Science/Space news

As temperatures soar, scientists have been collecting data amid the ancient ruins that symbolise the birthplace of western culture. These data, combined with measurements from aircraft and satellites, promise to improve ’urban heat island’ forecasts to make life in modern-day Athens easier during heat waves.

NASA has targeted the next launch attempt for space shuttle Discovery for no earlier than 12:22 a.m. EDT Friday, Aug. 28, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA will hold a briefing at 1 p.m. EDT, Sunday, Aug. 23, to discuss new science experiments using the International Space Station's unique research environment. The briefing will originate from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will be broadcast live on NASA Television.

A successful NASA flight test Monday demonstrated how a spacecraft returning to Earth can use an inflatable heat shield to slow and protect itself as it enters the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.

NASA scientists have discovered glycine, a fundamental building block of life, in samples of comet Wild 2 returned by NASA's Stardust spacecraft.

NASA has assigned the crew for space shuttle mission STS-134 to the International Space Station. The flight will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS, to the station.

NASA and Alliant Techsystems Inc. [ATK] will conduct the first full-scale, full-duration test of the new first-stage solid rocket motor for the Ares I rocket at 1 p.m. MDT, on Tuesday, Aug. 25.

As a result of the latest International Space Station Multi-Lateral Crew Operations Panel (MCOP) recently held in Houston, ESA has today announced that the European crewmember of Expedition 30/31 to fly to the International Space Station in 2011 will be André Kuipers from the Netherlands.

NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program, in coordination with the agency's Office of the Chief Engineer and Office of Human Capital Management, has announced the selection of the 2009 Innovation Ambassadors.

Space shuttle Endeavour and its crew of seven astronauts ended a 16-day journey of more than 6.5 million miles with a 10:48 a.m. EDT landing Friday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the flight, Endeavour delivered the final piece of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and a new crew member to the International Space Station.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) President Keiji Tachikawa signed an agreement defining the terms of cooperation between the agencies on the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. The ceremony took place Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

NASA will honor Apollo astronaut Al Worden with the presentation of an Ambassador of Exploration Award for his contributions to the U.S. space program.

NASA has exercised a $201 million second option on a contract with Wyle to provide continuing support to the Space Life Sciences Directorate at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

Twenty-nine undergraduate and graduate students are participating in a six-week NASA Airborne Science field experience designed to immerse them in NASA's Earth Science research.

Ten years ago, on July 23, 1999, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched aboard the space shuttle Columbia and deployed into orbit. Chandra has doubled its original five-year mission, ushering in an unprecedented decade of discovery for the high-energy universe.

NASA and Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) marked a major milestone on the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the moon, signifying the next steps in space travel to the moon and beyond, as they unveiled the first completed Ares I first stage five-segment solid rocket booster.

Building on nearly a century of exploration, aeronautics research and scientific discovery, NASA's Langley Research Center broke ground today for the first building in its "New Town" program

A NASA panel that investigated the unsuccessful Feb. 24 launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, has completed its report.

A small NASA aircraft completed its first successful science flight Thursday as part of an expedition to study the receding Arctic sea ice and improve understanding of its life cycle and the long-term stability of the Arctic ice cover. The mission continues through July 24.

Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven-member crew launched at 6:03 p.m. EDT Wednesday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission will deliver the final segment to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and a new crew member to the International Space Station.