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Progress 16 Makes Christmas Docking To Station |
| An unpiloted Russian cargo ship linked up the International Space Station this evening [Dec.25], completing a two-day Christmas journey to deliver 2.5 tons of food, fuel, oxygen, water, supplies and holiday gifts to the crew - NASA/JPL |
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Huygens Begins Its Final Journey Into The Unknown |
| The European Space Agency’s Huygens probe was successfully released by NASA’s Cassini orbiter early this morning [Dec. 25] and is now on a controlled collision course toward Saturn’s largest and most mysterious moon, Titan, where on 14 January it will make a descent through one of the most intriguing atmospheres in the solar system to an unknown surface - ESA |
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Small Asteroid Passes Between Satellites And Earth |
| Astronomers spotted an asteroid this week after it had flown past Earth on a course that took it so close to the planet it was below the orbits of some satellites - Space.com, Minor Planet Center |
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Near-Earth Asteroid 2004 MN4 Reaches Highest Score To Date On Hazard Scale |
| A recently rediscovered 400-meter Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) is predicted to pass near the Earth on 13 April 2029. The flyby distance is uncertain and an Earth impact cannot yet be ruled out - NASA/JPL |
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Jupiter's Moon Had A Far-Flung Past |
| The first ground based infrared spectrum of Jupiter's moon Amalthea reveals that it must have formed far from its current location. This new result, based on observations with the Subaru telescope and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility by a team of researchers from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the University of Hawaii, and the University of Tokyo, sheds new light on our Solar System's turbulent past - Subaru Telescope |
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Mystery Of Mars Rover's 'Carwash' Rolls On |
| NASA's Mars rover Opportunity seems to have stumbled into something akin to a carwash that has left its solar panels much cleaner than those of its twin rover, Spirit. A Martian
carwash would account for a series of unexpected boosts in the electrical power produced by Opportunity's solar panels - New Scientist |
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Aging Universe May Still Be Spawning Massive Galaxies |
| NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer has spotted what appear to be massive "baby" galaxies in our corner of the universe. Previously, astronomers thought the universe's birth rate had
dramatically declined and only small galaxies were forming
- NASA/JPL |
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Modern Martian Marvels: Volcanoes? |
| The European Mars Express orbiter continues to take overhead and perspective shots of landmarks on the red planet. The remarkable clarity at first glance appears to be a simulation. Scientists have pursued their mapping tour around Olympus Mons, the solar system's largest volcano, as one of the mission's goals. This week's announcement of relatively recent volcanic activity on Mars is likely to heat up the debate on habitability - Astrobiology Magazine |
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Comet Machholz Shines! |
| If you haven't gone out yet to look for Comet Machholz west of Orion, you're missing the big sky event of this holiday season. The comet is a fine sight in binoculars, glowing at 4th magnitude pale greenish gray — a large fuzzcloud with a brighter core set against a background of pinpoint stars - Sky and Telescope |
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Heavy-Lift Rocket's Debut A Partial Success |
| The first in a new generation of US heavy-lift rockets, the Boeing Delta 4 Heavy, made its maiden flight on Tuesday, from Cape Canaveral in Florida. However, the launch was only
a partial success - New Scientist |
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