Congress really wants a heavy lift vehicle. And they want it fast. Or maybe they don’t. It’s hard to tell, because member of Congress attack NASA for saying they can’t do it without enough money or time. (The HLV NASA had been developing—Ares V—was cancelled by the president.) And Congress never comes up with the [...]

NASA instruments riding aboard an Indian lunar probe are giving us a new view of the moon: inside craters. Cold, dark craters—north and south The first pictures show craters at the lunar poles—both north and south. Scientists hope to find water ice inside. But the instruments are still being calibrated and prepared for a more [...]

Launching February 24th, a new satellite will map carbon dioxide levels around the plant. The probe, called Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) will provide detailed information available about man-made and natural sources are building up levels of CO2…and “sinks”…regions where plants and the ocean removes carbon dioxide. A Japanese satellite—Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (or GOSAT) is [...]