nasa

Alleged NASA hacker gets temporary reprieve

Gary McKinnon, a British man accused of hacking into U.S. military systems, has been granted a short stay of his extradition.

Last month, McKinnon lost his battle in the House of Lords against extradition to the U.S. to face charges of hacking various military systems. His final recourse now will be if the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) agrees to hear his appeal.

The London law firm representing McKinnon, Kaim Todner, stated on Tuesday that the ECHR will consider as soon as August 28 whether McKinnon can appeal.

"The presidents of the European Court (of) Human … Read more

NASA pushes back new space program

NASA's plans to launch new manned missions to the International Space Station three years after the space shuttle retires in 2010 aren't panning out.

Officials at the space agency said Monday that they will still hold to their word that the Constellation program--a mission of the newly developed Ares 1 rocket and Orion crew capsule to the ISS--will happen by March 2015, five years after the space shuttle program shuts down. But a previous goal of an early launch in 2013 has now been moved to 2014 because of budget constraints. NASA officials are also leaving wiggle room … Read more

NASA awards $100,000 in aviation contest

SONOMA COUNTY, Calif.--When it comes to flying, being green isn't easy.

Here at NASA's second annual General Aviation Challenge this weekend, one of the main prizes was the so-called "green prize," which challenged two-seater planes to fly a 400-mile-long course logging at least 30 miles to the gallon. None of the four planes entered won the $50,000 prize; the best attempt achieved 28.8 miles per gallon. (NASA's ultimate goal is to get the green prize to at least 100 miles per hour and the equivalent of 100 miles per gallon.

The shoe-in … Read more

Martian soil turns up toxic chemical

NASA's Phoenix Lander team said this week it has found a toxic chemical in the soil of Mars' northern hemisphere, where it has previously confirmed the existence of water.

The University of Arizona-based team believes the chemical is perchlorate, an oxidant typically used in solid rocket fuel. The scientists are still analyzing the soil sample to make sure it wasn't brought to Mars from Earth, according to a statement. But if the oxidant is native, it would bar the possibility of life there.

"While we have not completed our process on these soil samples, we have very … Read more

Next try for $2 million lunar-landing challenge

Ten teams are signed up once again to compete in the NASA-sponsored Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, a $2 million contest to simulate a moon flight in the New Mexico desert.

The X Prize Foundation, the event's host, announced the team lineup Tuesday, saying it is confident that this year, after two years of unsuccessful attempts, NASA will award the prize money. However, in a potentially cautionary move, the 2008 event in late October at New Mexico's Holloman Air Force Base will be closed to the public for the first time. People can watch it live via the … Read more

Armadillo Aerospace tries again for $2 million lunar lander challenge

Ten teams are signed up once again to compete in the NASA-sponsored Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, a $2 million contest to simulate a moon flight in the New Mexico desert.

This story was inadvertently double-posted. For the full story, click here.

SpaceX suffers third rocket launch failure

A privately funded rocket suffered a launch failure Saturday night, the third launch failure in as many attempts for an Internet entrepreneur who is hoping to develop private space delivery and transportation.

The failure occurred about two minutes after the launch of the two-stage Falcon 1 rocket, which was manufactured by Space Exploration Technologies, also known as SpaceX. A failure prevented the two stages from separating after the launch from a central Pacific atoll, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a company blog. The rocket was carrying three satellites for NASA and the Department of Defense. Musk said an investigation … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 779: Ok A moo

Here at Buzz Out Loud, we are shamelessly attempting to launch a meme, based on the awesome Twitter ramblings of a guy stoned off his gourd at the dentist. Quick, somebody make a Café Press shirt! Also, today's show is rant-central, between the news that They can take our laptops for as long as They want for no reason, Apple's killing of a short-lived iPhone-tethering app, and the U.S. Congress' mandate that our nation's schools prop up our dying music industry. Good times. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 779

Judge rules Sprint’s … Read more

NASA extends Mars lander mission, search for water

A correction was made to this story after it was published. See below for details.

NASA's planning to spend another month and $2 million on its Mars robotic lander mission to obtain more icy soil samples, study the weather, and size up the planet's suitability for human life.

In a press conference Thursday, NASA scientists said that the Mars Phoenix Lander mission has been going so well that it plans to extend the vehicle's stay through the end of September, instead of August. On May 25, the Phoenix landed more than 200 million miles away from Earth, … Read more