entire Web this site SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS: December 2006 home > space & science news > space & science news: December 2006: 1 | 2 | 3 NASA Mars team teaches old rovers new tricks to kick off year four Dec 30, 2006 Parrot's oratory stuns scientists Dec 29, 2006 Orion hardware reviewed for human asteroid flight Dec 28, 2006 Planet hunter readies for launch Dec 26, 2006 Space shuttle returns to Florida Dec 23, 2006 White dwarf shreds and vaporizes asteroid Dec 22, 2006 'Black sheep' gamma-ray bursts refuse to conform Dec 21, 2006 NASA and Google form cosmic union Dec 20, 2006 ISS crew fix jammed solar panel Dec 19, 2006 Solar storm disrupts spacecraft Dec 18, 2006 New theory behind 'cold faithful' on Saturnian moon Dec 18, 2006 Astronauts rewire space station Dec 17, 2006 Comets hold life chemistry clues Dec 15, 2006 Mars rover nears bathtub ring of blueberries Dec 15, 2006 Final stage for telescope design Dec 14, 2006 Mountain range spotted on Titan Dec 13, 2006 Astronauts make first spacewalk Dec 13, 2006 Peak of Geminid meteor shower set to dazzle Dec 12, 2006 Preliminary inspections show shuttle in good health Dec 11, 2006 Shuttle lifts off in night launch Dec 10, 2006 Shuttle night lift-off postponed Dec 8, 2006 NASA telescope sees black hole munch on a star Dec 7, 2006 Water flowed 'recently' on Mars Dec 6, 2006 Probe's powerful camera spots Vikings on Mars Dec 6, 2006 US plans permanent base on Moon Dec 5, 2006 Potential danger: Moon hit by more space rocks than thought Dec 4, 2006 Astronauts sample haute cuisine Dec 3, 2006 HiRISE team begins releasing a flood of Mars images over the Internet Dec 2, 2006 Carbon globules in meteorite may have seeded Earth life Dec 1, 2006 NASA Mars team teaches old rovers new tricks to kick off year four (Dec 30, 2006) NASA's twin Mars rovers, nearing the third anniversary of their landings, are getting smarter as they get older. The unexpected longevity of Spirit and Opportunity is giving the space agency a chance to field-test on Mars some new capabilities useful both to these missions and future rovers. Spirit will begin its fourth year on Mars on Jan. 3 (PST); Opportunity on Jan. 24. [Image: Spirit rover viewed by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter] Read more. Source: NASA/JPL Parrot's oratory stuns scientists (Dec 29, 2006) The finding of a parrot with an almost unparalleled power to communicate with people has brought scientists up short. The bird, a captive African grey called N'kisi, has a vocabulary of 950 words, and shows signs of a sense of humour. He invents his own words and phrases if he is confronted with novel ideas with which his existing repertoire cannot cope – just as a human child would do. Read more. Source: BBC Orion hardware reviewed for human asteroid flight (Dec 28, 2006) Progress is being made on defining a human mission to an asteroid. Experts at several NASA centers are sketching out a prospective piloted stopover at an asteroid – a trek that could return samples from a targeted space rock as well as honing astronaut proficiency and test needed equipment for other space destinations. Read more. Source: space.com Planet hunter readies for launch (Dec 26, 2006) A mission that will scour space for Earth-like planets is scheduled for launch on Wednesday. COROT will be the first spacecraft capable of detecting planets outside of the Solar System that are just a few times larger than the Earth. The French-led multinational mission will also help uncover the secrets of stellar interiors. Read more. Source: BBC Space shuttle returns to Florida (Dec 23, 2006) Space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew have landed safely at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Shuttle managers decided conditions in Florida were good enough to bring the shuttle home at 1732 (2232 GMT), after days of uncertainty about the weather. The shuttle has been on a 13-day mission to rewire the International Space Station (ISS). Read more. Source: BBC White dwarf shreds and vaporizes asteroid (Dec 22, 2006) An asteroid has been ripped to shreds and vaporized after straying too close to a hot white dwarf star, observations suggest. The asteroid was probably flung towards the white dwarf by the gravity of one or more unseen planets, astronomers say. Stars like the Sun become bloated red giants when they age, then gradually blow off their outer layers until only a dense, inactive core called a white dwarf is left. Read more. Source: New Scientist 'Black sheep' gamma-ray bursts refuse to conform (Dec 21, 2006) Two peculiar gamma-ray bursts have been spotted that do not fit into the orderly classification system that astronomers had previously developed. The discoveries suggest that black holes may be colliding with stellar corpses called neutron stars much more often than thought, implying that gravitational waves from the events may be detected within the next few years. Read more. Source: New Scientist NASA and Google form cosmic union (Dec 20, 2006) Detailed 3D images of the Moon and Mars will soon be just a click away for web users, following a deal between search giant Google and US space agency NASA. The Space Agreement Act, signed on Monday, will put "the most useful of NASA's information on the internet". Real-time weather data and the positions of the International Space Station and Shuttle could be included. Read more. Source: BBC ISS crew fix jammed solar panel (Dec 19, 2006) The crew of the space shuttle Discovery have fixed a jammed solar panel at the International Space Station (ISS). In a record-breaking fourth spacewalk on a single mission, US astronaut Robert Curbeam, with Sweden's Christer Fuglesang, folded the stuck panel away. The two astronauts returned to the ISS at 0138 GMT on Tuesday after more than six and a half hours. Read more. Source: BBC Solar storm disrupts spacecraft (Dec 18, 2006) An energetic storm which erupted on the Sun has caused disruption to satellites and may have caused a glitch on the International Space Station. The solar flare interrupted signals in space and forced mission controllers to shut systems down to avoid damage to spacecraft orbiting Earth. The flare set off a fast-moving stream of atomic particles towards Earth. Read more. Source: BBC 1 | 2 | 3 BACK TO TOP

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