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The jet plane GlobalFlyer, in which Steve Fossett (of global ballooning fame) plans to fly non-stop around the world without refueling may try the feat early next year. The jet has been designed by Burt Rutan, the man behind the first private spacecraft, SpaceShipOne.

Virgin Atlantic boss Sir Richard Branson is the backer of the GlobalFlyer. He is the reserve pilot for the flight, even though he does not have his pilot's license.

The Cassini-Huygens mission in orbit around Saturn has discovered two new moons around the ringed planet. The new discoveries bump up Saturn's count of natural satellites to 33! The two new satellites are still unnamed, and are very small.

Dr Nuno Santos, of the University of Lisbon, speaking at the EuroScience Open Forum in Stockholm, Sweden, announced the discovery of what he described as the smallest Earth-like planet orbiting a star outside our Solar System. The discovery was made using the Harps spectrograph on the European Southern Observatory's at La Silla, Chile.

The planet is about 14 times the size of Earth – too small to be a gas giant - and is close enough to the star that it is unlikely to be icy. Mu Arae is located about 50 light-years from Earth, so NASA has not yet announced any plans for a mission.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jseal

The Rocsat-2 spacecraft has been in orbit for two months and is studying high-altitude phenomena.

For many years, reports of red streamers, blue jets and strange diffuse glows seen in the upper reaches of the atmosphere were not taken seriously - rather like sailors’ stories of sea monsters. Over the past 10 years or so videos taken from high-altitude aircraft and the space shuttle have persuaded people that that they may be real.

The phenomena are difficult to study as they occur between 50km and 100km up, too high for most aircraft and too low for satellites. To study them, the Taiwanese government built the Rocsat-2 (Republic of China Satellite 2), which includes a sensor built to gather information about the lights.

The first image was returned on July. It showed red sprites - short fluorescent "tubes" glowing like neon lights - reaching to the ionosphere. Another image showed a brilliant lightning flash with a trio of red sprites above it and a sprite halo encircling it.

No obvious benefits here, just basic science.

This is interesting. Do you have a link to this? Do they have images posted anywhere?

Thank you very much Darlin! :x:

The Genesis probe, which left Earth in 2001 to gather particles blown off the Sun, is scheduled to eject a capsule containing its cargo today.

The reentry vehicle should fall over Utah, and pilots are to snatch the parachute in midair to prevent the capsule hitting the ground.

Scientists hope the particles of solar wind can tell them about the evolution of the Sun and the planets.

University of London scientists have found a new ring around Saturn and possibly two new "moons".

The Genesis probe didn't go so well. A bit of a hard landing.

So I understand. And wouldn't you know it, but Prof. Pillinger (of Beagle fame) was in line to analyze some of the samples. Space has been unkind to Dr. Pillinger of late.

NASA now claims that some material has been found still intact inside of what was left of the Genesis space capsule.

I'm glad for that. Hopefully not all was lost.

The first direct image of a planet circling another star may have been obtained by a US-European team of astronomers working at the Very Large Telescope facility operated by the European Southern Observatory in Chile.

The planet, a gas giant like Jupiter, is orbiting a star 230 light-years away. I’ll take them at their word, but I have to admit that it strains my credulity that they are able to do this.

Authorities in Cambridge, England are trying to find the vandal who spray-painted the chemical notation of a molecule of guanine on the road near where the double helix structure of DNA was unveiled. Guanine is one of the amino acids found in DNA.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/...ire/3661972.stm