Category: Space
Space shocker – Voyager probe finds that Solar System isn't round
Ancient space probes sent out on a long-distance research mission during the 1970s are continuing to send back valuable data 30 years after they first launched. The Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft have each now entered a vast region of space on the very edge of the solar system, a point where the solar wind blowing outward meets the interstellar wind blowing in.
Wingless electromagnetic air vehicle (UFO! UFO! UFO!) set to take off this year
Technically, that flying saucer to the left there is known as a wingless electromagnetic air vehicle, or WEAV for short. We’ll just scream “UFO!” and run from it in terror, though, if that’s OK.
It’s powered by “magnetohydrodynamics” – a way of propelling vehicles by ionising air with an electrical current then shooting it out at great speed. The thing also spins, to help keep it stable. It is, basically, your archetypal flying saucer.
The dream-machine of the University of Florida scientist Subrata Roy, WEAV will be undergoing test flights…
Steve Bennett, 43, from Manchester, has made a rocket. It'll be ready in 2013
Three cheers for British entrepreneurs! That man there is Steve Bennett. He’s built a rocket called Nova 2.
Steve’s rocket is a three-seater, one which he hopes is going to make him one of Britain’s first “space tourism” millionaires. He heads up the Space Technology Laboratory (!) of Salford University (!!) and has spent…
NASA "flabbergasted" by Martian soil – it could support life!
The Phoenix Mars Lander has almost completed its first set of ‘wet chemistry’ experiments on the red planet’s soil and scientists very excited with what they’ve found. A preliminary analysis of soil samples have found it to be a lot more alkaline than expected, meaning that it could support life.
Phoenix Lander finds ice beneath Mars' surface
Now that drama of the sticky Mars mud incident is firmly behind it (results are expected on Friday), the Phoenix Mars Lander is on the lookout for fresh Martian discoveries, and they seem to be in no short supply. Using its robotic arm, Phoenix has been scraping away at the rocky surface and uncovered some mysterious white patches that scientists say are most probably ice.
NASA picks a new spacesuit maker for next round of lunar landings
In 2020, humankind is going back to the moon (baby), and what’s more we’re going to be looking goooood. NASA has picked out a new organisation, Oceaneering International, and awarded it a contract to design and build a next-gen space suit, boringly entitled the Constellation Space Suit System, or CSSS.
Sergey Brin ready to blast into space
It could be one small step for Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, but it could be a giant leap for search-engine-kind…
That's no moon! It's a plutoid
For today’s little nugget of space news, we turn our eyes away from the red planet to one a bit smaller, darker and colder: Pluto…
NASA scientists celebrate as Mars Lander successfully soils itself
Now I know that none of you were even remotely interested in what has been happening in the world of mobile telephony, so I bring you another report from the icy depths of space. Scientists are jubilant this morning because it seems yesterday’s desperate battle against Mars’ fiendishly ‘clumpy’ soil has been won and samples are now being delivered to the lander’s Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA).
Phoenix Lander in pitched battle with Martian soil
Thanks to announcement of some important kind of shiny phone handset, it seems that there’s little earth-bound technology news left to report. We expect a good three days before we can stop ourselves from spontaneously typing ‘IPHONE!’, ‘3G!’ or wasting the whole opening paragraphs of our posts providing a connection between utterly unrelated news and said handset announcement. We appreciate your patience.
