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Preview: The Register - Science: Space
![]() The Register - Science: SpaceBiting the hand that feeds ITCopyright: Copyright 2009, Situation Publishing
Animal lovers say no to radioactive NASA monkeys Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:07:18 GMT Appeal irradiated monkeyshinesAnimal rights groups are apparently not pleased with NASA's plan to zap squirrel monkeys with repeated doses of radiation for science.…
Messenger beams back colour snap of Mercury Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:19:37 GMT NASA releases new data from third fly-byNASA has released a fetching composite colour snap of Mercury, captured by the Messenger spacecraft on its third and final fly-by of the planet prior to orbital insertion in 2011:…
Can Darwin help us find little green men? Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:17:09 GMT Astrobiologist celebrates Origins bdayLife as we know it on Earth is mostly ugly, sometimes monstrous, and to a statistically small but nevertheless disquieting magnitude, it's composed of wandering packs of ravaging blood-thirsty wolves. Curiously, this beastly menagerie comes from what is essentially the same biological recipe that also spawned Academy Award-winning actress and unquestionably classy dame Joan Crawford.…
Esther '1st lady of internet' Dyson appointed NASA advisor Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:36:02 GMT 'I'm dying to get into space but can't afford it'Famed techbiz journo and investor Esther Dyson has been named as chairperson of a new "Technology and Innovation Committee" formed to help advise the senior management of NASA.…
NASA to irradiate monkeys for science Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:17:00 GMT Progress goes 'ook'It's good to see NASA getting back into the old spirit of space exploration these days. After years of settling for what are essentially low orbit field trips, the space agency is not only setting sights back on the moon, it's reintroducing the neglected trade of doing strange and unusual things to moneys for science.…
NASA chuffed with super-accurate new map of universe Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:06:11 GMT Quasars. Is there anything they can't do?NASA and an international boffinry alliance are chuffed to announce that they have successfully updated the map grid of the entire universe. Just as old-time sailors used the stars to navigate the Earth's oceans, spacecraft plying the infinite void of space - and astronomers probing it - will use quasars a billion lightyears away as reference points.…
Ares 1-X booster rocket dented in test flight Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:02:01 GMT Mystery thumpThe first stage booster rocket used in the Ares I-X test flight was found to be badly dented when it was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean.…
Brit space agency to probe 'crackpot' antigravity device Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:58:49 GMT Niobium superconductor flying cars proposedA controversial British antigravity device is to be investigated by the government's National Space Centre, according to reports. If the technology really works, it would be able to counteract the force of gravity using only electrical power, permitting the easy building of Jetsons-style flying cars or hoverships and hugely simplifying space travel.…
Russia planning nuclear-powered manned spaceship Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:52:40 GMT Reactor cruiser aimed at Moon, Mars missionsRussian space chiefs are considering plans for a manned spacecraft with a nuclear powerplant aboard, according to reports. Indications are that the nuclear kit would provide electrical power rather than being used directly for propulsion.…
Ares I-X blasts off at second attempt Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:43:15 GMT Weather finally shows some clemencyNASA's Ares I-X finally got off launchpad 39B at Kennedy Space Centre at 15:30 GMT today.…
Ares I-X stuck on the pad Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:33:39 GMT Florida weather halts trailblazing launchNASA's Ares I-X is still standing on Kennedy Space Centre's launchpad 39B, following the cancellation of the first trailblazing flight of the Constellation programme.…
El Reg receives message from planet 'Female Pigeon' Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:32:24 GMT Peristera pecks backOur suggestion yesterday that exoplanet HD 43848 b in the constellation Columba would probably benefit from a name other than "Female Pigeon" (Peristera) prompted the planet formation expert responsible for the idea to beam over a mild email protest.…
Exoplanets dubbed 'Vulcan', 'Romulus' and 'Female Pigeon' Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:31:21 GMT Wings slightly fall off cunning mythological planA planet formation expert has decided he's not happy with the International Astronomical Union's insistence that exoplanets will be known solely by their "assigned scientific designation", and has come up with names for the 403 such bodies discovered to date.…
Ares I-X 'in great shape' to fly Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:53:35 GMT Launch tomorrow, weather permittingNASA's Ares I-X rocket will, weather permitting, blaze a trail for the agency's Constellation programme tomorrow, lifting off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B.…
Is that the US space agency in your pocket or...? Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:15:28 GMT The NASA iPhone appIf you've ever been enjoying yourself at the pub only to be seized by an uncontrollable urge to know the position of the International Space Station - right. this. minute. — sweet mobile relief has arrived courtesy the good ol' US of A space agency.…
Ares I: What's the point? Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:23:03 GMT Waste of cash, says spaceflight review chairmanThe chairman of the committee tasked by president Barack Obama with reviewing the future of the US's human spaceflight programme has questioned the value of NASA's Ares I rocket, just days before its first test flight.…
Galileo satellite fleet apparently reduced Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:50:21 GMT Order for final six birds put on indefinite holdIndications have emerged of possible delays or cuts to the European Galileo satellite navigation system. Orders for several satellites, expected to be placed this year, have been placed on indefinite hold.…
Ares I-X trundles to launchpad Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:18:02 GMT Headed for the future or the scrapheap?NASA's Ares I-X test rocket is currently trundling towards Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Centre ahead of a slated 27 October first test flight.…
Astronomers spy 32 new exoplanets Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:34:35 GMT Galaxy packed with 'super-Earths'The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has announced its discovery of 32 new exoplanets - a bountiful harvest of new worlds to conclude the initial five-year phase of its High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) planet-sniffing programme.…
NASA: Lunar pole-shot plume shows up in pictures Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:12:30 GMT Moon's dark bottom-dirt 'ejecta' soars miles highPic NASA chiefs have insisted that their recent mission to crash a pair of spacecraft into the eternally-dark crater deeps of the lunar south pole - which seemed at first look to have produced underwhelming results - was in fact a "smashing success", with definite evidence of a debris plume detected.…
ESA proposes ion drive Sun-dodge Mars commsat ploy Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:38:56 GMT Electric rockets to 'hover' above, below eclipticExperts in interplanetary navigation have hit upon a novel scheme for maintaining communications with Mars, should a need to do so eventuate - as in the case of a manned mission to the red planet, for instance.…
Robot nuclear windjammer to sail patio-gas oceans of Titan Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:24:48 GMT Crowsnest-cam to scan the 'Sea of Krakens'NASA has boffins working on plans to send a nuclear-powered robot boat to cruise the chilly patio-gas oceans of Titan, ice moon of Saturn.…
China plans space station for the 2020s, eyes Moon trip Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:00:58 GMT Weary Eagle, leaping Dragon?The People's Republic of China has unveiled plans to have a sizeable crewed space station orbiting the Earth by 2020. The Chinese space agency is also looking ahead to a manned Moon mission, though no timetable has been announced for this.…
Hubble snaps aftermath of galactic pile-up Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:16:36 GMT Unveils tell-tale, two-tail trailThe Hubble Space Telescope has captured an impressive image demonstrating what happens when two spiral galaxies crash into each other at high speed:…
Moon orbiter detects pole-plunge hotspots in dark bottom Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:32:07 GMT NASA: LCROSS may have caused 'significant heating'Pics NASA has released new images from its spy satellite orbiting the Moon, showing the twin impacts at the lunar south pole of the iceberg-hunting probe which struck there on Friday.…
NASA moon-bomb probe strikes rich seam of fruitcake Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:32:59 GMT 'As a woman I feel violated'Nutjob Parade Those readers who've been following NASA's LCROSS lunar pole-prang mission, which saw a brace of spacecraft crash into the Moon's south pole earlier today, will be aware that the effort wasn't popular in all quarters.…
NASA iceberg-finder prangs into Moon's south pole Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:08:49 GMT Place where sun doesn't shine probedUpdate NASA has successfully crashed a spent rocket stage and accompanying probe-craft into the Cabeus crater in the lunar antarctic. Space-agency boffins are now eagerly harvesting a flood of data from telescopes, orbiters and the probe itself in order to find out if valuable water ice has been discovered by the impact.…
Lunar ice-mine pole prang probe looking good, says NASA Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:21:32 GMT Future of off-Earth rocketfuel industry in the balanceNASA's mission to crash a spent rocket stage and a following survey craft into a dark crater at the Moon's south pole is now in its final stages. The empty Centaur upper-stage booster has now successfully separated from the LCROSS probe-craft and the two are plunging down toward the lunar antarctic.…
NASA tweaks killer asteroid's trajectory of death Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:16:20 GMT Bruce Willis can stand down, agency confirmsNASA has recalculated the trajectory of asteroid Apophis and concluded that Bruce Willis can stand down from a state of doom-body-busting readiness.…
'Stop NASA bombing the Moon!' Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:28:00 GMT Surreal Green werewolves launch anti-LCROSS petitionTreehugging, possibly lycanthropic web-2.0 campaigners have launched a petition intended to "stop NASA from bombing the Moon!".…
Star-watchers: Famous moon left half-smeared by dirty ring Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:15:57 GMT 'Irregular grindings' responsible, apparentlyA well-known moon has been smeared half-dark by dirt coming from an enormous ring, according to reports.…
Super 'sun-hot' plasma rocket in fullbore bench test triumph Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:13:06 GMT Ex-astronaut boffin's drive could reach Mars in 39 daysA radical, highly fuel-efficient plasma rocket whose interior operates at temperatures close to those found inside the sun has passed a key test milestone. Trials of the space drive aboard the International Space Station are expected within the next few years.…
Black-hole sniffing 'laser combs' are go, say Brit gov boffins Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:45:29 GMT Golden triangle mega space scope gets box-tickBoffins at Blighty's National Physical Laboratory (NPL) - birthplace among other things of the internet* and the Dambusters' bouncing bomb - say they have validated a cunning super-accurate, laser-assisted space formation flying tactic. This will allow the detection of ripples in the very fabric of space-time, allowing top brainboxes to probe the deepest secrets of the cosmos.…
NASA enlists schoolkids in Moonbase piss-recycler push Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:10:02 GMT Simulated urine to be brewed from vinegar, baby shampooNASA has announced a competition for US schoolchildren, in which nippers across the nation will build urine-recycling systems for use in future Moon colonies. The space agency will helpfully furnish instructions for creating a "simulated waste stream" from common household ingredients.…
Pluto still a planet, says Ronald McDonald Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:21:15 GMT Burgermeister defies International Astronomical UnionThose of you who prefer to protect your kids from US scientific propaganda would do well to steer clear of McDonalds, which has apparently decided it doesn't approve of the 2006 International Astronomical Union ruling which booted Pluto out of the league of planets.…
Cosmic rays hit Space Age high Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:25:26 GMT Deflector shields activated, Mr Sulu?The level of cosmic rays bombarding our solar system has hit a 50-year high - a "signficant" increase which could impact on future space missions.…
Clown blasts off for ISS Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:16:24 GMT Red noses all round for orbiting outpostThe billionaire founder of the Cirque du Soleil this morning blasted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a mission to deliver a bit of levity to the International Space Station.…
NASA retargets Moon-attack probe Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:03:16 GMT Shifts LCROSS impact siteNASA has shifted the planned impact point of its Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) Moon-attack probe, based on new data which indicate its first choice might not contain as much hydrogen as the water-sniffing mission was looking for.…
NASA: Tell us how to spend $4m pa on tech contests Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:44:59 GMT Perhaps a prize for the best answer?Hoping to stimulate the US economy and space programme through crowdsourcing, NASA has invited the general public to submit ideas for inventor-prize contests. So far there is no suggestion of a prize for the best contest idea.…
Oxygen-from-Moon-dirt passes vomit comet test Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:59:53 GMT Air & rocketfuel can be made at lunar bases - or on MarsAmerican boffins say they have developed a viable process for making oxygen out of moon dirt, which could allow humans to live for long periods in lunar bases. The new tech has been tried out under the equivalent of the moon's one-sixth-G gravity aboard NASA's famous "vomit comet" low-gee simulator plane.…
There's water on the Moon, scientists confirm Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:19:38 GMT Trio of spacecraft provide 'unambiguous evidence'Analysis of the lunar surface by three different spacecraft has provided "unambiguous evidence" of water on the Moon, Space.com reports.…
VTOL hovership in semi-successful X-Prize attempt Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:29:19 GMT Alcoholic rocket retires with internal burnsA Californian firm has carried out the first untethered flights of its alcohol-fuelled hover rocket, able to take off and land vertically and potentially offer ballistic flights beyond the Earth's atmosphere.…
Cosmic flashbulb effect caused by 'black-hole invaders' Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:59:44 GMT Whirly star-gobble intrusions to blame, seeminglyBoffins at Leeds Uni say they have come up with a new explanation for the mysterious astronomical phenomena known as "gamma ray bursts" (GRBs) because they consist of bursts of gamma rays.…
DARPA seeks orbital wheely-bin plan Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:49:06 GMT Must cope with rubbish up to 'derelict spaceship' sizeThe noted US military bonkers-boffinry bureau, DARPA, announced yesterday that it would like to hear from anyone with ideas for cleaning up the large amounts of space debris orbiting the Earth. Aerospace globocorp Boeing has already indicated that it is interested.…
NASA probe scents crusty bonanza in dark moon bottoms Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:10:15 GMT Shadow icebergs of the lunar antarcticNASA says that its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) probe in orbit around the Moon has detected neutron signatures indicating possible frozen water deposits hidden in craters at the lunar south pole.…
Space shuttle Discovery lands after detour Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:58:55 GMT California touchdownUpdated Space shuttle Discovery has successfully landed at Edwards Air Force Base in north of Los Angeles, California, after bad weather ruled out a landing at Cape Canaveral, Florida.…
NASA fingers crash site for moon-impacting probe Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:59:10 GMT 'A nice flat, fluffy place'NASA found the ideal spot to crash its moon-impacting probe this October.…
Cruises on ex-Soviet space warships offered Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:57:08 GMT Virgin Galactic? Pah - it's for poor peopleA radical space company which counts an ex-NASA space station commander among its executives says it will offer week-long tourist trips in space from 2013 for just $35m. Apart from basic capsules the company has acquired - and may in future deploy - a fleet of 1970s Russian military-surplus armed orbital spacecraft.…
Japan hurls first space freighter at ISS Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:01:41 GMT No pressure, maybeJapan's first unmanned space freighter was launched today, stocked with cargo and equipment for the International Space Station.…
Heidemarie 'Toolbag' Piper resigns as NASA astronaut Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:42:18 GMT Butterfingered spacewalker rejoins US NavyOne of NASA's most famous astronauts, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, has resigned from the space agency. She achieved arguably the highest profile of any currently-serving astronaut* when she dropped her tools into an independent orbit about the Earth during a spacewalk last November.… |
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