NASA Phoenix Mission Ready for Mars Landing
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is preparing to end its long journey and begin a three-month mission to taste and sniff fistfuls of Martian soil and buried ice. The lander is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet May 25. (NASA)

New Water Reclamation System Headed for Duty on Space Station
International Space Station crews soon will have a new water reclamation system that will recycle wastewater, allowing up to six crew members to live aboard the orbiting laboratory. (NASA)

Astronomers discover missing matter

Astronomers have found a piece of the universe's puzzle that's been missing for awhile: a type of extremely hot, dense matter that is all but invisible to us. (msnbc.com)

Scientists endure Arctic for last campaign prior to CryoSat-2 launch
An international group of scientists has swapped their comfortable offices for one of the most inhospitable environments on the planet to carry out a challenging field campaign that is seen as the key to ensuring the data delivered by ESA's ice mission CryoSat will be as accurate as possible. (ESA)

Private space station prototype hits milestone

A prototype module for a private space station has passed an orbital milestone after completing its 10,000th trip around the Earth. (msnbc.com)