Broken up pieces of a retired German satellite are expected to plummet to earth, pretty much anywhere, sometime between Friday and Monday. The satellite, which is the size of a minivan, was launched in 1990 and retired in 1999, and the German space agency lost contact with it a while ago, as the Associated Press reports. It's expected to re-enter the atmosphere at 17,400 mph, and scientists expect to spot it and be able to kind of predict where it will land within about a 10-hour window of impact, but at the moment they have no clue. more ›

Today, January 28, marks the 25th anniversary of the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster. Back in 1986, the Challenger came apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members: Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, and Judith Resnik. more ›

Next Monday, reports BCN (via SF Appeal), 16 San Francisco-based mice will be blasted into space to test the furry little critters' immune system response to zero gravity. The sweet 16, if you will, "will remain there for 13-16 days at zero gravity." When the mice return to Earth, they will be compared with 16 other land mice to see how both groups react to "simulated infection." Millie Hughes-Fulford, director of the Laboratory for Cell Growth at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, explained ""From the beginning of the U.S. Apollo moon program, we've known that about half of our astronauts develop suppressed immune systems, either during flight or shortly afterwards." Godspeed, little mice. more ›

A small bag of cocaine was found in space shuttle Discovery's hangar at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The cocaine was discovered Tuesday outside of a bathroom... more ›

Forty years ago today, inside a Culver City movie studio, the lunar module parked on the alleged surface of the Moon, and out came a couple of guys who made history as the first human beings to land up there. The first one to emerge from the pod was Neil Armstrong, who made some sort of famous quote about baby steps and giant leaps and kind men, followed by Buzz Aldrin. Michael Collins, sadly, had to keep the engine running by orbiting above as the two men played with each other on the moon's surface. more ›

Our sister site LAist informs us, via the Mars Phoenix Lander's Twitter, that water ice has been found on the planet Mars today. At around 5:15 p.m., NASA folks exclaimed, "Are you ready to celebrate? Well, get ready: We have ICE!!!!! Yes, ICE, *WATER ICE* on Mars! w00t!!! Best day ever!!" more ›

Christopher Burt Wiltsee, 57, of Morgan Hill pleaded guilty this week to a charge of child pornography possession. This makes him the third ex-NASA employee to get busted fo having kiddie porn on his government-owned computer. According to the Gate: more ›

Well, it won't be destroyed so much as it will be sent into space. And then vaporized, or zapped, or something. more ›