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Five reasons the world won't end in 2012

Pointing to the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar on Dec. 21, 2012, many doomsday believers think that life as we know it on Earth has entered it's final year. NASA begs to differ.
Quadrantid meteors and 11 other big skywatching events of 2012

What lies ahead sky-wise for 2012? Joe Rao, SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist, selected what he considers to be the top 12 "skylights" for this coming year,
The 9 weirdest things ever flown on the Space Shuttle

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Spectacular photo shows Mars rover tracks from space

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the Curiosity rover's progress as it zig-zags over the Red Planet's surface.
MacGyver in space? Astronauts fix space station with toothbrush. (+video)

Using makeshift tools that included a spare toothbrush, a pair of spacewalking astronauts successfully fixed a vital power system aboard the International Space Station.
NASA telescope detects 'bonanza' of humongous black holes

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey telescope has spotted millions of 'supermassive' black holes gorging on matter, says the space agency.
Sugar molecules – a building block of life – spotted orbiting star (+video)

Astronomers have spotted molecules of glycolaldehyde, a simple sugar that is one of the ingredients in the formation of RNA, orbiting a star some 400 light years away.
Tatooine-like planet: Astronomers spot pair of planets orbiting twin suns (+video)

Tatooine-like planet: In a cosmic first, astronomers have discovered two alien planets orbiting two stars, not unlike Luke Skywalker's home planet in the Star Wars films.
Mars rover beams back spectacular photos, NASA greeting

Mars rover: NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has beamed home some extraordinary images of Mount Sharp, the three-mile-high mountain near the rover's landing site. Curiosity has also sent back a greeting from NASA administrator Charles Bolden, the first human voice ever to be broadcast from another planet.
Obama hails Neil Armstrong as an American hero (+video)

Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the moon, 'delivered a moment of human achievement that will never be forgotten,' said President Obama in a statement marking the astronaut's passing.
Scientists probe mysterious origins of humongous star explosions

Super-luminous supernovas, the biggest known explosions in space, remain shrouded in mystery. But scientists are beginning to understand their origins, which could help explain the creation of heavy elements in the early universe.
NASA space radiation probes launch delayed 24 hours

NASA launch director Tim Dunn said the launch countdown was going well until his team spotted a frequency drift in the tracking beacon used by the Air Force's Eastern Range to track the Atlas 5 rocket after liftoff.
Is NASA focusing too much on Mars? (+video)

Even as the Curiosity Mars rover was still testing its equipment in preparation for its surface mission, NASA has unveiled plans for another unmanned mission to Mars. Is the agency playing favorites?
Ray Bradbury: Why NASA named Curiosity landing site after SciFi writer

Ray Bradbury is the new name for the Mars rover landing site in the Gale Crater. NASA chose Ray Bradbury to honor the iconic writer's legacy and dedication to Mars exploration, NASA officials said.
Mars rover Curiosity to go for first drive Weds. (+video)

Engineers successfully tested the rover's steering abilities on Monday, and now they're ready to turn its six wheels for the first time since Curiosity landed on Mars on Aug. 5, officials announced today.
Mirrors completed for successor to Hubble telescope

Made by Ball Aerospace, the 18 beryllium mirror segments for the James Webb Space Telescope are ready to be delivered to NASA.
Curiosity Mars rover flexes its arm for the first time (+video)

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover unfolded its seven-foot, five-jointed robotic arm on Monday, passing a critical test before the rover embarks on its first drive on the Red Planet.
Next Mars mission to probe Red Planet's core

Scheduled to land on Mars sometime in 2016, NASA's next planetary mission will measure seismic waves and heat flows through the Red Planet's interior.
Curiosity Mars rover gets ready to roll (+video)

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, which hasn't yet moved from its landing spot, is set to make its first tracks on the Red Planet on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Leaky valve on space station delays spacewalk (+video)

A sign of a leaky valve on the International Space Station held up Russian cosmonauts for nearly an hour Monday, as flight controllers sought to isolate the suspected leak.
Curiosity rover begins vaporizing Mars, one rock at a time (+video)

A Martian rock dubbed 'Coronation' became the first victim of the Curiosity rover's ChemCam, which vaporizes rocks with a laser and examines the sparks to determine the chemical composition of the Red Planet's surface.
Why Curiosity zaps Mars rock with 30 laser blasts (+video)

Curiosity fired the first laser gun ever on Mars Sunday. Curiosity fires laser pulses that turn solid rock into an ionized plasma in order to analyze its composition.
NASA's Curiosity rover prepares to fire laser beam at Martian surface

Before embarking on its maiden drive on the Red Planet, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover will fire its rock-vaporizing laser beam. A chemical sensor will sniff the vaporized bits to determine their composition.
A Q&A with mohawk-festooned rocket scientist Bobak Ferdowsi

Bobak Ferdowsi, a Curiosity Mars rover flight director at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is now known worldwide as 'Mohawk Guy,' for his patriotic hairstyle seen by the millions who watched the rover's successful landing on August 5.
Mystery continues: Why is the sun 'too round'?

New measurements show the shape of our sun is 'too round' to match the theories about the forces at work on the sun.
Primary violent space weather concern for next decade: the sun

A new report emphasizes the need for research to better understand the sun, how it interacts with Earth and other bodies in the solar system, and the origins of potentially harmful space weather.
The unprecedented Phoenix Galaxy Cluster: How many stars does it form? (+video)

Here's a by-the-numbers look at the Phoenix cluster, which researchers say could yield key insights into how galaxies and colossal clusters evolve:
NASA: Mars rover Curiosity brain surgery complete (+video)

After a four-day software upgrade, NASA's Curiosity is ready to continue its 2-year search for Martian microbes. In about a week, the rover will go for its first test drive. Once it begins moving, it will be able to travel about the length of a football field daily.