Astronomy and Space News – June, 2011

July 1, 2011
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June 24: NASA’s next Mars rover has completed the journey from its California birthplace to Florida in preparation for launch this fall. The Mars Science Laboratory rover, also known as Curiosity, arrived late Wednesday night at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard an Air Force C-17 transport plane.

June 24: NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has discovered the best evidence

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Preparing for the Next Big Solar Storm

June 23, 2011
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In Sept. 1859, on the eve of a below-average solar cycle, the sun unleashed one of the most powerful storms in centuries. The underlying flare was so unusual, researchers still aren’t sure how to categorize it.  The blast peppered Earth with the most energetic protons in half-a-millennium, induced electrical currents that set telegraph offices on fire, and sparked Northern Lights …

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