Dwarf planet Makemake lacks atmosphere
Posted: Fri, Nov 23 1:45 PM ET (1845 GMT)
Astronomers observing a stellar occultation by the dwarf planet Makemake found no evidence of an atmosphere around the distant, icy world. Astronomers observed the occultation...

European ministers agree on Ariane 5 upgrade, Orion participation
Posted: Thu, Nov 22 1:13 PM ET (1813 GMT)
Ministers from the 20 member states of the European Space Agency (ESA) concluded their two-day meeting Wednesday, agreeing to develop an upgraded version of...

Proton launches EchoStar satellite
Posted: Wed, Nov 21 6:43 PM ET (2343 GMT)
A Proton rocket successfully launched an American communications satellite on the same day that the company that markets the Proton commercially replaced its president. The...

Astronomers directly image "super-Jupiter" exoplanet
Posted: Tue, Nov 20 7:08 AM ET (1208 GMT)
Astronomers announced Monday they had directly imaged a massive extrasolar planet orbiting another star. Kappa Andromedae b has a mass 12.8 times that of...

Soyuz returns three ISS crewmembers to Earth
Posted: Mon, Nov 19 6:37 AM ET (1137 GMT)
A Soyuz spacecraft carrying three returning International Space Station crewmembers safely landed early Monday in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft undocked from the ISS...

China launches environmental monitoring satellite
Posted: Mon, Nov 19 6:17 AM ET (1117 GMT)
A Long March rocket launched a Chinese environmental monitoring satellite on Monday. The Long March 2C rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center...

Two NASA center directors to retire
Posted: Sat, Nov 17 10:18 AM ET (1518 GMT)
NASA announced Friday that the directors of the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and the Johnson Space Center in Houston will retire at the end...

Curiosity ready to start moving again
Posted: Fri, Nov 16 2:01 PM ET (1901 GMT)
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, which has spent the last several weeks working at a single location on the Martian surface, will soon be on...

"Homeless" planet spotted in deep space
Posted: Thu, Nov 15 7:52 AM ET (1252 GMT)
Astronomers announced Wednesday the discovery of a "homeless" planet 100 light-years away not orbiting any star. Astronomers detected the object, designated CFBDSIR2149, using the...

Russia launches government communications satellite
Posted: Thu, Nov 15 7:25 AM ET (1225 GMT)
A Soyuz rocket launched a satellite designed to serve military and civil users on Wednesday. The Soyuz-2.1a rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk...