Space News | MNN - Mother Nature Network

Wimpy comet to visit solar system soon

Tue, May 10, 2011 12:28 PM by Space.com

The comet Elenin, first discovered last fall, will be making a visit to the inner solar system and near Earth soon.

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NASA sets new Endeavour launch date for May 16

Tue, May 10, 2011 12:07 PM by Space.com

After more than a week of testing and repairs on the space shuttle Endeavour, NASA has officially set the space shuttle's last launch date.

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MISSION TO MARS: The Red Rocks mission to the Martian moon Deimos has been blueprinted as a stepping stone to planting human boots on Mars. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)

White House: China is potential partner in future Mars exploration

Sun, May 08, 2011 5:57 PM by Space.com

President Barack Obama views China as a potential partner for an eventual human mission to Mars. Any manned Mars spacecraft voyage would likely require international cooperation.

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Planetary system around a sun similar to Earth's

NASA shortlists 3 ambitious planetary missions for 2016 launch

Fri, May 06, 2011 2:53 PM by Space.com

Missions to explore seas on Saturn's moon Titan, the interior of Mars and land on a comet are the main candidates for a 2016 launch.

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U.S. Postal Service Vice President Stephen Masse, left, and Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter, right, unveil new stamps honoring first American in space Alan Shepard and NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft. CREDIT: collectSPACE/Robert Z. Pearlman

New U.S. stamps honor astronaut Alan Shepard and Mission to Mercury

Thu, May 05, 2011 8:08 PM by Space.com

The historic first American spaceflight by astronaut Alan Shepard and NASA's Messenger Mercury mission are being honored as the faces of new U.S. postage stamps.

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WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW: A mock-up of the bathroom on the space shuttle at Johnson Space Center in Texas. (Photo: Stephanie Pappas)

How to boost interest in space: Talk about poop

Thu, May 05, 2011 7:32 PM by LiveScience

Author Mary Roach talks about her book "Packing for Mars" and all the weird adjustments that have to be made to keep humans alive in space. It's the dirty details that are key, she says, to getting the public interested in space travel.

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Artist's concept of Gravity Probe B spacecraft in orbit around the Earth.

NASA gravity probe confirms two Einstein theories

Thu, May 05, 2011 11:53 AM by Space.com

NASA's Gravity Probe B, orbiting around Earth, has confirmed two key predictions of Albert Einstein's descriptions of how gravity causes masses to warp space-time around them.

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Astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space, poses here in his Mercury flight suit.

Like 'Don Draper in a spacesuit': Q&A with Alan Shepard biographer Neal Thompson

Thu, May 05, 2011 11:19 AM by Space.com

Biographer Neal Thompson talks about Alan Shepard's historic spaceflight as the first American in space.

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NASA at crossroads after 50 years of U.S. spaceflight

Thu, May 05, 2011 10:45 AM by Space.com

On the anniversary of Alan Shepard's first American spaceflight, the United States is at a turning point in space as the space shuttles are retiring and NASA is looking toward commercial spaceships for the future.

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A simulation of the silhouette of planet 55 Cancri e

Alien planet nearly dense as lead

Thu, May 05, 2011 10:17 AM by Space.com

The exoplanet 55 Cancri e is 60 percent larger in diameter than Earth but eight times as massive, making the alien world the densest solid planet known – twice as dense as Earth.

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ONE OF TWO: This spacesuit was worn by Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov during the historic Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, a joint space mission between the U.S. and Soviet Union in 1975. It is one of two spacesuits up for auction in the Bonhams Space History Sale in New York City on May 5, 2011. (Photo: Bonhams)

Space souvenir auction to mark birth of U.S. spaceflight

Wed, May 04, 2011 11:18 AM by Space.com

Bonham's NY is poised to sell off some choice memorabilia this week to mark the 50th anniversary of NASA's first human spaceflight by Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard on May 5, 1961.