Moon exploration robots tested on sand dunes in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan

HAMAMATSU, Shizuoka -- The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has conducted tests of prototype moon exploration robots here, that were designed by several institutions to become part of Japan's next-generation lunar exploratory equipment.

On March 13, the agency conducted test runs on a total of eight robot prototypes at the Nakatajima sand dunes in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, a vast undulated land area somewhat resembling the moon's surface.

The eight robot prototypes were made by various research institutions, including Tohoku University, the Aichi University of Technology, Osaka University and Tokyu Construction, which are competing in JAXA's Lunar Robotics Challenge for designing robots to explore the moon's surface.

During the experimental run, the agency tested the robots' drivability and collected various data related to their performance.

Seeking to capitalize on their success with the SELENE (Selenological and Engineering Explorer), a lunar orbiter better known by its nickname Kaguya, JAXA is now looking into the development of next-generation moon exploratory equipment.

The Kaguya probe, after successfully orbiting the moon for approximately a year and nine months from September 2007, ended its mission and was crashed onto the lunar surface in June 2009. Read More

'Death Star' captured on video as it 'refuels' at the surface of the sun

An orbiting Nasa space telescope captured a dark, planet-sized object flying close to the sun on Monday - and extending what looks like a refueling tube into the star's surface.

The black, Death Star-like, orb is briefly engulfed in light from the sun, then flies off into space.

A video edited from the Solar Dynamics Observatory's photos inspired a wave of speculation on YouTube.

The imagery was captured by Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory and edited together by a YouTube user, Sunsflare, who challenged experts to explain the strange 'visitor.'

Naturally, the space agency has a rather more ordinary explanation for the strange, black orb.

It's not a visitor from another solar system - or a planet being born out of the surface of the sun, as others had speculated.

Instead, it's a solar 'prominence' or 'filament' - a feature extending out from the sun which forms over the course of a day, and can extend hundreds of thousands of miles into space. Read More

Saturn Moon Surface Revealed In Nasa Pics

New images of Saturn's second-largest moon have been released by Nasa.

The pictures of the moon Rhea unveiled by the space agency were captured by the international Cassini spacecraft during a recent fly-by.

Taken on March 10 from 26,000 miles away, the photographs show two huge impact basins and other geologic features on Rhea's icy surface.

Cassini, funded by Nasa and the European and Italian space agencies, was launched in 1997.

It reached Saturn in 2004 and has been studying the ringed planet and its numerous moons. Source

U.S. government scientists simulate the moment a one megaton nuclear bomb destroys a massive asteroid heading for Earth

Photo captured from the International Space Station last week shows that 'southern lights' can be just as spectacular.

International Space Station astronaut Andre Kuipers captured spectacular aurora blazing over Antarctica and Australia during last week's solar storms. Source

MYSTERY 'FIREBALL' CROSSES MELBOURNE SKIES

Mystery surrounds an unidentified flaming object that crossed the skies of Melbourne last night.

Many Victoria residents were left perplexed after spotting the 'low-flying fireball' at around 8.40pm, and turned to Twitter in the hope of identifying it.

Observers described it as a big ball of fire followed by a white trail.

Astronomer Perry Vlahos told the Herald Sun the International Space Station was passing overhead at about the time the fireball was sighted.

But he said it was most likely a meteor, and residents should not be alarmed.

It comes after a fiery meteor lit up skies above Victoria and Tasmania last Sunday.

The red ball was spotted moving horizontally across the sky at about 10.45pm, and those who saw it say it was visible for about 20 seconds. Source

Lego Space Shuttle Launched Into Space

On December 31, 2011, Raul Oiada, a Romanian physicist and self-taught rocket scientist (who taught himself English so he could read the books to teach himself rocketry) and Steve Sammartino, an Australian entrepreneur, launched a Lego Space Shuttle into space from Germany.

The project came out of some bigger plans that Raul has, but Steve convinced him to start smaller. The whole project cost about $1,000, which Steve pointed out to me was so much cheaper than the cost of a similar exercise only 10 years ago. He said:

The rig was really cheap – less than $1,000. Which 10 years ago might have been$ 100,000 (Including GPS trackers, HD camera capable of surviving space conditions et al. Add to this that without the web (Skype, Paypal, Youtube, GoPro, cheap GPS) none of this could have happened, and it is a great story about the world coming together and technology being a bridge to democracy and collaboration. Like minds living worlds apart finding complementary skills – this is the kind of world I want to live in. Read More

Venus and Jupiter to pass in the night sky

The pairing of Jupiter and Venus in the sky is set to reach its closest point in the coming days.

Despite being vastly far from one another in space, the conjunction will make them appear just a few degrees apart in the sky - about the width of a pair of fingers held at arm's length.

The pair can be seen to the west-southwest, shortly after sunset.

Venus is the brighter of the two, and Jupiter will appear to move in a line past it for the rest of the month.

The Slooh network of telescopes will be broadcasting the conjunction live on the web from 02:30 GMT on Monday morning.

This is an active period for planet-watchers. Last Monday, Mars made its closest approach to Earth in more than two years.

But the spectacle is not over. February saw the Moon join the celestial dance with the planetary pair; it will return in late March, appearing to head up and past the descending Jupiter and then Venus.

The most anticipated planetary event for 2012 will be the transit of Venus in early June, when it will appear from some locations on Earth to pass in front of the Sun. Read More

Neutron star, NASA graphic that shows how neutron stars pack more mass than the earth into a sphere the size of Manhattan

Image: A neutron star, the closest thing to a black hole that astronomers can observe directly, shown to scale against a satellite snap of Manhattan.

At first glance it may look like a scene from the latest Hollywood blockbuster, showing Manhattan’s impending doom from a giant fireball.

In fact this is NASA’s latest attempt to explain the complex astronomical phenomenons of the universe to schoolchildren.

It shows a neutron star, the closest thing to a black hole that astronomers can observe directly, to scale against a satellite picture of Manhattan.

Neutron stars, the crushed core of a star that has exploded as a supernova, pack more mass than the sun into a sphere just 10 to 15 miles wide.

A neutron star is so dense that on Earth, one teaspoonful would weigh a billion tonnes.

The space agency believes its latest image will help explain the power inside a neutrino star by comparing it to a city on earth. Read More