Space

New titleholders to vye for crown of fastest spacecraft ever

Of all the spacecraft humans have launched, there have been some impressively fast movers. But which holds the record?

It's not an entirely idle question. Apart from the wow factor, it's an interesting yardstick for gauging our capacity to explore the cosmos, from familiar planets to the icy depths of space.

However, as I quickly discovered in writing this post, it's not always an easy quantity to evaluate. For one thing, launch velocities differ from eventual cruise velocities. And fancy interplanetary maneuvers like the " gravity assist" can provide temporary speed boosts that have to be … Read more

Mystery mission of the X-37B now two months old

It's now been a couple of months since the U.S. Air Force's X-37B space plane lifted into orbit amid the expected shroud of secrecy. What's remarkable about this third classified mission in the X-37B program is how little the public knows about it. We don't know how long the craft is supposed to orbit the Earth, and we don't know the mission's objectives. The unmanned space plane ventured into orbit twice before on hush-hush missions for the Air Force. One tidbit that is known: the craft now in Earth orbit was also used … Read more

Watch: How to make a peanut butter sandwich in space

Everything is more interesting in space. Even the lowly peanut butter sandwich becomes fascinating when the person making it is an astronaut and the "kitchen" is the International Space Station.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield takes you on a culinary tour of the cosmos in this simple and entertaining video.… Read more

Spacecraft watch perfect for Imperial officers

I'm not sure, but I think I saw one of these for sale in Mos Eisley.

If you thought RJ-Romain Jerome's DeLorean watch was a nice if pricey testament to your retro cred, its new Spacecraft timepiece is another sleek throwback, but for more than double the price.

The luxury brand announced a limited set of 99 of these old-school science fiction timepieces, each priced at $33,400. How many Galactic Standard Credits is that?

In looks and function, this "pilot's watch" is a bit like one of those puzzling Tokyoflash Kisai pieces, but it'… Read more

First space tourist plans to make trip to Mars in 2018

Earth's first space tourist won't be outdone by a few fancy NASA rovers with their cutesy names, sky cranes, and whatnot. So like the saying goes, if you can't beat 'em, make the unprecedented 500-day round-trip journey to Mars to join 'em.

That's the insanely ambitious plan that Dennis Tito, who was the first private space traveler a little less than 12 years ago, will announce in more detail next week.

A release from Tito's newly formed Inspiration Mars Foundation teases "plans to take advantage of a unique window of opportunity to launch an historic journey to Mars and back in 501 days, starting in January 2018."… Read more

In major milestone, Curiosity's drill delivers first sample

The Curiosity rover's powerful impact drill has successfully collected its first subsurface sample, about a tablespoon of powdered rock that will be fed into the spacecraft's on-board laboratory instruments for detailed chemical analysis, project officials said Wednesday.

The drill is the last major system on the rover to be tested since landing in Gale Crater last August and the successful collection of subsurface material marks a major milestone in Curiosity's quest to find signs of past or present habitability.

"Curiosity's first drill hole at the John Klein site is a historic moment for the MSL (… Read more

Higgs Boson calculations add up to new Armageddon scenario

Anyone who thinks the end is nigh with a giant asteroid colliding into Earth may have a new apocalypse scenario to worry about.

It all boils down to the Higgs Boson particle, aka the "God particle."

Calculations that came with the likely discovery of the Higgs Boson last July also show that the particle's mass qualities could spell out the end of the universe said Fermilab theoretical physicist Joseph Lykken yesterday, according to NBC's Cosmic Log.

However, doomsdayers don't need to fret too much, the scientist also said that the likelihood of such a demise … Read more

Stunning mosaic delves deep into spiral galaxy (picture)

As part of an experiment in stunning mosaics and data visualization, astrophotographer Robert Gendler used scientific data from the Hubble Legacy Archive and combined it with his own ground-based observations to assemble a photo illustration of the magnificent spiral galaxy M106.

Years of observations in WFC3 (which offers a unique combination of high sensitivity and wide spectral coverage), Hubble's primary camera, the Advanced Camera for Surveys (which offers three independent, high-resolution channels covering the ultraviolet to the near-infrared regions of the spectrum), and the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 have given scientists varied views and detailed pieces of … Read more

Russian meteorite fragments pop up for sale online

Capitalism is certainly alive and well in today's Russia, as demonstrated by the growing number of attempts to cash in on the recent and much-recorded (thanks to the help of ubiquitous Russian dashboard cams) meteor strike in Siberia.

The meteor that broke up over the city of Chelyabinsk while also producing a window-shattering sonic boom and momentarily outshining the sun has become a cash cow for many opportunistic folks now offering up purported fragments of the space stone on eBay and elsewhere online.… Read more