Beyond 2012: Why the World Didn't End Beyond 2012: Why the World Didn't End If you're reading this story, it means the world didn't end on Dec. 21, 2012. Despite reports of an ancient Maya prophecy, a mysterious planet on a collision course with Earth, or a reverse in Earth's rotation, we're still here. The Mayan connection "was a misconception from the very beginning," says Dr. John Carlson, director of the Center for Archaeoastronomy. "The Maya calendar did not end on Dec. 21, 2012, and there were no Maya prophecies foretelling the end of the world on that date." › Read More About the Mayans Photojournal: NASA's Image Access Home Page 50 Years of Incredible Space Images From the European Southern Observatory This week marks the 50th anniversary of one of the world’s leading astronomical institutions, the European Southern Observatory. In honor of ESO’s birthday, we take a look at some of its most stunning shots of the night sky, amazing objects in space, and the organization's beautiful telescope facilities. ESO started when astronomers from five European countries – Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden – came together on Oct. 5, 1962 to build a telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. Having a large telescope south of the equator gave these member states access to unprecedented clear skies and celestial objects that simply can’t be seen from the Northern Hemisphere, such as the Magellanic Clouds. Over the decades, many more countries have joined, including Denmark, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Finland, Spain, the Czech Republic, Austria, and, in 2010, Brazil, which became the first non-European state to join. Above:
Virgin Galactic Universe Today — Space and astronomy news The Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule stand ready for launch prior to the detection of a helium leak in one of the engines forcing a scrub of the launch attempt on April 14. 2014 – now reset to April 18, 2014. Credit: nasatech.net NASA and SpaceX are marching forward towards a Friday, April 18 liftoff attempt for the Falcon 9 rocket sending a commercial Dragon cargo craft on the company’s third resupply mission to the International Space Station following the scrubbed launch attempt on Monday, April 14 – forced by the discovery of a Helium gas leak inside the rocket during the latter stages of the countdown. An on time blastoff of the upgraded Falcon 9 sets the stage for an Easter Sunday rendezvous and berthing of the Dragon resupply spacecraft at the massive orbiting outpost packed with almost 5000 pounds of science experiments and supplies for the six person crew. However the weather prognosis is rather [click to continue…]
Scaled Composites collect space space history and space artifacts news Long before the first Instagram from space, the first check-in from orbit, or even the first astronaut's tweet, John Glenn sent an email to Bill Clinton. The reply it prompted was the very first email transmitted by a sitting U.S. president — it just happened to be to space. April 18, 2014SpaceX launches science-packed Dragon capsule on space station supply run A commercial cargo spacecraft loaded with more than two tons of scientific experiments and equipment lifted off for the International Space Station on April 18, after more than a month of delays. SpaceX's Dragon launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral.
Across Our Blogs: Mars Curiosity Rover Moonrise, New Rover, Billion Pixel Marsscape Seems the Mars Curiosity Rover has been a busy little six-wheeled fellow these past few weeks. Here's a roundup of news related to the rover, from top Technorati listed science blogs... From ArsTechnica - Curiosity rover shoots video of Martian moonrise - NASA released a time-lapse video of the Martian moon Phobos, as it ascends into view.
Magnifying the Universe Embed this infographic on your site! <iframe width="500" height="323" scrolling="no" src=" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />Copyright 2012. <a href=" the Universe</a> by <a href=" Sleuth</a>. Your Age on Other Worlds Want to melt those years away? Travel to an outer planet! <div class="js-required"><hr> This Page requires a Javascript capable browser <hr></div> Fill in your birthdate below in the space indicated. (Note you must enter the year as a 4-digit number!) Click on the "Calculate" button.
If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel - A tediously accurate map of the solar system Mercury Venus Earth DeepAstronomy.com The Planets Today : A live view of the solar system Solar System Scope