NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft flew past Mercury on Oct. 6th capturing amazing new images of never-before-seen terrain.

Scientists using NASA's RHESSI spacecraft have measured the roundness of the sun with unprecedented precision, and they find that it is not a perfect sphere. During years of high solar activity the sun develops a thin "cantaloupe skin" that significantly increases its apparent oblateness.

NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft is returning to Mercury. On Monday, Oct. 6, 2008, the probe will conduct the second of three planned flybys and photograph most of Mercury's remaining unseen surface.

Astronomers who count sunspots have announced that 2008 has become the "blankest year" of the Space Age. Sunspot counts are at a 50-year low, signifying a deep minimum in the 11-year cycle of solar activity.

In a briefing today at NASA headquarters, solar physicists announced that the solar wind is losing power. This development has repercussions across the solar system.

Washington DC (SPX) Oct 08, 2008 - MESSENGER is the first mission sent to orbit the planet closest to the sun. On Oct. 6, 2008, at roughly 4:40 a.m. ET, MESSENGER flew by Mercury for the second time this year.

Dulles VA (SPX) Oct 08, 2008 - Orbital Sciences has announced a major long-term commitment to the City of Chandler by unveiling its plans for an expansion of its launch vehicle research and development, engineering, manufacturing and testing facilities under a "build-to-suit" agreement with Gilbane Development Company on land adjacent to its current location on South Price Road.

Washington (AFP) Oct 6, 2008 - A US space probe successfully flew by Mercury on Monday to photograph the solar system's smallest planet, in the second of three planned passes, the US space agency NASA said.

Moscow (RIA Novosti) Oct 08, 2008 - NASA said Tuesday that its scientists had calculated a meteorite's trajectory and tracked its entry into Earth's atmosphere for the first time in the history of space exploration.

Middletown RI (SPX) Oct 08, 2008 - Taking a major step toward expanding availability of the mini-VSAT Broadband service, KVH Industries has announced that it has signed a 5-year agreement with GE International Holdings to lease satellite capacity on its GE-23 satellite to provide coverage in the Pacific Ocean via the satellite's North Pacific Ku-band Beam.

Tucson AZ (SPX) Oct 08, 2008 - A deep new image of the Virgo cluster has revealed monumental tendrils of ionized hydrogen gas 400,000 light-years long connecting the elliptical galaxy M86 and the disturbed spiral galaxy NGC 4438.

Boston MA (SPX) Oct 08, 2008 - When a treasure hunt comes up empty-handed, the hunters are understandably disappointed. But when astronomers don't find what they are looking for, the defeat can provide as much information as a successful search.

Sriharikota, India (PTI) Oct 08, 2008 - India plans to a have a new launchpad to undertake its proposed human space flight (manned mission) programme, ISRO officials said.

Geneva (AFP) Oct 7, 2008 - Human error was likely to blame for the breakdown of the world's largest atom-smasher, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) said Monday.

San Francisco (AFP) Oct 7, 2008 - The Consumer Electronics Association said Tuesday that sales of gadgets are thriving as people hunker down in their homes to weather the brutal economic storm battering world markets.

Lanzhou, China (XNA) Oct 08, 2008 - Chinese scientists on Monday unsealed a box of solid lubricant samples that were aboard the Shenzhou-7 spacecraft. They will study the material for the next six months.

Kourou, French Guiana (SPX) Oct 08, 2008 - The heavy-lift Ariane 5 for Arianespace's sixth mission of 2008 is completing its initial build-up in the Launcher Assembly Building at Europe's Spaceport as preparations continue for a late November liftoff.

London, UK (SPX) Oct 08, 2008 - The Space Experiment Competition for UK schools, which will see the winning team flying their entry on board a British-built satellite, has been won by Shrewsbury School with their proposal for an ionospheric scintillation experiment called POISE.

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Setting sun, freezing temperatures will likely spell the end for Phoenix mission.