Britains first astronaut to go on space mission in 2015

Britain's first "official" astronaut, 41-year-old Major Tim Peake, has been selected to go on a five-month mission to the International Space Station in 2015, a media report said Sunday. Peake, a former army helicopter pilot, graduated as a European Space Agency astronaut more than two years ago and has been waiting for a space mission since then, the Guardian daily said. However, Peake has ...

Rodents return to Earth after space flight

The returnable capsule of a biological research satellite landed in Russia Sunday, bringing mice, Mongolian gerbils, geckos and various micro-organisms and plants back to Earth after their month-long flight, the Mission Control said. The capsule landed in Orenburg region near the border with Kazakhstan. The descent vehicle separated from the equipment module of the Bion-M spacecraft at 6.32 ...

Moon meteor blast visible to naked eye on Earth says NASA

NASA has revealed that a boulder-sized meteor slammed into the moon in March, causing an explosion so bright that it was visible to the naked eye on Earth. Though about 300 lunar impacts have been logged over the years, NASA scientists consider this latest impact, from March 17, much brighter than anything else observed, News.com.au reported. "We have seen a couple of others in the 'wow' ...

Darker skin also prone to skin cancer

Fair skinned people are known to be at higher risk for skin cancer and other problems associated with too much exposure to the sun, but experts say people of color also are vulnerable to the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) rays emitted by the sun and indoor tanning beds. Darker skin has more pigment-making cells, which provide some inherent protection against UV rays, but not enough, said ...

Astronomers Awaiting Comet ISONs Year-End Spectacular

Excitement has been growing in recent months over the approach of Comet ISON. Like other comets, this chunk of rock and ice is following a long, elliptical orbit around the Sun, and like other comets, when it nears the Sun later this year, its trailing stream of dust and vapor will catch the sunlight and become a long, luminous, tail. Many astronomers are predicting that when this celestial ...