Weekly Space Hangout – Dec. 19, 2014: Methane on Mars!

Host: Fraser Cain (@fcain)

Guests:
Morgan Rehnberg (cosmicchatter.org / @cosmic_chatter)
Ramin Skibba (@raminskibba)
Alessondra Springmann (@sondy)

This Week’s Stories:
TESS on SpaceX/AGU
Death of Venus Express
NASA budget win
NASA builds a useless tower it doesn’t want
Distant Massive Galaxy Cluster
Quenching Star Formation around Black Hole
NASA & NSF budgets
Life’s Building Blocks from Hell on Earth
Wallops Island to Receive $20M from Federal Budget to Repair Damaged MARS Pad 0A
Atlas V Launches NROL-35 out of Vandenberg
New RL10C Engine Debuts on Classified NROL-35 Launch
Spending Boost as UK Seeks a Bigger Role in Space Activities
“There’s Something We Just don’t Understand About the Internal Structure of the Universe”
India to Launch Astronaut Capsule, Big Rocket
Airborne Observatory SOFIA Returns to California
“NASA’s 2015 Budget Increase is All but Confirmed
NASA Budget Boon in Late-Night Appropriation Bill”
NASA, JAXA Reach Asteroid Sample-Sharing Agreement
NASA’s Morpheus Completes Successful Final Test at KSC
Photos: Soyuz Booster Rolls Out to French Guiana Launch Pad
NASA’s CATS Instrument Ready to Study Effects of Clouds and Aerosols on Earth
Russia Considers Building its Own Space Station
NASA Rover Finds Active and Ancient Organic Chemistry on Mars
Early Results from NASA’s MAVEN Mars Orbiter Provide Clues Pointing to Atmospheric Loss
3D Printed Rocket Propulsion System for Satellites Successfully Test-Fired
NASA’s MESSENGER Team Offers Chance to Name Craters on Mercury
European Comet Lander May Wake Up from Space Slumber
“Perfect Storm” Quenching Star Formation Around a Supermassive Black Hole
Compact Galaxy Groups Reveal Details of Close Encounters

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We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Friday at 12:00 pm Pacific / 3:00 pm Eastern. You can watch us live on Google+, Universe Today, or the Universe Today YouTube page.

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Fraser Cain

Fraser Cain is the publisher of Universe Today. He's also the co-host of Astronomy Cast with Dr. Pamela Gay. Here's a link to my Mastodon account.