The Next Great Adventure

Summary: Astronaut Neil Armstrong has passed away at the age of 82. Most known for being the first man on the moon, he will be dearly missed.


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19381098

Curiosity completes its first drive

Summary: Curiosity has successfully rolled 4.5 meters forward, turned clockwise, then reversed 2.5 meters. This took around five minutes. This means it is now ready to complete more difficult maneuvers.


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19342994

Next Antimatter experiment

Summary: In this video, scientists at CERN talk about their next big thing, ALPHA 2, and the challenges involved with building a new experiment.

Link: http://youtu.be/pqI9vv4Vfv8

Missing Planets

Summary: A planet has been discovered to have been consumed by the star it was orbiting as it evolved into a red giant. This is the first planet known to have been destroyed by its star.

Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2191896/Is-future-Earth-Scientists-evidence-aging-star-devouring-planets.html?ITO=1490

NASA plans for next Mars rover

Summary: NASA has announced that it plans to send another rover to Mars in the year 2016. It is set to be called Insight and seems to be designed to focus more on measuring the seismic activity of Mars.


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19327286#TWEET201215

Surprising Starburst Galaxy

Summary: Astronomers have discovered that the Phoenix Cluster is creating around 740 stars each year. Most galaxies currently observed only produce a few stars. This is the first galaxy seen that appears blue, a predicted state that would yield a high star production rate.

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19266284

Curiosity has succesfully used its laser on a rock

Summary: Curiosity has zapped its first Mars rock. Using a laser, the river zaps the rock with a very high energy beam for only five billionths of a second. This releases a flash of light which the camera captures and sends back to Earth. Scientists can then look at the light spectrum to determine what the chemical make up of the rock is.
The first rock is being used as a control to test the instruments. It is expected to be very similar to other rocks on Earth.


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19314638

Curiosity

If you have been paying any attention to the news lately, you will know that NASA has successfully landed the Curiosity rover on Mars last Sunday night. This rover is full of instruments to test for signs of life on mars and to learn more about the environment of the red planet. (Hopefully so we can establish a base there someday!) NASA's JPL website is probably the best place to look for news or the rover's twitter feed (@MarsCuriosity). I will also direct you to Hank Green's youtube channel SciShow where he has been nerding out over the project. I'll leave you with some of his videos.

The Curiosity Rover Landing: http://youtu.be/a4YqNoLkmxE
Top 5 Coolest Things about Curiosity: http://youtu.be/bB2eB2qH2-A
The Latest From Mars: Day 2: http://youtu.be/U76y7_jO_Ao

NASA wishes Neil Armstrong the best of luck in recovery

A statement from the NASA Administrator regarding Neil Armstrong's recovery from cardiac bypass surgery:

"NASA wishes Neil Armstrong the very best for a quick recovery from surgery," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "Neil's pioneering spirit will surely serve him well in this challenging time and the entire NASA Family is holding the Armstrong family in our thoughts and prayers. I know countless well-wishers around the world join us in sending get well wishes to this true American hero."

https://www.facebook.com/NASA/posts/10151122628926772

Astronomer Bernard Lovell dies

Quick summary:

Sir Bernard Lovell, the pioneering astronomer, physicist and founder of Jodrell 
Bank Observatory, dies aged 98.

BBC News:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19164236