Scientists conducting a series of experiments on the International Space Station say that some micro-organisms can survive for long periods exposed to the hostile environment of outer space. The findings, published in theAstrobiology Journal, lend weight to the concept of panspermia, where life on Earth emerged from bacterial colonies transported on comets and asteroids. The […]
A manned mission to Mars doesn’t just depend on overcoming technological hurdles. With no magnetic field and only a thin atmosphere, the surface of Mars is exposed to much greater amounts of radiation than the surface of the Earth. Quantifying the health risks to astronauts from this radiation has been difficult, but thanks to the […]
\ When ISON failed to reappear after its close encounter with the Sun on Thanksgiving, NASA scientists thought it had disintegrated completely. Passing less than a million miles above the surface of the Sun would have exposed the comet to temperatures over 2,000 Celsius. However, a bright streak observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory […]
As the Russian service module “Zvezda” nears its July 25 rendezvous with the International Space Station, stargazers and space enthusiasts can track the progress of construction on the ambitious space research facility. And they can do it with the naked eye. A new Web site developed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., […]
