(AP/NASA) WASHINGTON -- Comet ISON, once optimistically called the comet of the century, is dead, the victim of a way-too-close brush with the sun. It was barely a year old. The comet, which excited astronomers and the media as it zipped within 730,000 miles of the sun on Thanksgiving Day, was pronounced dead at a scientific conference Tuesday. Astronomers who had followed the ice ball mourned the loss of the sky show that once promised to light up during December....

This week marks the peak of what is usually considered the most satisfying of all annual meteor displays: the Geminid meteor shower. As was the case with last month’s, however, prospective skywatchers should be aware that once again, observers will face a major obstacle in their attempt to see this year’s Geminid performance, namely, the moon. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, the moon will turn full on Dec. 17, and as such, will seriously hamper viewing the peak of...

BEIJING — China hailed its lunar probe mission a success after the country's first moon rover and the landing vehicle that carried it there took photos of each other on the surface, state media reported. The six-wheeled rover moved to a spot about 9 meters (10 yards) north of the landing vehicle on Sunday night China time and the pair took photos for about a minute, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The color images transmitted back to Earth showed...

This image taken by the on-board camera of the (AP Photo/Xinhua, Ding Lin) BEIJING -- China said Monday it was on track to launch a fifth lunar probe with the aim of bringing back lunar soil and rock samples following the successful moon landing of a space probe. The new mission planned for 2017 would mark the third and final phase of China's robotic lunar exploration program and pave the way for possibly landing an astronaut on the moon after...

Which Company Will Launch You Into Space? Deep in the is a futuristic-looking compound that will soon be abuzz with rocketships and first-time astronauts. No, this isn’t a secret NASA training facility or the set to the sequel of Gravity. It’s Spaceport America, the new home of Virgin Galactic, one of many commercial space travel companies striving to open up the final frontier to the public. Space travel has long been the province of government agencies like NASA, but in...

A meteoroid slammed into the moon on March 17, 2013, gouging out a crater 59 feet (18 meters) feet wide on the lunar surface. (NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University) When a space rock slammed into the moon earlier this year, it tore a big new hole in the already pockmarked lunar surface and generated an explosion that would have been visible to the naked eye from Earth, scientists say. from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) show that this hole stretches 59 feet...

NASA has ordered up a series of urgent spacewalks to fix a broken cooling line at the International Space Station, a massive repair job that could stretch to Christmas Day. Station managers decided Tuesday to send two American astronauts out as soon as possible to replace a pump with a bad valve. The task will require two and possibly three spacewalks on Saturday, Monday and next Wednesday -- Christmas Day. "The next week will be busy with space walks so...

The Advanced Land Imagery on NASA's Earth Observing-1 satellite snapped this image of a newly formed volcanic island in Japan on Dec. 8, 2013. (NASA Earth Observatory) A NASA satellite snapped a photograph of a tiny new island that rose out of the Pacific Ocean a few weeks ago after a volcanic eruption. A camera aboard the space agency's Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite captured this natural-color image as it passed over the still-steaming black cone on Dec. 8. Japanese officials...

A makeshift spacesuit snorkel, as held up by NASA's spacewalk officer Allison Bolinger at Johnson Space Center, Dec. 18, 2013. (collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman) HOUSTON — Astronauts preparing to spacewalk outside the International Space Station are outfitting their spacesuits with an unusual device: a makeshift snorkel. The astronauts, whose task it is to necessary for keeping the outpost fully powered, have an additional concern to the "normal" challenges of a quickly-planned extra-vehicular activity (EVA, or spacewalk). There is also a slight...

This image of a patch of sky in the constellation Pisces is among the first taken by the revived spacecraft's infrared cameras, and shows the ultimate target: asteroids. Appearing as a string of red dots, an asteroid can be seen in a series of exposures captured by the spacecraft. (NASA/JPL-Caltech) A NASA asteroid-hunting spacecraft has opened its eyes in preparation for a renewed mission, beaming home its first images in more than 2.5 years. The Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey...

On Saturday morning (Dec. 21), two NASA astronauts will venture outside the International Space Station to perform the first of potentially three urgent spacewalks to fix the vital cooling system on the orbiting outpost, and you can watch the excursion live online. NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins and Rick Mastracchio will perform the spacewalk, which is expected to begin the necessary repairs on the outside of the station. NASA TV will broadcast the entire 6.5-hour spacewalk set to begin at 7:10...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Astronauts removed an old space station pump Saturday, sailing through the first of a series of urgent repair spacewalks to revive a crippled cooling line. The two Americans on the crew, Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins, successfully pulled out the ammonia pump with a bad valve -- well ahead of schedule. That task had been planned for the next spacewalk, originally scheduled for Monday but now delayed until Tuesday, Christmas Eve, because of the need for...