News tagged with earth orbit

Related topics: international space station , space , launch , nasa

Image: Carpenter's Flight

50 years ago today, Scott Carpenter flew the second American manned orbital flight on May 24, 1962.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 25, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Hinode witnesses solar eclipse

(Phys.org) -- Spectacular images from the Hinode spacecraft show the solar eclipse, which darkened the sky in parts of the Western United States and Southeast Asia yesterday.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 23, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Commercial rocket will fly to the space station

For the first time, a private company will launch a rocket to the International Space Station, sending it on a grocery run this weekend that could be the shape of things to come for America's space program.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 17, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1

Asteroid 2012 KA to buzz Earth on May 17

On the heels of a bus-sized asteroid that passed harmlessly between Earth and the orbit of the Moon on May 13, another asteroid between 4.5 and 10 meters (14-33 feet) wide will buzz by at about the same distance ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

NASA survey counts potentially hazardous asteroids

(Phys.org) -- Observations from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have led to the best assessment yet of our solar system's population of potentially hazardous asteroids. The results reveal ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 17, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

UK company to build Sun orbiter

The European Space Agency said on Friday it had awarded a 300-million-euro ($400 million) contract to a British technology firm to build a satellite to examine the Sun from closer up than any before it.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Apr 27, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 3

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter brings 'earthrise' to everyone

Imagine yourself in orbit, your spacecraft flying backward with its small window facing down toward the surface of the moon. You peer out, scouring the ash-colored contours of the cratered landscape for traces of ancient ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Apr 19, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Finding ET may require giant robotic leap

(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, ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Apr 18, 2012 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (7) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

The earth is not at rest

(Phys.org) -- The Earth is not at rest. It orbits the Sun, which in turn orbits the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, which in turn moves within the Local Group of Galaxies - a collection of about fifty four ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Apr 18, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (19) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Newfangled space-propulsion technology could help clean up Earth orbit

(Phys.org) -- Some of the most valuable “real estate” for humans isn’t on Earth at all but rather above the planet’s atmosphere, where all manner of human-made objects orbit. The problem ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Apr 11, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (18) | comments 13 | with audio podcast

'Tidal Venuses' may have been wrung out to dry

Earth-sized exoplanets within a distant star’s habitable zone could still be very much uninhabitable, depending on potential tidal stresses — either past or present — that could have "squeezed ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Mar 29, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Getting to the moon on drops of fuel: An ionic motor for small satellites

The first prototype of a new, ultra-compact motor that will allow small satellites to journey beyond Earth's orbit is just making its way out of the EPFL laboratories where it was built. The goal of the micro motor: to drastically ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 29, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (12) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Jupiter helps Halley's Comet give us more spectacular meteor displays

(PhysOrg.com) -- The dramatic appearance of Halley's comet in the night sky has been observed and recorded by astronomers since 240 BC. Now a study shows that the orbital influences of Jupiter on the comet ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 27, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (6) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

SpaceX, NASA readies for April 30 launch to ISS

Preparations for the April 30 launch of the SpaceX's Dragon commercial spacecraft to the International Space Station are underway without major problems, a top NASA official said Tuesday.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 20, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (7) | comments 1

Maglev track could launch spacecraft into orbit

(PhysOrg.com) -- With the aim to make it easier to launch spacecraft into low Earth orbit (LEO), two researchers have turned to maglev technology to catapult a payload hundreds of miles above the Earth. While ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 13, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (58) | comments 37 | with audio podcast report