Science

NASA has released the most up-to-date map of the universe in cooperation with the ESA and Planck space mission, and has discovered that the universe is older than believed, 13.8 billion years old, it was previously thought the universe was 13.7 billion year old, that's a 100 million year difference.

In fact, NASA says they also learned that the rate of the universe's expansion is slower than had been believed and is now expanding at the rate of 67.15 plus or minus 1.2 kilometers/second/megaparsec — is less than prior estimates.

SpaceX launched one of its Dragon rockets this morning on a resupply mission to the International Space Station, ISS, but ran into problems nine minutes after liftoff.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said three of the four thrusters did not ignite as planned.

Speaking from the company's Hawthorne, CA mission control, Musk said he wants at least two of the four sets to kick in before the solar panels are extended.

The rocket is due to arrive at the ISS carrying 1 ton of much needed cargo, such as air purifiers and other maintenance gear.

NASA has reported that its SOHO, Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, has detected two large Coronal Mass Ejections, CME, from the sun on November 23, travel as approximately 375 miles per second, or 1,350,000 mph.

The two earth directed CME's are expected to reach earth sometime on or about Nov 25-26 and are expected to create geomagnetic storms and auroras near the North and South poles as the CME particles make contact with earth's magnetosphere, or magnetic envelope.

Mars - [Houston, TX]

NASA's Martian rover Curiosity has found a rock on Mars that is not like other rocks examined so far, in fact it's very earth like according to Edward Stolper of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, who works on the mission with NASA.

“This rock is a close match in chemical composition to an unusual but well-known type of igneous rock found in many volcanic provinces on Earth" said Stopler.