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Sun unleashes four potent solar flares

Agence France-PresseMay 15, 2013 19:15

The Sun has unleashed four potent solar flares this week, marking the most intense activity yet this year and causing limited interruptions to high-frequency radio communications. One of them was classified as an X3.2 flare, with X-class flares being the most intense type, the US space agency said. "This is the strongest X-class flare of 2013 so far, surpassing in strength the two X-class flares that occurred earlier in the 24-hour period," NASA said of the flare that peaked at 0111 GMT Tuesday. A fourth X-class flare peaked at 0148 GMT on Wednesday, NASA said.

Ghana's nascent space program aims to launch Coke-sized model of satellite

The Canadian PressMay 15, 2013 11:00

KOFORIDUA, Ghana - Their goal might not sound like much: The college students plan Wednesday to launch a tiny model of a satellite the size of a Coke can a mere 200 yards (meters) into the air. Yet in this developing West African country that recently launched the Ghana Space Science and Technology Center, ambitious organizers hope it's a sign of things to come.

ESO image shows turbulent birth of stars

Agencia EFEMay 2, 2013 12:15

Berlin, May 2 (EFE).- The European Southern Observatory, or ESO, released an image Thursday that shows the anarchy that occurs inside an interstellar cloud when stars form. The image was captured by the 1.54-meter Danish telescope at the ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile and shows the intense activity inside an interstellar cloud.

Space debris problem now urgent - scientists

Agence France-PresseApril 25, 2013 12:46

Governments must start working urgently to remove orbital debris, which could become a catastrophic problem for satellites a few decades from now, a space science conference heard on Thursday. Since 1978, the total of junk items whizzing around the planet has tripled, said Heiner Klinkrad, head of the European Space Agency's Space Debris Office. "There is a wide and strong expert consensus on the pressing need to act now to begin debris removal activities," he said in an ESA press release at the end of a four-day conference in Darmstadt, Germany.

Mysterious water on Jupiter came from comet smash

Agence France-PresseApril 23, 2013 07:47

Enigmatic traces of water in the upper atmosphere of Jupiter came from a comet that crashed into the giant planet in 1994, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Tuesday. Astronomers have been debating the water for 15 years after telltale molecules were spotted by an infrared telescope. Some argued the water brewed up from lower levels of the gassy planet, but others said it could not have crossed a "cold barrier" separating the stratosphere from the cloud level below.

CORRECTED: Dutch reality show seeks one-way astronauts for Mars

Agence France-PresseApril 22, 2013 17:00

Are you crazy enough to sign up for a one-way trip to Mars? Applications are being accepted by the makers of a Dutch reality show that says it will deliver the first humans to the red planet in 10 years. The main requirements are strong health, good people and survival skills, being 18 or older, and having a reasonable grasp of the English language. The company, called "Mars One," aims to land its first four astronauts in 2023 for a televised reality show that would follow the exploits of the first humans to attempt to establish a colony on Mars.

Dutch reality show seeks one-way astronauts for Mars

Agence France-PresseApril 22, 2013 13:46

Orbital Sciences delays launch of Antares rocket

Agence France-PresseApril 20, 2013 18:15

Orbital Sciences, one of two private US firms chosen by NASA to shuttle cargo to the International Space Station, delayed a bid Saturday to launch a first test flight of its Antares rocket. Launch was rescheduled for Sunday at 5:00 pm (2100 GMT) from the Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia state's Eastern Shore. "Excessive wind levels have caused mission managers to delay the launch attempt today of Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket," NASA said on its website. "The high-altitude wind speeds exceed range safety restrictions."

Astronomers find most Earth-like planets yet

Agence France-PresseApril 18, 2013 17:18

Using a potent NASA space telescope to scan the skies for planets like ours where life might exist, astronomers said Thursday they have found the most Earth-like candidates yet. Two of the five planets orbiting a sun-like star called Kepler-62 are squarely in what astronomers call the habitable zone -- not too hot, not too cold and possibly bearing water, researchers said in the journal Science. "These two are our best candidates that might be habitable," said William Borucki, Kepler science principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center.

Astronomers find most Earth-like planets yet

Agence France-PresseApril 18, 2013 14:31

Using a potent NASA space telescope to scan the skies for planets like ours where life may exist, astronomers said Thursday they have found the most Earth-like candidates yet. Two of the five planets orbiting a Sun-like star called Kepler-62 are squarely in the habitable zone -- not too hot, not too cold and possibly bearing water, NASA scientists reported in the journal Science. "These are the most similar objects to Earth that we have found yet," said Justin Crepp, assistant professor of physics at the University of Notre Dame.