Monthly Archives: January 2006

Astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) announced today the discovery of an exoplanet only 5.5 times the mass of the Earth orbiting a red dwarf star located near the center of the Milky Way galaxy, some 20,000 light years … Continue reading →

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Earthquake Center has unveiled upgraded technology, 24/7 staffing, and a new website to be rolled out over the next few months in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and a wider call … Continue reading →

Planetary scientists long assumed that the moons of the outer planets were cold, dead, and airless worlds, heavily cratered but otherwise little changed from their original formation. In 1979, Voyager 1, looking back just after its flyby of Jupiter, discovered … Continue reading →

New Horizons was successfully launched today from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA after previous delays due to high winds and power outages. A slight delay today because of high clouds preceded a picture perfect launch. At the moment New … Continue reading →

Update: Launch postponed to Wednesday, January 18, 2006 due to high winds. New Horizons and the Atlas rocket on which it sits were rolled out to their launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA yesterday. Only hours remain … Continue reading →

(Disclosure: Richard Leis is an operations team member located at the University of Arizona for NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE.)) Although the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) … Continue reading →

The first spacecraft mission to the last of the original nine planets in our solar system is schedule for launch on Tuesday, January 17, 2006. New Horizons will begin its journey as the fastest spacecraft ever launched from the Earth. … Continue reading →

Cassini passed within 2,043 kilometers (1,270 miles) of the surface of Titan on Saturday, January 14, 2006 (Pacific Standard Time) in its eleventh targeted flyby (after a more distant flyby a day earlier.) The event heralds a new phase in … Continue reading →

The sample-return capsule from the Stardust spacecraft landed early this morning in Utah, after gliding through the darkness across the West Coast of the United States. Inside the capsule is valuable cargo: the first cometary and interstellar material to be … Continue reading →

The first mission to return cometary material to the Earth is now in its final hours of the mission. The Stardust spacecraft, visitor to Asteroid 5535 Annefrank and Comet Wild 2, crossed the orbit of the Moon yesterday morning and … Continue reading →