http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (Phys.org) -- Findings from NASA's Dawn spacecraft reveal new details about the giant asteroid Vesta, including its varied surface composition, sharp temperature changes and clues to its internal structure. The findings were presented today at the European Geosciences Union meeting in Vienna, Austria and will help scientists better understand the early solar system and processes that dominated its formation. http://phys.org/news254644071.html Space & Earth Thu, 26 Apr 2012 07:28:18 EST news254644071 (Phys.org) -- Autonomous, self-replicating robots -- exobots -- are the way to explore the universe, find and identify extraterrestrial life and perhaps clean up space debris in the process, according to a Penn State engineer, who notes that the search for extraterrestrial intelligence -- SETI -- is in its 50th year. http://phys.org/news253988373.html Space & Earth Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:19:47 EST news253988373 Several times a year, the International Space Station needs to perform Debris Avoidance Maneuvers to dodge the ever-growing amount of space junk hurtling around in Earth orbit. Additionally, our increased dependence on satellites for communications and navigation is threatened by the risk of potential collisions with space debris. The existing system for finding and tracking objects, the Air Force Space Surveillance System, or VHF Fence, has been in service since the early 1960s, and is sorely out of date. But a prototype system called Space Fence has now been tested in a series of demonstrations, and successfully tracked more and smaller pieces of debris than the current system. http://phys.org/news250505426.html Space & Earth Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:50:45 EST news250505426 A new research program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute seeks to define the next-generation of low-orbit satellites that are more maneuverable, cheaper to launch, easier to hide, and longer lived. Additionally, this research holds the promise of guiding dead satellites and other space debris more safely to the Earth’s surface. http://phys.org/news249638502.html Space & Earth Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:20:01 EST news249638502 Two spacewalking astronauts moved a construction crane outside the International Space Station on Thursday, a cumbersome job that took so long they scrapped hanging shields to protect against space junk. http://phys.org/news248634923.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:15:33 EST news248634923 (AP) -- Two astronauts aboard the International Space Station are taking a spacewalk. http://phys.org/news248609618.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:13:52 EST news248609618 (PhysOrg.com) -- The proliferation of debris orbiting the Earth – primarily jettisoned rocket and satellite components – is an increasingly pressing problem for spacecraft, and it can generate huge costs. To combat this scourge, the Swiss Space Center at EPFL is announcing today the launch of CleanSpace One, a project to develop and build the first installment of a family of satellites specially designed to clean up space debris. http://phys.org/news248600795.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 Feb 2012 08:20:01 EST news248600795 "Well, here it is," said aerospace engineer William Ailor as he paused next to the hulking metal shells arrayed along the plaza outside a visitor entrance at Aerospace Corp.'s El Segundo, Calif., headquarters. http://phys.org/news246733893.html Space & Earth Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:50:01 EST news246733893 The United States pledged Tuesday to join an EU-led effort to develop a space "code of conduct" that would set rules for orbiting spacecraft and for mitigating the growing problem of orbiting debris. http://phys.org/news246046102.html Space & Earth Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:08:32 EST news246046102 (AP) -- A failed Russian probe designed to travel to a moon of Mars but stuck in Earth orbit will come crashing down within hours, likely in a shower of fragments that survive the fiery re-entry. http://phys.org/news245836721.html Space & Earth Sun, 15 Jan 2012 07:59:17 EST news245836721 After spending more than 240 days "sailing" around the Earth, NASA's NanoSail-D -- a nanosatellite that deployed NASA's first-ever solar sail in low-Earth orbit -- has successfully completed its Earth orbiting mission. http://phys.org/news241862255.html Space & Earth Wed, 30 Nov 2011 07:57:58 EST news241862255 As Russia's space agency struggled Thursday to fix a probe bound for a moon of Mars that instead got stuck in Earth's orbit, some experts said the chances of saving the $170 million craft looked slim. http://phys.org/news240118916.html Space & Earth Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:42:22 EST news240118916 Imagine yourself as an astronaut performing scientific experiments and crowd-stunning aerobatics. Suddenly, ear-stinging, blaring alarms go off. Mission Control radios that all space station personnel should evacuate to the rescue vehicles because a piece of deadly space debris is headed your way. http://phys.org/news239616904.html Space & Earth Fri, 04 Nov 2011 09:40:01 EST news239616904 A German satellite the size of a car re-entered the Earth's atmosphere Sunday over the Gulf of Bengal, but it was not known if any debris hit the Earth, the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) said on Tuesday. http://phys.org/news238744711.html Space & Earth Tue, 25 Oct 2011 06:58:41 EST news238744711 A bus-sized US satellite that hurtled unpredictably toward Earth crossed over Africa and the northern Atlantic before likely plunging into the Pacific Ocean off California, NASA said on Saturday. http://phys.org/news236100049.html Space & Earth Sat, 24 Sep 2011 16:21:11 EST news236100049 A decommissioned NASA satellite, the biggest piece of US space junk to fall in 30 years, has crash-landed but the precise location is not yet known, the US space agency said early Saturday. http://phys.org/news236057047.html Space & Earth Sat, 24 Sep 2011 04:24:28 EST news236057047 A six-ton satellite hurtled toward Earth on Friday, and NASA admitted it had little idea where the biggest piece of US space junk in 30 years will crash into the planet. http://phys.org/news235986118.html Space & Earth Fri, 23 Sep 2011 08:42:10 EST news235986118 Dr. William Schonberg says academia is cool because you usually get to research what you're really curious about. As chair of civil, architectural and environmental engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, Schonberg, when he has time, likes to study high-speed impacts - specifically, those that could be caused by space debris. http://phys.org/news235974501.html Space & Earth Fri, 23 Sep 2011 05:28:50 EST news235974501 (AP) -- NASA scientists are doing their best to tell us where a plummeting six-ton satellite will fall later this week. It's just that if they're off a little bit, it could mean the difference between hitting Florida or landing on New York. Or, say, Iran or India. http://phys.org/news235747336.html Space & Earth Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:22:39 EST news235747336 A 20-year-old satellite that measured the ozone layer is expected to crash back to Earth late next week, but NASA said it still does not know where it will fall. http://phys.org/news235449758.html Space & Earth Sat, 17 Sep 2011 03:42:54 EST news235449758 NASA says one of its dead satellites will soon fall to Earth but there's very little chance that it will hit someone. http://phys.org/news234705176.html Space & Earth Thu, 08 Sep 2011 12:53:15 EST news234705176 "Contact" star Jodie Foster was among donors helping to revive the 42 radio telescope dishes at a key California institute searching for extraterrestrial life, the group said Tuesday. http://phys.org/news232775066.html Space & Earth Wed, 17 Aug 2011 04:44:42 EST news232775066 Russia and its partners plan to plunge the International Space Station (ISS) into the ocean at the end of its life cycle after 2020 so as not to leave space junk, its space agency said Wednesday. http://phys.org/news230986771.html Space & Earth Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:20:01 EST news230986771 Now that the space shuttle is retired, NASA and space agencies around the world will focus on the International Space Station for the rest of this decade - and cross their fingers that it lasts that long. http://phys.org/news230820069.html Space & Earth Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:30:01 EST news230820069 A piece of Soviet space debris is not likely to collide with the International Space Station after all, and astronauts have moved ahead with restocking the orbiting lab, NASA said Monday. http://phys.org/news229597556.html Space & Earth Mon, 11 Jul 2011 10:06:17 EST news229597556 NASA is tracking a piece of Soviet space debris that could collide with the International Space Station, the US space agency said Sunday after the shuttle Atlantis docked on its final mission. http://phys.org/news229572430.html Space & Earth Mon, 11 Jul 2011 03:07:44 EST news229572430 A piece of space debris narrowly missed the International Space Station on Tuesday in a rare incident that forced the six-member crew to scramble to their rescue craft, space agency officials said. http://phys.org/news228473990.html Space & Earth Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:00:08 EST news228473990 All space missions have one inescapable dependency: the electricity flowing through their systems to keep them alive. Take away its power and a spacecraft is nothing more than space debris – an eventuality the space power professionals strive to avoid. http://phys.org/news226229072.html Space & Earth Thu, 02 Jun 2011 10:24:50 EST news226229072 A team of researchers from the Royal Institute and Observatory of the Navy (ROA) in Cadiz (Spain) has developed a method to track the movement of geostationary objects using the position of the stars, which could help to monitor space debris. The technique can be used with small telescopes and in places that are not very dark. http://phys.org/news225710978.html Space & Earth Fri, 27 May 2011 10:29:56 EST news225710978 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's nanosatellite NanoSail-D is slowly descending after successfully orbiting the Earth's upper atmosphere for 95 days since deploying its 100-square-foot sail on Jan. 20. The small satellite demonstration experiment continues its descent towards Earth, lending key sail data to the design of de-orbit mechanisms for future satellites. http://phys.org/news223121151.html Space & Earth Wed, 27 Apr 2011 11:40:13 EST news223121151