NASA’s new Orion spacecraft completes first spaceflight test

NASA’s new Orion spacecraft completes first spaceflight test

NASA marked a major milestone today on its journey to Mars as the Orion spacecraft completed its first voyage to space, traveling farther than any spacecraft designed for astronauts has been in more than 40 years.“Today’s flight test of Orion is a huge step

High-resolution geological map of asteroid Vesta published

High-resolution geological map of asteroid Vesta published

Images from NASA's Dawn Mission have been used to create a series of high-resolution geological maps of the large asteroid Vesta, revealing the variety of surface features in unprecedented detail. These maps are included with a series of 11 scientific papers publish

Rocket experiment redefines what scientists think of as galaxies

Rocket experiment redefines what scientists think of as galaxies

NASA's sounding rocket experiment has detected a surprising surplus of infrared light in the dark space between galaxies, a diffuse cosmic glow as bright as all known galaxies combined. The glow is thought to be from orphaned stars flung out of galaxies. The finding

NuSTAR discovers first ultraluminous pulsar, impossibly bright dead star

NuSTAR discovers first ultraluminous pulsar, impossibly bright dead star

Astronomers working with NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) have found a pulsating dead star beaming with the energy of about 10 million suns. The object, previously thought to be a black hole because it is so powerful, is in fact a pulsar – the

Smallest exoplanet found to have water vapour

Smallest exoplanet found to have water vapour

The smallest exoplanet (about the size of Neptune) HAT-P-11b have been discovered to have clear skies and steamy water vapors as observed by astronomers using data from three of NASA's space telescopes – Hubble, Spitzer and Kepler.John Grunsfeld, assistant administr

MAVEN returns its first Mars observations

MAVEN returns its first Mars observations

Just after arrival, NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN), the first spacecraft sent to explore the tenuous upper atmosphere of Mars, has started working on it's mission. Within 24 hours of being placed in the Red Planet's orbit, the spacec

Monster black hole lurking inside one of the tiniest galaxies ever known

Monster black hole lurking inside one of the tiniest galaxies ever known

A supermassive blackhole has been found inside the tiniest galaxy ever found, the M60-UCD1, located about 54 million light years away from Earth. Researchers used NASA’s Hubble and the Gemini North 8-meter optical and infrared telescope on Hawaii to observe and

An anomaly in satellites’ flybys baffles scientists

An anomaly in satellites’ flybys baffles scientists

Scientists have found anomalies in the speed of space probes such as Rosetta and Cassini, as they fly over certain planets, something they haven't been able to explain. Noticed for the first time during a careful inspection of DSN Doppler data shortly after the Eart

India’s first Mars satellite ‘Mangalyaan’ enters orbit

India’s first Mars satellite ‘Mangalyaan’ enters orbit

India's first interplanetary mission to planet Mars, Mars Orbiter Mission, arrived in the Martian orbit on September 24, 2014 making India the first nation to enter the Mars's orbit in it’s first attempt and the first Asian nation to reach the Red planet.I