NASA scientists said Thursday the launch of its Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft in about two weeks could yield a potential “home run” in space exploration.
The new rover Curiosity, bigger and better than its predecessors, is at the forefront of NASA’s effort to investigate Mars for the possibility of habitable life.
New clues about early star formation are putting a twinkle in astronomers’ eyes this week.
Researchers have discovered clouds of primordial gas from 2 billion years after the Big Bang that confirm what had only been theorized: that early star formations consisted only of the three lightest elements on the periodic table. The study is published in the journal Science.
"NASA salutes our country's veterans this Veteran's Day 2011.
In today's image, John Young, astronaut and Navy veteran, salutes the U.S. flag at the Descartes landing site during the first Apollo 16 extravehicular activity (EVA-1). Young, commander of the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, jumps up from the lunar surface as astronaut and Air Force veteran, Charles M. Duke Jr., lunar module pilot, took this picture.
The Lunar Module (LM) 'Orion' is on the left. The Lunar Roving Vehicle is parked beside the LM. The object behind Young in the shade of the LM is the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph. Stone Mountain dominates the background in this lunar scene."
Source: NASA