Archive for July 2005

Active Icy Volcanism on Enceladus

Saturday, July 30th, 2005

The Earth has it, Io has it, and now a third world can be added to list. I’m talking about active volcanism. The Cassini spacecraft finds active icy volcanism reshaping the surface of Saturn’s tiny moon Enceladus and spewing water vapor and ice particles into Saturn’s E-ring. What a day for planetary science!
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Cassini Confirms Active Enceladus

Friday, July 29th, 2005

The tiny moon orbiting Saturn named Enceladus has become the third body in the solar system known to have current volcanic activity driven by internal heating, after Earth and Jupiter’s moon Io. The [...]


New Planet Discovered in Our Solar System

Friday, July 29th, 2005

The discovery of a tenth planet orbiting our Sun was announced today by Dr. Michael E. Brown of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, USA. The planet is at least the [...]


“The Spaceship Company” Formed

Thursday, July 28th, 2005

Burt Rutan and Sir Richard Branson have agreed to form a new company to build new sub-orbital spacecraft for the emerging personal spaceflight industry. “The Spaceship Company” will [...]


The Great Frontiers of Exploration

Thursday, July 28th, 2005

The soft blue pool of light in claustrophobic darkness, the white and crème-colored towers of limestone, the shimmer of hot fluids mixing with cold sea water, the occasional life form swimming back - [...]


SMART-1 Snaps Image of Hadley Rille on the Moon

Wednesday, July 27th, 2005

The European Space Agency’s SMART-1 spacecraft continues to capture images of the Moon in a mission to test new technologies and return new data about our nearest celestial neighbor. [...]


Microsoft Windows Vista Beta 1 Announced

Wednesday, July 27th, 2005

Microsoft is making available the first beta of their new operating system, to be called Windows Vista. Windows Vista is expected to be available near the end of [...]


More Lost City Images

Wednesday, July 27th, 2005

Researchers have been busy exploring the Lost City Hydrothermal Field today. New image stills captured from the mission’s live Internet video feed reveal tall chimneys of calcium carbonate looming in the deep and [...]


Space Shuttle Fleet Grounded

Wednesday, July 27th, 2005

NASA grounded the remaining space shuttle fleet today after video of yesterday’s Discovery launch revealed that a large piece of insulation foam had fallen off the fuel tank. The debris did not hit [...]


Successful Launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery

Tuesday, July 26th, 2005

NASA’s Space Shuttle Discovery successfully launched this morning from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. The return to flight comes 2 ½ years after the Space Shuttle disaster claimed the lives of seven astronauts returning to Earth after a successful mission.
The liftoff occurred at 10:39 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The return to flight has been [...]