Einstein documents digitization project complete
Princeton, N.J. (UPI) Dec 5, 2014 -
Anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can now explore more than 80,000 pages of documents left behind by the world's most famous physics genius, Albert Einstein.
The now-complete Digital Einstein project - the online phase of the Einstein Papers project and a collaboration between Princeton University Press and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (to whom the scientist beque ...
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Europe okays building phase of largest telescope
Paris (AFP) Dec 04, 2014 -
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) said Thursday it would go ahead with construction of the world's most powerful land-based telescope, a behemoth designed to locate planets in other solar systems.
Building work on the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) has been authorised by ESO's governing body after funding pledges exceeded 90 percent of the roughly one-billion-euro ($1.25-bi ...
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Star-gazing tourists flock to Africa's darkest place
The Namib Desert, Namibia (AFP) Dec 05, 2014 -
Not many tourist spots boast of being dark and difficult to get to, but the Namib desert is one of a number of remote "Dark Sky Reserves" drawing in stargazers for a celestial safari.
In the cool night air, an urbane Austrian tourist climbs rocky steps behind a chic hotel lodge and peers into a matt-black metal cylinder containing a spine of mirrors and lenses that reveal the universe.
" ...
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Dawn Snaps Its Best-Yet Image of Dwarf Planet Ceres
Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 06, 2014 -
The Dawn spacecraft has delivered a glimpse of Ceres, the largest body in the main asteroid belt, in a new image taken 740,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers) from the dwarf planet. This is Dawn's best image yet of Ceres as the spacecraft makes its way toward this unexplored world.
"Now, finally, we have a spacecraft on the verge of unveiling this mysterious, alien world. Soon it will reve ...
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Orion flight marks 'milestone' for US space program: NASA
Cape Canaveral (AFP) Dec 05, 2014 -
The US space agency's Orion capsule circled the Earth twice before plunging into the ocean Friday in a flawless test flight that NASA called a "significant milestone" in the journey to Mars.
The mission was the first in more than four decades of a new US spacecraft intended to carry humans to the Moon or beyond.
The unmanned vessel soared into space at 7:05 am (1205 GMT) atop a United La ...
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Orion launch is trial by fire for Apollo-era heat shield
Cape Canaveral (AFP) Dec 05, 2014 -
NASA's Orion vehicle aims to carry humans farther into space than ever before, but its protective heat shield is basically the same as that used for the Apollo Moon missions four decades ago.
"We know it worked," said Orion program manager Mark Geyer after the test flight of concluded successfully on Friday.
But Geyer and others are eager for a closer look at exactly how well the shield ...
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NASA's Orion pushes boundaries of human spaceflight
Cape Canaveral (AFP) Dec 05, 2014 -
A new US space capsule, Orion, circled the Earth twice before plunging into the ocean Friday in a flawless test flight that opened a new chapter in human deep space travel.
The mission was the first in more than four decades of a new US spacecraft intended to carry humans to the Moon, an asteroid, or Mars.
"We as a species are meant to push human presence into the solar system, and this ...
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