Space : Science World Report

Apr 12, 2012 02:47 PM EDT

Envisat Services Interrupted

After 10 years of service, Envisat has stopped sending data to Earth. ESA's mission control is working to re-establish contact with the satellite.

Apr 12, 2012 12:31 PM EDT

NASA to Fly Deep Space Atomic Clock to Improve Navigation Technology

When people think of space technologies, many think of high-tech solar panels, complex and powerful propulsion systems or sophisticated, electronic guidance systems. Another critical piece of spaceflight technology, however, is an ultra stable, highly accurate device for timing - essential to NASA's...

Apr 12, 2012 10:42 AM EDT

OU Astronomer and Colleagues Identify 12-Billion-year-old White Dwarf Stars

A University of Oklahoma assistant professor and colleagues have identified two white dwarf stars considered the oldest and closest known to man. Astronomers identified these 11- to 12-billion-year-old white dwarf stars only 100 light years away from Earth. These stars are the closest known examples...

Apr 12, 2012 10:16 AM EDT

ALMA Reveals Workings of Nearby Planetary System

A new observatory still under construction has given astronomers a major breakthrough in understanding a nearby planetary system that can provide valuable clues about how such systems form and evolve. The scientists used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to discover that planet...

Apr 12, 2012 08:54 AM EDT

Herschel Spots Comet Massacre around Nearby Star

ESA's Herschel Space Observatory has studied the dusty belt around the nearby star Fomalhaut. The dust appears to be coming from collisions that destroy up to thousands of icy comets every day.

Apr 11, 2012 05:32 PM EDT

'Time Machine' Will Study the Early Universe

A new scientific instrument, a "time machine" of sorts, built by UCLA astronomers and colleagues, will allow scientists to study the earliest galaxies in the universe, which could never be studied before.

Apr 11, 2012 10:40 AM EDT

Linear Dunes of the Caprivi Strip

In far northeastern Namibia, there is a skinny stretch of land sandwiched between Angola, Botswana, and Zambia. The Caprivi Strip receives more than 600 millimeters (24 inches) of mean annual rainfall and experiences periodic floods, making it almost moist compared to the much drier parts of the cou...

Apr 11, 2012 09:34 AM EDT

Growing Nitrous Oxide Levels Explained

Australian, Korean and US scientists have generated a 65-year record of Southern Hemisphere nitrous oxide measurements establishing a new benchmark against which to compare changes in the long-lived greenhouse gas that is also a major ozone-depleting substance.Published this week in the journal Natu...

Apr 11, 2012 08:01 AM EDT

Learn to Dock ATV the Astronaut Way

Do you have what it takes to be an astronaut? ESA is making actual astronaut training available on your computer and tablet, so you can see for yourself.

Apr 10, 2012 04:18 PM EDT

Â£6 Million Boost for UK Space Technology Industry

The Government is to grant nearly Â£6 million to co-fund major new British research that will develop commercial products and services using space technology and data from space-based systems.

Apr 10, 2012 02:47 PM EDT

What Triggers a Mass Extinction?

The second-largest mass extinction in Earth's history coincided with a short but intense ice age during which enormous glaciers grew and sea levels dropped. Although it has long been agreed that the so-called Late Ordovician mass extinction-which occurred about 450 million years ago-was related to c...

Apr 10, 2012 01:17 PM EDT

Wildfire Spreads Smoke Across Florida

A large fire in Osceola National Forest has burned more than 10,000 acres and sent smoke wafting across Northeast Florida. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite captured this view of the County Line Fire and its smoke on April 7, 2012.