NEW YORK — Members of the United Nations met with distinguished astronauts and cosmonauts this week in New York to begin implementing the first-ever international contingency plan for defending Earth against catastrophic asteroid strikes. Six of the space travelers involved in these U.N. discussions discussed the asteroid defense effort Friday (Oct. 25) in a news conference hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson at the American Museum of Natural History. Their goal: to drive home the very-real threats posed by near-Earth...

This artist's conception shows the NASA's MAVEN spacecraft orbiting Mars. The mission will launch in late 2013. (LASP) NASA's next Mars probe should get off the ground on time, no matter how long the government shutdown lasts. The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution orbiter, or Maven, got back on track for a Nov. 18 launch on Thursday (Oct. 3), just two days after the froze liftoff preparations and put a scare into planetary scientists around the world. "We have already...

The leaves are turning, there's a nip in the air and shower spawned by Halley's Comet is at its peak overnight tonight (Oct. 20). If the bright moon or bad weather doesn't spoil the view, stargazers can catch a glimpse of the annual Orionid meteor shower as it reaches its peak late Sunday and early Monday (Oct. 21). The Orionids, so-named because they appear to spring from a region to the north of the constellation Orion's second brightest star, Betelgeuse,...