Iran has announced plans to send a into space by the end of November as part of its strategy to eventually have a manned spaceflight program, according to an Iranian web site called Press TV. The move was announced on Saturday by Hamid Fazeli, deputy head of the Iran Space Agency. Fazeli also said the Islamic Republic is considering into space other “animals with a similar weight as monkeys,” the Associated Press reports. The country claims to have successfully launched...

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,...

With nature’s insanity and humanity’s ingenuity, our solar system is chock full of strange and beautiful things. Well, actually, it’s chock full of , but if you could zoom around and sight-see, you’d come across some wondrous objects, both natural and manmade. Click through to see a collection of our favorites. FIRST: Mariner Valley/Valles Marineris This mosaic shows the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars. (NASA/JPL-Caltech) If you ripped open the United States latitudinally, you’d be close to having a scar...

WASHINGTON -- The latest space tourism venture depends more on hot air than rocket science. World View Enterprises announced plans Tuesday to send people up in a capsule, lifted 19 miles by a high-altitude balloon. Jane Poynter, CEO of the Tucson, Ariz.-based company, said the price for the four-hour ride would be $75,000. While it's not quite space - that starts at 62 miles - the plan requires approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees commercial space. Poynter said...

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...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A new, smaller version of NASA's space shuttle is recuperating from a rough first landing. The Dream Chaser space plane is being designed by Sierra Nevada Corp. It's vying to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station in four or five more years. The Nevada-based company tested a full-scale model at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Saturday. A helicopter dropped the unmanned craft from 12,500 feet in a first free flight reminiscent...

This impressive image depicts the result of a massive star after it exploded in the Milky Way galaxy. (Credit: NASA/CSC/SAO) The Chandra X-ray Observatory has captured some unique photographs , and in honor of American Archive Month, NASA revealed eight new images taken by the telescope to unveil even more of the universe to space lovers. (MORE: ) It's the world's strongest X-ray telescope, allowing us to see distant galaxies and the incredible events that occur inside them. According to...

Massive plumes of gas create a wicked witch profile in the sky in this image taken by the WISE infrared telescope. (NASA/JPL-Caltech) Just in time for Halloween, astronomers have discovered a nebula that looks like the profile of a wicked witch.The star cluster is a massive cloud of gas reflecting light from nearby stars. It's also a stellar nursery. The red dots on the witch's warty chin are stars being born.The image was taken by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,...

Paramilitary soldiers stand guard near the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C25) at the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. India’s Mars orbiter mission is scheduled to be launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on Nov. 5. (AP Photo/Arun Sankar K) (AP Photo/Arun Sankar K) NEW DELHI -- India is aiming to join the world's deep-space pioneers with a journey to Mars that it hopes will showcase its technological ability to explore the...

For the next week or so, if you happen to catch a glimpse of a bright yellow-orange or ruddy hued "shooting star," you might have just seen a Taurid meteor. The annual shows up like clockwork every year between the middle of October and the middle of November, but Nov. 5 to 12 will be the best time to look for them as they reach a broad maximum. Initially, the moon will not be a problem. On Nov. 5, the...

MOSCOW -- A Russian rocket soared into the cosmos Thursday carrying the Sochi Olympic torch and three astronauts to the International Space Station ahead of the first-ever spacewalk for the symbol of peace. Video streamed by the U.S. space agency NASA reported a flawless docking with the space station about six hours after the craft blasted off from Russia's manned space facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The unlit torch for the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Russian city of Sochi is...

LOS ANGELES — Southern Californians from Santa Barbara to San Diego have reported seeing a fireball that forecasters said was most likely a meteor streaking across the sky. The National Weather Service says the sightings reported starting at about 8 p.m. Wednesday night are most likely associated with the South Taurids (TOHR-ids) meteor shower that has been especially active in early November. Astronomers say the Taurids don't bring big numbers of visible meteors but a high percentage of extremely bright...