The Curiosity lander has successfully reached the surface of Mars and appears to be intact. Images began appearing at 10:40 PM PDT. Curiosity is the most complex automated space mission every attempted by mankind.

The craft’s descent-stage retrorockets fired as it descended, slowing its approach to the surface. In the most difficult part of the landing, nylon cords lowered the rover to the ground in the "sky crane" maneuver. When the spacecraft sensed touchdown, the connecting cords were severed, and the descent stage flew out of the way. The landing took place at about three o’clock in the afternoon Mars time at the landing site, and 10:31 PM PDT at JPL mission control.
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NASA satellites reveal that the surface of Greenland’s massive ice sheet has melted this month over an unusually large area. NASA has been monitoring the Greenland melt for 30 years, and they’re calling this one "unprecedented," partly because it’s so large and also because it occurred at the COLDEST part of the country, Summit station. The thawed area went from 40% of the ice sheet to 97% in just four days, starting on July 8th.
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A team of amateur astronomers have tracked down the X-37B spacecraft, launched on a 15-month clandestine mission by NASA in April ril from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This unmanned, reusable spacecraft has been developed by the US military. But why is it a secret? In 2010, an identical unmanned spacecraft returned to Earth after 7 months in orbit.

Precise objectives and cost of the program are classified, and some astronomers have speculated that it could be part of a new generation of spy satellites, or a step towards weaponizing space.
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NASA may return to space after all–but not to explore, to MINE the valuable minerals that are on asteroids, in a NEW TYPE of "Gold Rush." And we may use robots to do the dirty work.

Space scientists think that robots will be the astronauts of the future. They’ll explore the universe, find and identify extraterrestrial life and even clean up space debris in the process. In the April 24th edition of the New York Times, Kenneth Chang writes: "Perhaps it will be a platinum rush that finally opens up the final frontier."
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