If you’d begun to build a fallout shelter to protect you from the incoming failed Russian probe Phobos-Grunt and it’s potential Australian crash site, rest easy. The $US165 million spacecraft crashed back to earth yesterday, landing in the Pacific ocean off the coast of Chile. More »
Oh joy. Phobos-Grunt, that failed Mars moon soil probe launched in November, is set to re-enter the atmosphere sometime between January 6 and 9 – packed with tonnes of explosive hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide chemical fuel. Oh, and total battery failure has it charted to fall between latitudes 51.4 degrees north and 51.4 degrees south – an area spanning all of Australia (but also Africa, Japan and parts of North America and Western Europe). More »
Designer Chris Abbas collected a ton of Cassini photography from the Saturn mission and made this video. It is at times simultaneously eerie and awe-inspiring. This is not your father’s NASA highlight reel. More »
Until today, NASA was only able to directly view the Earth-facing side of the Sun. We could see solar storms as they happened, but not necessarily as they developed. Now, thanks to STEREO, we can see all sides simultaneously. More »
As recently as September scientists were perplexed about a strange, unexplained acceleration affecting the Pioneer spacecraft. Measurements didn’t match up. Heads were scratched. New physics were excited hypothesized. Let’s pump the brakes a moment, though, shall we? More »
newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http://www.youtube.com/v/U5VfYDYL3rA&hl=en&fs=1&hd=1","customParams":[] ,"width":500,"height":332.5,"ratio":0.615,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube","wrap":true,"agegate":false} );In November, the Cassini probe got very, very close to Hyperion, one of Saturns many moons. These 61 frames comprise a fly-by movie of the moon. Defrost the thing and add some sour cream and it’s good enough to eat! More »
On Friday, sometime around 9pm AEST, China sent a probe the moon. More »
