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Is it an alien signal? An interdimensional portal? A supervillainous hypnosis ray? This mysterious spiral burst into the night sky over Northern Norway, leaving witnesses wondering just what caused it. More »
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At Burning Man, the annual arts festival, mutant vehicles plod across Nevada's Black Rock Desert. And this year's art cars include a fully-functional spider walker, a remote-controlled trilobite, and a mobile mammoth skeleton. More »
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We're finally getting a new space race — between China and India, which just launched its new Moon probe, Chandrayaan-1, today. China already launched its Chang'e orbiter last year, and "today we are trying to catch them, catch that gap, bridge the gap," the director of India's space agency told Reuters. But that doesn't mean NASA is out of the picture altogether — India's rocket is carrying a couple of devices for the U.S. agency, including one to look for ice deposits in the moon's polar region. And NASA plans to launch its own orbiter next year. Click through for another couple of images of the gorgeous Chandrayaan-1. More »
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A group of secretive rocket designers have defected from NASA's rocket-building team to spearhead their own forbidden project. They spend their evenings designing Jupiter (pictured), a moon rocket they think will work far better for less money then NASA's current moon rocket, Ares, set to bring some people to the moon in 2020. With all its plans available on a site called Direct 2.0, and nearly 100 engineers working, its possible Jupiter could zoom to the moon before Ares — if it can get some funding. More »
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A communications satellite called the Thuraya-3 launched yesterday afternoon from Boeing's Sea Launch, a massive ocean vessel. Various laws of physics dictate that the best place to launch a heavy payload like a satellite is on the equator, and that's why the United Arab Emirates company Thuraya paid to use the Sea Launch pad you see here. Sea Launch is a popular rocket launch facility because two of its gigantic boat components can quickly zoom out into the middle of the Pacific — it was where Thuraya-1 and Thuraya-2 launched too. We've got a giant, beautiful picture of the Thuraya-2 blasting off four years ago below the fold. More »
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Now this is one police officer we wouldn't mind pulling over for, and that's not even counting her dangerous curves. Check out the sweet streamlining and attention to detail on that jetpack. Plus she has what looks like Iron Man-esque propulsion units in her fingerless gloves, and a red and blue tipped light-helmet to boot. No idea where she keeps her nightstick, though. Click through for the full image. More »
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A few days ago, this Ariane rocket blasted off from Kourou, French Guiana. Its payload included a telecom satellite for Africa, which is now sailing serenely overhead. Image by Jody Amiet, AFP/Getty Images. More »
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