Category: Points of Information

And are we supposed to be happy? NASA is going to give the last shuttle external tank a send off ceremony when they roll it out for shipment by barge to the Cape on July 8.

Always remember: science is doubt! Since the 1970s, most oceanographers have favored the theory that past ice ages on Earth were caused by the switching on and off of a global ocean conveyor belt. Now, that decades-old theory is being questioned.

Another chance to travel on Mars. JPL has published a nice annotated image of that Opportunity panorama I noted yesterday, detailing the specific features of the Endeavor crater now visible on the horizon.

It appears there may be a problem with the Dawn spacecraft.

Check out this impressive footage of a night time test of the U.S. THAAD interceptor missile. The system works! Unfortunately, the new space policy of the Obama administration will probably end the program. I will have more to say about that tomorrow.

The first image of an extrasolar planet, originally taken in 2008, has been confirmed. Scientists needed to track the object for the last two years to prove that it actually is in orbit around its sunlike star.

After their successful first launch several weeks ago, the Dragon capsule and upper stage of Falcon 9 fell back to Earth over the weekend.

The first solar sail finally flies. The Japanese have activated Ikaros and are beginning actual flight tests.

The space war between Congress and the President over space continues.

Japanese scientists have taken their first look inside the Hayabusa capsule. So far, they’ve detected some unidentified gas, but no particles bigger than 1 millimeter.

On Sunday, Deep Impact flies past Earth to give it a boost so that it can rendezvous with another comet on Nov 4, 2010.

India has joined the Thirty Meter Telescope Project. This is important as it shows how much India is becoming a first world nation. It also indicates that nation’s continuing passion for all things space-related. Also, the Thirty Meter Telescope (with a mirror the size of a football field!) is cool on its own.