One Step Closer to Mars

Summary: NASA's Orion spacecraft passed it's electronics test last week at Kennedy Space Center. This spacecraft is designed to carry a four-person crew to near-Earth asteroids and eventually to Mars. The first test launch will be in the fall of next year for a brief unmanned journey up into space before falling back down into the ocean.


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Physics World

This Week in Solar Activity

Summary: Over the summer it seemed like the sun was having an unusual lack of activity for max in its solar cycle, but it has laughed in our faces this past week with bright solar flares and so-called canyons of fire.
Check out the article and the amazing video NASA Goddard has put together with footage.


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Space Sight

Summary: Another reason why I do not want to go into space. It changes your vision. One in five astronauts report vision changes due to the increased pressure inside your head because of microgravity altering the shape of of their eyeballs. Ick.


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The Science of Boomerangs

Summary: Have you ever wondered what makes a boomerang return back to you after you throw it? (Or why you can't seem to throw it right?) Popular Science has a quick article on the history and science behind these amazing toys. To give you a brief taste, it's all to do with torque.

New Record for Furthest Galaxy

Summary: Your friend in another country may seem incredibly far away, but this latest discovery will put that in perspective. A new record has been set for the most distant galaxy. The Hubble Space Telescope has found the galaxy z8_GND_5296 to be about 30 billion light years away. We are seeing this galaxy as it appeared just 700 million years after the Big Bang. To determine the distance, they looked at the redshift of the galaxy. It has a redshift of 7.51 which beats the previous winner of 7.21.

BBC News
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Physics World