New Scientist Space News

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Updated: 1 year 39 weeks ago

Lunar lander challenge won at last

Tue, 2008-10-28 16:01

When NASA's "Centennial Challenges" prize programme announced the Lunar Lander Challenge (LLC), many observers of the entrepreneurial space scene expected John Carmack's team at Armadillo Aerospace to win it the first time the competition was held, in 2006. The LLC...

Why winning the lunar lander challenge has taken so long

Tue, 2008-10-28 16:01

Problems mount for NASA's Ares rocket

Tue, 2008-10-28 14:28

New reports suggest a moderate breeze could spell doom for the rocket set to launch astronauts into orbit after the shuttle retires

Hubble re-opens an eye

Tue, 2008-10-28 14:06

The telescope's main camera is back on after being dormant for a month two other cameras may soon restart their observations

Spooky space pictures: a Halloween gallery

Tue, 2008-10-28 00:01

View a gallery of images that include a giant black widow in the Milky Way and a cosmic death ray aimed at Earth

Nearest planetary system boasts two asteroid belts

Mon, 2008-10-27 19:20

Massive planets may have cleared a gap between Epsilon Eridani's two asteroid belts the system may also harbour an alien Earth

No spacesuits needed in new lunar rover

Mon, 2008-10-27 16:26

NASA is testing a prototype of a pressurised rover that would allow astronauts to shed their bulky spacesuits on long drives

How to make yourself a star

Mon, 2008-10-27 10:50

Want to know what's really happening inside a supernova? Then grab a megalaser and create one for yourself, says (full text available to subscribers)

Pulsars put new spin on evidence for dark matter

Sat, 2008-10-25 07:12

Particles initially thought to come from the annihilation of dark matter may instead may be whipped up by the magnetic fields of pulsars (full text available to subscribers)

'Fishbowl' spaceships and giant stars: Week in space

Fri, 2008-10-24 19:55

View a gallery of images that include a bizarre-looking spaceship and some of the heaviest stars known

Mars craters might be scars from fallen moon

Fri, 2008-10-24 18:58

An unusual pair of craters formed when a moon broke apart and crashed into the Martian surface, new calculations suggest

Safe Soyuz landing ends a run of bumpy rides

Fri, 2008-10-24 12:21

The run of scary "ballistic" re-entries that raised doubts over the Russian craft's safety is over and another space tourist makes it back to Earth

NASA attempts to reawaken Hubble

Thu, 2008-10-23 21:37

Engineers have successfully rebooted the telescope's science computer and hope to turn on its main camera in a few days

Trio of asteroids buzz Earth

Thu, 2008-10-23 21:01

We've been missing asteroids that have barely been missing us. All of us, that is, except a small band of asteroid hunters who've lately spotted some surprisingly tiny space rocks that have come closer to Earth than any found before....

No ice rinks on the Moon after all

Thu, 2008-10-23 18:00

Hopes for lakes of frozen water at the Moon's poles evaporate with images of a crater filled with dull lunar dust instead of shiny ice

Stars' flickers reveal their inner selves

Thu, 2008-10-23 18:00

The first detailed satellite measurements of Sun-like oscillations on other stars herald a new dawn for 'asteroseismology'

Visual distress beacon lets screams be heard in space

Thu, 2008-10-23 09:56

An optical distress beacon is being developed for space-walking astronauts it could raise the alarm if radio links fail

What are India's future space plans?

Wed, 2008-10-22 18:51

After the successful launch of India's first lunar probe, the head of the Indian Space Research Organisation, Gopalan Madhavan Nair, raised both his hands in a "thumbs up" sign at a post-launch press briefing, inspiring the rest of his colleagues...

Russia set to invest heavily in space industry

Wed, 2008-10-22 16:28

Russia will spend billions of dollars over the next three years to consolidate its leading role in the space industry, says Vladimir Putin

Indian space ambitions soar with lunar launch

Wed, 2008-10-22 09:57

The Chandrayaan lunar orbiter has blasted off successfully on a mission to map the Moon in unprecedented detail

About this image

Courtesy of SOHO/EIT consortium. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA. Image has been modified.

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is designed to study the internal structure of the Sun, its extensive outer atmosphere and the origin of the solar wind, the stream of highly ionized gas that blows continuously outward through the Solar System. An uninterrupted view of the Sun is achieved by operating SOHO from a permanent vantage point 1.5 million kilometers sunward of the Earth. SOHO was designed to observe the Sun continuously for at least two years.