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With the SLV launch site’s mobile service gantry partially withdrawn, the lightweight Vega is shown in its mission-ready configuration.

May 02, 2013 12:11 PM EDT

New Vega Rocket Ready for Second Launch Tomorrow

The second mission of the newly developed Vega launcher has entered its final preparation phase one day before liftoff. The lightweight launcher is readied to take off in the night of May 3 with a trio of satellites as its payload.

May 02, 2013 10:01 AM EDT

Civil War Death Moon: Accidental Death of Confederate General Blamed by Bright Light

Most of us may not be aware of the significance that moons had throughout history. They played great rolls surrounding harvests and festivals during ancient times. And they've also made many historical marks surrounding cultural customs and even death.

May 02, 2013 08:05 AM EDT

Send Your Name and Message to Mars! NASA Invites Public to the Red Planet

You may not be able to journey to Mars yourself, but your message sure can. NASA is inviting members of the public to submit their names and a personal message online for a DVD that will be carried aboard a spacecraft that will study the upper atmosphere of the Red Planet.

May 01, 2013 03:54 PM EDT

Target of Asteroid Mission OSIRIS-REx Got a New Name: Bennu

The Asteroid that was selected to be explored by a NASA mission has a new name, after a naming contest involving thousands of young students around the world. A third-grade student in North Carolina won with his entry 'Bennu', the name of an Egyptian avian deity. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is planned...

May 01, 2013 10:31 AM EDT

How Saturn Maintains its Bright, Youthful Appearance: It's Not Plastic Surgery

If Saturn were human, it would have had a lot of plastic surgery--or just have some really great genes. The planet has somehow maintained its youthful appearance, complete with a bright surface. Now, scientists have discovered how.

May 01, 2013 10:00 AM EDT

Tiny 'Alien' Skeleton: Alien Shown to be Human, Debunked by DNA

A documentary that recently premiered this month actually shows proof that aliens may exist.

May 01, 2013 08:48 AM EDT

NASA Pays $70 Million a Seat to Blast Astronauts to Space on Russian Spacecraft

Blasting off into space has just gotten a little bit pricier--and by "a little bit," we mean a lot. NASA has just signed a new deal that will keep American astronauts flying on Russian spacecraft through 2017, but at a cost of $70.7 million per seat.

enormous cloud of hot gas is surrounding two merging spiral galaxies chandra

Apr 30, 2013 05:23 PM EDT

Enormous Cloud Around Two Colliding Galaxies Imaged by Chandra X-Ray Observatory

A new image of the space-based X-ray observatory Chandra shows the enormous cloud of hot gas resulting from the epic collision of two large, colliding galaxies. This unusually large reservoir of gas contains as much mass as 10 billion Suns, spans about 300,000 light years, and radiates at a temperat...

Apr 30, 2013 09:54 AM EDT

Space Rock Slams into ISS Solar Panels: Bullet-sized Hole Created

A small space rock slammed into one of the ISS's solar panels and created a bullet-sized hole.

Apr 29, 2013 06:06 PM EDT

Snapshot of Enormous Hurricane At Saturn's North Pole

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has provided scientists the first close-up, visible-light views of a behemoth hurricane swirling around Saturn's north pole.

Herschel infrared observatory nebula esa

Apr 29, 2013 03:16 PM EDT

Space Telescope Herschel Ran Out of Liquid Helium Today as Planned

The crucial liquid helium coolant of ESA’s Herschel space observatory ran out today, which means the end of the device that served astronomers for more than three exciting years studying the cool Universe.