Astronomy

A piece of Chinese space junk expected to zoom by the International Space Station Thursday will pass harmlessly by, NASA officials said after scrambling to determine whether the six people aboard the outpost would have to take shelter in their Russian lif

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA mission controllers have not heard from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit since March 22, and the rover is facing its toughest challenge yet -- trying to survive the harsh Martian winter.

Technology has brought such rapid changes to the world in the past decade that it's hard to fathom what inventions will change lives in the coming 10 or 20 years.

by Staff Writers Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 29, 2010 Hundreds of extrasolar planets have been found over the past decade and a half, most of them solitary worlds orbiting their parent star in seeming isolation.

Astronomers have found two extrasolar planetary systems with gas giant planets locked in an orbital embrace. In one system -- a planetary pair orbiting the massive, dying star HD 200964, located roughly 223 light-years from Earth -- the intimate dance is