Today's Reuters Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Mars rover landing 'miracle of engineering,' scientists say
Mon,6 Aug 2012 02:54 PM PDT
Reuters -  PASADENA, California (Reuters) - NASA scientists hailed the Mars rover Curiosity's flawless descent and landing as a "miracle of engineering" on Monday as they scanned early images of an ancient crater that may hold clues about whether life took hold on Earth's planetary cousin. The one-ton, six-wheeled laboratory nailed an intricate and risky touchdown late on Sunday, much to the relief and joy of scientists and engineers eager to conduct NASA's first astrobiology mission since the 1970s Viking probes. ...
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Genetic study offers clues to history of North Africa's Jews
Mon,6 Aug 2012 02:12 PM PDT
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - A new genetic analysis has reconstructed the history of North Africa's Jews, showing that these populations date to biblical-era Israel and are not largely the descendants of natives who converted to Judaism, scientists reported on Monday. The study also shows that these Jews form two distinct groups, one of which is more closely related than the other to their European counterparts, reflecting historical migrations. ... Full Story | Top |
Mars rover Curiosity pierces planet's atmosphere to begin descent
Sun,5 Aug 2012 10:31 PM PDT
Reuters - PASADENA, California (Reuters) - The Mars science rover Curiosity streaked into the planet's thin atmosphere on Sunday night and began its descent to the surface in a make-or-break landing attempt that was expected to put the probe on the surface within seven minutes, NASA said. Mission controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles said they hoped to have confirmation shortly after 10:30 p.m. Pacific time Sunday (1:30 a.m. EDT Monday/0530 GMT) that the car-sized rover had landed as planned inside a vast, ancient crater. ... Full Story | Top |
Mars rover Curiosity nears make-or-break landing attempt
Sun,5 Aug 2012 01:27 PM PDT
Reuters -  PASADENA, California (Reuters) - The Mars rover Curiosity, on a quest for signs the Red Planet once hosted ingredients for life, streaked into the home stretch of its eight-month voyage on Sunday nearing a make-or-break landing attempt that NASA calls one of its toughest feats of robotic exploration. Curiosity, the first full-fledged mobile science laboratory sent to a distant world, was scheduled to touch down inside a vast, ancient impact crater on Sunday at 10:31 p.m. Pacific time (1:31 a.m. EDT on Monday). ...
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Ernesto spins west over open sea, seen soaking Jamaica
Sun,5 Aug 2012 05:51 AM PDT
Reuters - MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Ernesto kept on a westerly course in the Caribbean Sea on Sunday, and was expected to strengthen slowly over the next 48 hours, soaking Jamaica as it passes the island on its way to the Yucatan, U.S. forecasters said. Tropical storm conditions were expected to reach Jamaica by Sunday afternoon, and tropical storm conditions were possible along the coast of Honduras by late Monday, the National Hurricane Center said. ... Full Story | Top |
Space weather and the coming storm
Sun,5 Aug 2012 02:39 AM PDT
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - The delicate threads that hold modern life together are dramatically cut by an unexpected threat from outer space, with disastrous effects. It's the stuff of science fiction usually associated with tales of rogue asteroids on a collision course with earth. But over the next two years, as the sun reaches a peak in its 10-year activity cycle, scientists say there is a heightened risk that a whopping solar storm could knock out the power grids, satellites and communications on which we all rely. ... Full Story | Top |
Mars rover Curiosity on target for "eye of the needle" landing
Sat,4 Aug 2012 03:58 PM PDT
Reuters - PASADENA, California (Reuters) - The Mars rover Curiosity, the most sophisticated mobile science lab ever sent to another world, hurtled closer to the Red Planet on Saturday, on track "to fly through the eye of the needle" for a precise, safe landing on Sunday night, NASA officials said. Mission control engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles acknowledge that delivering the one-ton, six-wheeled, nuclear-powered rover in one piece is a highly risky proposition under the best of circumstances. ... Full Story | Top |
Rover to probe whether Mars was life-friendly in the past
Sat,4 Aug 2012 01:19 PM PDT
Reuters -  PASADENA, California (Reuters) - NASA plans to follow up a decade-long search for Mars' lost water with a mission to learn whether the Red Planet once harbored other ingredients necessary for life. The astrobiological hunt begins once the $2.5 billion Mars Science Lab rover Curiosity lands itself beside a towering mountain that rises from the floor of a vast, ancient impact basin called Gale Crater. Touchdown, monitored from mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, is scheduled for 10:31 p.m. Sunday Pacific time (1:31 a.m. EDT on Monday). "It's a big science goal. ...
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Three firms share $1.1 billion of NASA space taxi work
Fri,3 Aug 2012 05:04 PM PDT
Reuters -  PASADENA, California (Reuters) - PASADENA, Calif. Aug 3 (Reuters) - NASA will pay more than $1 billion over the next 21 months to three companies to develop commercial spaceships capable of flying astronauts to the International Space Station, the agency said Friday. The lion's share of the $1.1 billion allotted for the next phase of NASA's so-called ""Commercial Crew" program will be split between Boeing and Space Exploration Technologies, a privately held firm run by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk. ...
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Mars probe heads for complex, self-guided descent to planet surface
Fri,3 Aug 2012 01:50 PM PDT
Reuters -  PASADENA, California (Reuters) - By the time the robotic Mars laboratory dubbed Curiosity streaks into the thin Martian atmosphere at hypersonic speed on Sunday night, the spacecraft will be in charge of its own seven-minute final approach to the surface of the Red Planet. With a 14-minute delay in the time it takes for radio waves from Earth to reach Mars 154 million miles (248 million km) away, NASA engineers will already have given Curiosity the last commands of its eight-month voyage through space. ...
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Bat virus offers insight into deadly Nipah, Hendra
Fri,3 Aug 2012 09:18 AM PDT
Reuters -  HONG KONG (Reuters) - A virus that is very similar to the deadly Nipah and Hendra viruses has been discovered in fruit bats in Australia and researchers are hoping it can help them find ways to fight those highly dangerous cousins. The Nipah virus kills 40-75 percent of the people it infects while the Hendra virus, which normally affects horses, kills more than 50 percent of the people it infects. ...
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India plans space mission to send a satellite to Mars
Fri,3 Aug 2012 06:29 AM PDT
Reuters - NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India plans to send a satellite via an unmanned spacecraft to orbit Mars next year, joining a small group of nations already exploring the red planet, a government scientist said on Friday. A rocket will blast off from the southeastern coast of India, dropping the satellite into deep space, which will then travel onto Mars to achieve orbit, the senior scientist said, asking not to be named because the project is awaiting final approval. ... Full Story | Top |
History littered with failed Mars probes
Thu,2 Aug 2012 03:57 PM PDT
Reuters -  PASADENA, California (Reuters) - NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter was about a week away from wrapping up an 11-month journey to the Red Planet in 1999 when engineers noticed a problem - the spacecraft, designed to study Mars' environment, was not where it was supposed to be. The gap grew alarmingly over the next few days. On September 23, Climate Orbiter began the brake to enter Mars' orbit as planned, but disappeared behind the planet 49 seconds early, severing radio contact with Earth. It was never heard from again. Launching probes to Mars is not for the faint of heart. ...
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Study projects growing demand for commercial spaceflights
Wed,1 Aug 2012 05:20 PM PDT
Reuters -  CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Commercial suborbital spaceflights should bring in between $600 million and $1.6 billion in revenue in their first decade of operations, according to a study commissioned by the U.S. and Florida governments and released on Wednesday. Tourism drives about 80 percent of the demand for suborbital flights, which reach about 63 miles above the planet's surface before plunging back through the atmosphere. The thrill ride gives fliers a few minutes to float in microgravity and a view of the Earth set against the blackness of space. ...
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Scientists skeptical as athletes get all taped up
Wed,1 Aug 2012 10:16 AM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - German beach volleyball player Ilka Semmler wears it on her buttocks - in pink. Swedish handball player Johanna Wiberg prefers it in blue from her knee to her groin. British sprinter Dwain Chambers has even worn it with a Union Jack design. Athletic tape made in every color under the sun seems to be the latest must-have sports injury treatment at London 2012, where athletes may have been influenced by other big name tape fans such as Serena Williams and David Beckham. ...
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