NASA breaks ground on new communications antenna

NASA has broken ground on the construction of the first new communications antenna since 2003 at its Goldstone, Californa, site, one of three the agency maintains worldwide for communicating with its planetary probes.

There has been a desperate need to both expand and upgrade this network, dubbed the Deep Space Network, for years, a need that will grow even more desperate next year with the addition of two more rovers on Mars.

Impressive radar images of near-Earth asteroid 2007 PA8 were taken during its recent fly-by of Earth.

Impressive radar images of near-Earth asteroid 2007 PA8 were taken during its recent fly-by of Earth.

The images … reveal possible craters, boulders, an irregular, asymmetric shape, and very slow rotation. The asteroid measures approximately one mile wide (about 1.6 kilometers).

The asteroid poses no threat to Earth. The resolution of the images, however, is astonishing, especially considering it was done by radar.