracking changes in direction . Current reports indicate that the oil click is moving towards the Florida coastline , having already reached land
Pictured left to right: NASA Administrator General Charles Bolden, NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, Bob McDonald from SPACE Canada, SPACE Canada Executive Director Margaret McLaughlin, John Mankins, SPS researcher from Japan whose name I can’t recall.
Far too much happened today on day two of the International Space Development Conference to go into any sort of [...]
Buzz Aldrin at the Boeing Coffee
Eric Anderson, Space Adventures
Gordon Woodcock, Boeing (retired)
John Carmack, Armadillo Aerospace
John Mankins, SPS guru
A model Mars base in the exhibit hall
A typical slide at an ISDC presentation
I arrived at 8:00am for the first day of the International Space Development Conference (ISDC). I took a walk around the hotel to get [...]
The instant I saw this photograph I realized I was seeing something so beautiful, I’d have a hard job writing something to accompany it. Coming straight from the Twitter feed of Soichi Noguchi, Japanese astronaut and social-media-in-space-photography-guru, this single photograph has captured the moon, an aurora hanging above the Earth’s limb, a docked space shuttle [...]
Now, I’ve already talked once about sex in space requests pouring into various space tourism companies, but now it is time to expand on the subject a bit. Now, the question is should a spaceplane, rocket ship for space tourists or even the International Space Station have a compartment for copulating couples? Even prisoners get [...]
The Voyager 2 spacecraft has been speeding through the Solar System since 1977 and it’s seen a lot. Besides scooting past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the probe is now passing through the very limit of the heliosphere (called the heliopause) where it has begun to detect a magnetic field beyond the Solar System. The [...]
INPE observes slowing deforestation with DMCii Space blog INPE observes slowing deforestation with DMCii Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research INPE has completed its August 2008-July 2009 detailed survey of deforestation by shallow cut throughout the Amazon region INPE announcement Its PRODES Monitoring of the Brazilian Forest by Satellite programme analyzed 400 images from Landsat , CBERS and the DMC Satellite Constellation to confirm that deforestation during the period was 7464 square kilometers , a reduction of 42 in comparison to 2007-2008. This is the lowest annual deforestation rate since INPE started systematic monitoring of the Amazon forest by satellite in 1988. DMCii has worked with INPE to provide annual imaging of the whole Amazon Basin since 2005 to support this
SSTL leads GNSS reflectometry prototype Space blog SSTL leads GNSS reflectometry prototype Development of a new instrument that could use satellite navigation signals to determine sea-surface roughness , ice characteristics , or soil moisture content has received a boost from the Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation CEOI The SSTL-led team will continue the development in a CEOI funded project . The CEOI is an initiative to develop the next generation of Earth observation instruments , funded by the Natural Environment Research Council NERC and Technology Strategy Board TSB Illustration of satellite collecting GPS reflectometry measurements over the ocean and ice as a new means of remote sensing The new project will continue the development of the instrument that exploits signals
: British Broadcasting Corporation Home Accessibility links Text only Mobiles Skip to content Skip to local navigation Skip to bbc.co.uk navigation Skip to bbc.co.uk search Help Accessibility Help Access keys help Previous Main Here's the shipping forecast for space Jonathan Amos 12:30 UK time , Tuesday , 18 May 2010 Not so much an armada , more like a flotilla . We're going to see a series of spacecraft launch in the next year or so that try to demonstrate the principle of solar . sailing These craft will deploy very large , ultra-thin membranes to catch the light of our star to push them through . space The idea has long been discussed and now a few groups are very close to showing us the reality . Or so we . hope First out of the space marina is Japan's Ikaros which will be launched on
: Help us to keep our finger on the . pulse Do you have 5 minutes to tell us what you think about this site Yes No Accessibility links Text only Skip to content Skip to local navigation Skip to bbc.co.uk navigation Skip to bbc.co.uk search Help Accessibility Help Access keys help Previous Main The last planned flight of space shuttle Atlantis Jonathan Amos 16:50 UK time , Thursday , 13 May 2010 So , we get down to the first of the lasts Friday's launch of the space shuttle Atlantis is expected to be the final outing for this particular orbiter before . retirement It won't go to a museum straightaway on its return from the space station , however . It will go back into the processing flow , as they say , and made ready as the launch on need rescue shuttle should November's Endeavour flight
: Accessibility links Text only Skip to content Skip to local navigation Skip to bbc.co.uk navigation Skip to bbc.co.uk search Help Accessibility Help Access keys help Previous Main The Moon enjoys its moment in the Sun Jonathan Amos 10:01 UK time , Tuesday , 4 May 2010 Mr Obama is not so excited by the Moon We've been there before was how he dismissed Earth's satellite as a priority destination for US astronauts . Instead , he wants to send humans to more distant , increasingly demanding targets starting with an asteroid in the . mid-2020s It's hard to imagine , though , that we would bypass the Moon altogether . For one thing , it's close by and a great place to test technology . There's also the comfort of knowing that if something goes wrong , home is just a short hop . away More than