NASA discovers water on the moon — or did it?NASA grabbed headlines around the world with its announcement it has found “a significant amount” of water on the moon. But is 25 gallons of water really all that “significant”? It all sounds like a galactic-sized cash grab to Jon Wiener.
Astronomy
NASA bombs the moon
NASA is about to launch a bombing raid on the moon, firing two space missiles at the lunar surface in an effort to look for more water. Space colonies, here we come!
Earth could be 1.8 gigayears behind the rest of the galaxy
And you thought your Playstation 2 was outdated: experts say there could be civilisations on other planets that have existed for 1.8 gigayears, leaving us Earthlings looking positively primitive.
The “other” moon landing speech
What if Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin never made it off the moon? How would the public have been told? Following on from the recent death of President Nixon’s speech writer, William Safire, here is his most eloquent speeches that never was.
How Twitter ruined NASA’s big day
NASA was all set to make its big announcement that water has been found on the moon, until some spoil-sports on Twitter let it all spill early. More proof the internet has killed the media embargo?
Crikey Clarifier: Where have all the sun spots gone?
As an unusually spotless sun continues to puzzle scientists, get ready for yet another outbreak of pseudo-scientific man-made global warming denialism.
The dark side of the moon
The sun never shines on the floor of some of the moon’s deeper craters. So what lies there? Ice? Aliens? Spaceships? For the first time, the US and India are teaming up to take a closer look.
Has the sun lost its spots?
Among some global warming sceptics, there is speculation that the Sun may be on the verge of falling into an extended slumber similar to the so-called Maunder Minimum, several sunspot-scarce decades during the 17th and 18th centuries.
In the eclipse’s shadow
On July 22, 2009, the Moon’s shadow engulfed Taiwan and a large swath of southeastern China and the Pacific Ocean during an unusually long total eclipse of the Sun. NASA has the images.
ouch! 
Jumping Jupiter! Planet gets hit
Something the size of Earth has smashed into Jupiter, leaving a black hole in its atmosphere. It was an amateur Australian astronomer who spotted the scar.
Fashions on the field: space suits
A collection of photos from the US National Air and Space Museum’s exhibition of Apollo 11 artifacts, featuring some of the wackier space suit fashions of the ’60s.
Buzz Aldrin: satellite of solitude
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin tells the story of Apollo 11 and the “magnificent desolation” of walking on the moon.
The original moonwalk: 40 years on
In honour of the original moonwalk on 20 July 1969, Crikey intern Josh Taylor looks at some of the best stories about the day Neil and Buzz landed and what’s happened since.
Video of the Day: Walking on the Moon restored
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11, NASA released partially restored video of a series of 15 memorable moments from the July 20 moonwalk.
Listen to the Apollo 11 radiocast
Celebrate 40 years since Neil Armstrong took one small step for man by listening to the Apollo 11 radiocast in real time.
Driving in space
Meet Dr Ashley Stroupe, NASA’s lead robot driver for the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. Apparently, he’s grown pretty attached to Spirit and does “a lot of the long-term planning for her”.
Future space travel: some serious issues to consider
Will the navy or the airforce be in charge of our future star fleets? John Birmingham explores.
Is it a bird? No, it’s a space station
The International Space Station is now so large it is visible in broad daylight as a white moving dot in a clear sky.
awwwww VIDEO: Milky Way passes over Texas night sky
Time lapse video of night sky as it passes over the 2009 Texas Star Party in Fort Davis, Texas. Images taken with 15mm fisheye lens by William Castleman.
Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble for astronauts
The first of a planned five space walks have been completed, in an attempt to fix the troubled Hubble Space Telescope.
Stars eat their young
New studies suggest that exoplanets that venture near their host stars are doomed to premature deaths — even before they get close enough to be ripped apart by the stars’ gravity.
Suddenly closer to finding another Earth
Astronomers brought out their new planets for show and tell this week and the “star” attraction was Gliese 581e.
Astronomers find distant space blob
Astronomers have found a blob-like object in space 12.9 billion light years away, one of the most distant objects ever seen.
What star dust tastes like
Astronomers searching for the building blocks of life in a giant dust cloud at the heart of the Milky Way have concluded that it tastes vaguely of raspberries.
Most Earth-like planet might have liquid oceans
It probably wouldn’t feel exactly like home. But the planet known as Gliese 581d has a lot more in common with Earth than astronomers first thought.
