The asteroid Eros, as seen by the NEAR mission. Credit: NASA

From the Spitzer website:

New research from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveals that asteroids somewhat near Earth, termed near-Earth objects, are a mixed bunch, with a surprisingly wide array of compositions. Like a piñata filled with everything from chocolates to fruity candies, these asteroids come in assorted colors and compositions. Some are dark and dull; others are shiny and bright. The Spitzer observations of 100 known near-Earth asteroids demonstrate that the objects' diversity is greater than previously thought.

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Read the rest of Near Earth Asteroids Vary Widely in Composition, Origin (572 words)

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Post tags: Asteroids, Spitzer

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The newly refurbished Hubble Space Telescope has taken a new look at Supernova 1987A and its famous "String of Pearls," a glowing ring 6 trillion miles in diameter encircling the supernova remnant. The sharper and clearer image is allowing astronomers to see the “innards” of the star being ejected into space following the explosion, and comparing it with images taken in 2004 provides a unique glimpse of a young supernova remnant as it evolves through time. They found significant brightening of the object over time, and also evident is how the shock wave from the star’s explosion has expanded and rebounded.
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Read the rest of Supernova Spews Its Guts Across Space (605 words)

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Post tags: Hubble, Supernova 1987A, Supernovae

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Atlantis tribute poster. Credit: NASA

NASA has put out a collection of tribute posters to the Space Shuttle fleet that celebrates the contributions to human space flight of Columbia, Atlantis, Discovery, Challenger and Endeavour. Large versions of these posters now hang in Firing Room 4 of the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Click on each image for a larger version that you can download.

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Read the rest of Downloadable Shuttle Tribute Posters (32 words)

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Post tags: Space Shuttle

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Congratulations to one of our favorite astronauts, Chris Hadfield from Canada. Today NASA and the Canadian Space Agency announced Hadfield will be heading to the International Space Station in 2012, serving as Flight Engineer for Expedition 34, and then transitioning to Commander midway through his 6-month stay when Expedition 35 begins. Hadfield will be the first Canadian to serve as Commander for the ISS. His ebullient style and passion for space exploration — evident in the video above from today's announcement (Hadfield speaks in both French and English, so don't worry if you're not fluent in one or the other) should make for a lively and enlightening time on the ISS.

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Read the rest of Oh Canada! Hadfield Named First Canandian Commander of ISS (298 words)

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Post tags: Canada, Chris Hadfield, international space station, Tom Marshburn

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Congratulations to one of our favorite astronauts, Chris Hadfield from Canada. Today NASA and the Canadian Space Agency announced Hadfield will be heading to the International Space Station in 2012, serving as Flight Engineer for Expedition 34, and then transitioning to Commander midway through his 6-month stay when Expedition 35 begins. Hadfield will be the first Canadian to serve as Commander for the ISS. His ebullient style and passion for space exploration — evident in the video above from today's announcement (Hadfield speaks in both French and English, so don't worry if you're not fluent in one or the other) should make for a lively and enlightening time on the ISS.

(...)
Read the rest of Oh Canada! Hadfield Named First Canadian Commander of ISS (312 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Canada, Chris Hadfield, international space station, Tom Marshburn

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