This week we explored the possibility of vegans living on Mars, questioned the age of the moon and tracked a huge sun storm. Vote for your top space story of the week:
A look at two different NASA projects to develop robotic lunar landers: the Robotic Lander Development Project at Marshall Space Flight Center and Project Morpheus at the Johnson Space Center.[<a href="http://www.space.com/12626-nasa-robot-moon-lander-projects.html">Full Story</a>]
The comet Elenin is passing through the inner solar system right now and will make its closest approach to Earth on Oct. 16. But despite hype and speculation, comet Elenin poses no threat to Earth, NASA says.[<a href="http://www.space.com/12653-comet-elenin-earth-threat-nasa-answers.html">Full Story</a>]
A 6-mile-wide asteroid that struck off the coast of present-day Mexico 65 million years ago induced ecological changes that wiped out the dinosaurs. Inevitably, an Earth-shaking chunk of space debris will strike again.[<a href="http://www.space.com/12645-asteroid-deflection-doomsday-earth-capability.html">Full Story</a>]
The moon may actually be millions of years younger than previously thought, a new study reveals.[<a href="http://www.space.com/12658-moon-younger-lunar-age-evidence.html">Full Story</a>]
All life on Earth relies on a standard set of 20 molecules called amino acids to build the proteins that carry out life's essential actions. But did it have to be this way? [<a href="http://www.space.com/12665-alien-life-chemical-code-amino-acids.html">Full Story</a>]
Researchers say they can now detect sunspots, or the strong magnetic fields that emerge from the Sun’s interior and erupt onto its surface, a full day or two before they appear, posing a potential boon for space weather prediction. [<a href="http://www.space.com/12668-sunspot-prediction-solar-storms-warning.html">Full Story</a>]
For the first time, scientists have watched the evolution of a huge solar storm, from its origin on the sun until its collision with Earth 93 million miles later. [<a href="http://www.space.com/12668-sunspot-prediction-solar-storms-warning.html">Full Story</a>]
Synthetic lifeforms engineered to use carbon dioxide as a raw material could help humans settle Mars one day, Craig Venter says. [<a href="http://www.space.com/12681-synthetic-life-mars-colony-craig-venter.html">Full Story</a>]
Vegans on Mars? PETA says yes, advocating for an animal-cruelty-free outpost someday on the Red Planet. [<a href="http://www.space.com/12679-vegans-mars-peta-campaign-space-food.html">Full Story</a>]
A $300 million Russian telecommunications satellite launched Aug. 18 disappeared from the view of ground controllers and the U.S. space surveillance network along with the rocket upper stage that carried it into orbit, according to industry officials and the Russian space agency, Roscosmos. But by mid-day Eastern Daylight Time Aug. 19, the U.S. Space Surveillance Network had located the Express-AM4 satellite. [<a href="http://www.space.com/12688-lost-russian-satellite-wrong-orbit.html">Full Story</a>]
