Astronomers ready for comet-smashing mission
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NASA and university astronomers are eagerly awaiting the launch of a space probe bound to collide with a comet and give researchers a glimpse inside the solar systemâs icy wanderers.
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Nasa's Deep Impact mission, which will crash a projectile into Comet Tempel 1, is ready for lift-off.
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NASA has is to send a probe on a collision course with a comet&#39;s nucleus to find out more about the composition and history of the bodies.
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Years in the planning, one of the world's most powerful telescopes sees its first light over the weekend. It should be fully operational by next May.
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Dozens of professional telescopes, an army of amateur observers and three Earth-orbiting observatories will be watching July 4 when a Boulder-built NASA spacecraft collides with a comet and sparks celestial fireworks.
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Scientists who have peered through space to a time when light first filled the universe urged NASA on Thursday to ensure a Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission includes a next generation infrared camera.
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Stargazers can catch a spectacular sight if they turn their eyes to the sky tonight. NASA officials say the Geminids will provide the best meteor shower of the year.
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Astronomers  have pieced together what  appears to be the first direct evidence that solar storms can wreak  havoc with comets, destroying the ion tails of icy wanderers&nbsp;in a collision  of highly charged particles.&nbsp;
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A European spaceship is about to crash into the Moon. Amateur astronomers may be able to observe the impact.
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The big, grown-up boys on the NASA team can hardly wait. Next Fourth of July, they get to bust up a comet, Hollywood-style.
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Scientists hope to build a giant âpinhole cameraâ in space to spot planets orbiting distant stars. The New Worlds Imager would be the size of a football field with a 30ft wide hole in the centre.
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If all goes to plan, my research colleagues and I will have front row seats to spectacular New Year fireworks. These are not the artificial bangs and whistles that shoot a few hundred yards into the sky, but the awe-inspiring impact of cosmic dust moving at astronomical speeds. These bits of comet dust travel through space faster than Santa's sled, spanning the distance from Los Angeles to New York in a mere minute and a half. When they hit Earth, the impact of a grain of sand shines so brightly it can be seen for hundreds of miles around. They are called "meteors."
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The European Rosetta mission will sample a comet as it tries to harpoon and hook onto its surface. A specially designed oven will cook the comet in analogy to sniffing for recognizable elements.
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A new spacecraft is being readied to make the fastest, most detailed study yet of the fleeting gamma ray bursts emanating from deep in space.
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Scientists gather to discuss their preferred targets for the next "flagship" mission to another world.
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NASA sets a rocket in motion toward a comet, hoping to gain knowledge of the comet's makeup.
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Scientists are about to get their first really close and revealing look at Titan, the invitingly mysterious giant moon of Saturn. The Cassini spacecraft is