Follow The Quadrantids Meteor Shower Online [LIVE VIDEO]

[ via Mashable ] 4 Jan

If you’re a fan of stargazing, tonight’s your night. The Quadrantids meteor shower, potentially the best natural lightshow of the year, will be visible Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning. If you live in the Eastern United States, viewing conditions should be ideal, if a bit frigid.

The Quadrantids meteors should start to appear late tonight, but will only be visible for about six hours. The peak is predicted to be somewhere around 2:30 to 3 a.m., though io9 reports that the Quadrantids meteors are “notoriously unpredictable” in terms of intensity. NASA says it will be a “brief, beautiful” show.

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Nasa discovers amazing nebula

[ via Mail Online ] 24 Dec

Nasa scientists were in a very festive mood on Friday, releasing an amazing image of a nebula they nicknamed the 'wreath nebula.' 

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is getting into a festive mood this Christmas after imaging a beautiful nebula called Barnard 3, or IRAS Ring G159.6-18.5. Nicknamed the "Wreath Nebula" by mission scientists, Bernard 3 does have some familiarity with the green and red wreath hanging peacefully on your neighbor's door. But looks can be deceiving.

The scene looks like a ring of evergreens decorated with a red Christmasy bow with silver bells throughout. It was captured by Nasa's WISE space telescope.

Read more: Mail Online

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Microsoft Founder’s Rocket Plane Hybrid: One Giant Leap For Mankind

[ via Mashable ] 14 Dec

Tuesday’s announcement from Microsoft co-founder (and somewhat reclusive billionaire) Paul Allen of a $200 million company, Stratolaunch Systems, that will marry the designs of two of the space industry’s most important inventors: Burt Rutan and Elon Musk, is going to go down in history as a hallmark day.

Rutan is the creator of SpaceShipOne, the world’s first commercial spacecraft, which was launched from the top of a light aircraft called White Knight. The plane took care of those crucial first 30,000 feet of a launch, where Earth’s hold on us is hardest to break. This is how Virgin Galactic will be sending its first tourists to space in 2013.

But Allen's hybrid rocket plane — due this decade, larger than any aerial vehicle yet built, can put anything and anyone in orbit. The Stratolauch system will uesher ina revolution in travel to space by those who can afford it.

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First Private Spaceship Flight to Space Station Announced

[ Yahoo News ] 9 Dec

NASA announced the launch date for the first test flight of a commercial spacecraft to the International Space Station Friday (Dec. 9). The mission, which will test a vehicle intended to carry cargo, and eventually crew, to orbit, represents an important step for the burgeoning private space industry, experts say.

NASA gave Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) the formal go-ahead to launch its robotic Dragon spacecraft atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to the space station on Feb. 7, 2012, so long as a series of final safety reviews, testing and verification is successfully completed.

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