News

• NASA: Initial Discovery tasks slowed by broken antenna

  The malfunctioning Ku-Band antenna on the NASA space shuttle Discovery has forced crew members to seek new ways to complete scheduled tasks just a day into the crew's 13-day mission.

• In Pictures: 21 critical future NASA missions

  A huge task: While NASA's 2011 budget got a lot of attention for what it cut – the Constellation program mostly – it does include funding for a ton of other critical satellite and robotic missions.

• NASA: Key antenna fails as Discovery enters orbit

  After a successful launch early this morning, NASA officials later discovered a snag when the space shuttle Discovery entered its orbit around the earth.

• NASA listens for signs of life from Mars Lander

  Ever hopeful, NASA engineers are trying once again to listen for contact from the robotic Phoenix Mars Lander, which is feared frozen to death on the Red Planet.

• NASA's Mars rover starts to think for itself

  After seven years of working on the surface of Mars, NASA's Mars rover Opportunity has been upgraded to allow it to make some of its own decisions.

• Hot space projects produce cool cosmic discoveries

  Big Bang: In the past month or so there has been a plethora of wicked cool discoveries coming from NASA satellites and space-watching missions across the globe. Never-before-seen photos of Jupiter's Great Red Spot, Mars moon Phobos, black hole formation and a new exoplanet are just a few of the amazing images. In an effort to keep up with these rapid-fire discoveries, we have gathered together 15 of the coolest images of these hot space projects.

• NASA, cosmos community turn up volume on International Space Station

  While NASA budget-keepers focus on setting future priorities for the space agency, many in the world space community is trying to turn attention to the benefits a mostly complete International Space Station will provide global science.

• NASA space shuttle gearing up for big phase out

  While politicians banter about NASA’s budget and the future of manned space flight, the space agency is prepping the critical technology its remaining four space shuttle missions will deliver to complete the International Space Station.

• Obama to defend new NASA mission at April summit

  In an effort to curb rising resistance in Congress to a new NASA strategy, President Barack Obama will hold a summit next month to explain his vision for America's future in space.

• NASA to build two $45m space antennae in Canberra

  NASA will build two $45 million Beam Wave Guide Antennae at the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex to help track space vehicles.

• NASA: Astronauts raise curtain on space station's new view

  Early this morning, NASA astronauts "raised the curtain" on a set of windows with the best view of the world the International Space Station has to offer.

• Twitter to Major Tom: NASA lets public tweet astronauts

  Ever wanted to ask an orbiting astronaut what it's really like up there? Is the food any good? Can you sleep well in zero-g? And, of course, is that urine recycler still acting up?

• NASA building cloud service for climate modeling

  NASA is aiming to improve its climate research capabilities by creating a software-as-a-service interface for scientists and students who need to build complex climate models.

• NASA abandons Mars rover rescue efforts

  After six years roaming across and working on Mars, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has been deemed permanently stuck in dirt on the planet's surface.

• Hello? Hello? NASA's Mars Lander remains silent

  All was silent this week as NASA listened intently for signs of life from its long-frozen robotic Lander, sitting in the cold and dark near the northern pole of Mars.