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| Image credit: NASA/JPL |
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| Massive Galaxies are Still Forming |
| Dec 22, 2004 - NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer has discovered baby galaxies forming in our relative neighborhood, casting doubt on the theory that only small galaxies were forming this long after the Big Bang. These new galaxies are called ultraviolet luminous galaxies, and they're only 2-4 billion light-years away. They could be as young as 100 million to one billion years old. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer surveyed thousands of galaxies before finding these few dozen ultraviolet-bright ones, which are teeming in new star formation. (Full Story) |
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| Image credit: NASA/JPL |
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| Huygens Ready for Release |
| Dec 22, 2004 - One of the highlights of Cassini's mission to Saturn is about to get underway, when the ESA's Huygens probe detaches from the spacecraft on December 24, and begins its solo journey to Titan. Once freed from Cassini, it'll remain in a dormant sleep until a timer wakes it up on January 14, shortly before it enters the moon's atmosphere. It will take 2.5 hours to pass through Titan's atmosphere, and it may even survive a landing on the moon's mysterious surface. (Full Story) |
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| Image credit: Boeing |
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| Delta 4 Heavy Launches, But Falls Short |
| Dec 22, 2004 - The first Delta 4 Heavy rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Tuesday evening, but it appears there was a glitch that put the rocket's satellite payload into an incorrect orbit. The rocket's first stage shut down 8 seconds earlier than expected, so the upper stage was fired longer than originally planned to compensate. Flight controllers still haven't made an official announcement about the demonstration payload it was carrying, but two additional nanosatellites haven't made contact yet. NASA is considering this vehicle as a potential replacement for some of the space shuttle's cargo carrying duties, so the launch was being watched carefully. (Full Story) |
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