Vote Now! Best Space Stories of the Week - June 24, 2012

The God Particle, Spy Plane and China Moves to Space

CERN/ATLAS

China's successful manned mission to space, the possibility of finding the 'God' particle and U.S. spy planes are just a few of the space stories that made headlines.

Take a look at our picks for the best space stories of the last week and vote for your favorite here:

FIRST STOP: China Successfully Docks Manned Space Capsule at Orbiting Module

China Successfully Docks Manned Space Capsule at Orbiting Module

CNTV

Chinese astronauts docked two spaceships in orbit for the first time Monday (June 18), marking a vital milestone in the country's quest to build a manned space station in Earth orbit. [Full Story]

NEXT: NASA Voyager 1 Spacecraft Nears Interstellar Space

NASA Voyager 1 Spacecraft Nears Interstellar Space

NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's venerable Voyager 1 probe appears to be at the edge of the solar system. [Full Story]

NEXT: Moon's Tides Affect Humongous Atom Smasher, Too

Moon's Tides Affect Humongous Atom Smasher, Too

CERN

The moon, which pulls Earth's seas in and out with its gravity, similarly affects the Large Hadron Collider in Europe, requiring physicists to make periodic adjustments to the extremely sensitive machine. [Full Story]

NEXT: Is Chaos in 'Seeking a Friend for the End of the World' Realistic?

Is Chaos in 'Seeking a Friend for the End of the World' Realistic?

Anonymous Content, Indian Paintbrush, Mandate Pictures

In the film “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World,” a killer asteroid is headed to Earth, and humans have one month left to live. The film depicts a range of human reactions to the impending apocalypse. Are they realistic? How would people really react if the end of the world were approaching? [Full Story]

NEXT: Air Force Launches US Spy Satellite

Air Force Launches US Spy Satellite on Secret Mission

Pat Corkery, United Launch Alliance

A new spy satellite launched today (June 20) for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office on a clandestine mission for national security. [Full Story]

NEXT: Private Asteroid-Hunting Deep Space Telescope

Private Asteroid-Hunting Deep Space Telescope to be Unveiled June 28

Don Davis

A group of scientists will unveil an audacious plan for the first privately funded deep space telescope next week - a mission that aims to map the inner solar system for potentially dangerous asteroids. [Full Story]

NEXT: First Stars in the Universe

First Stars in the Universe May Soon Be Detected

NASA, ESA, and S. Beckwith (STScI) and the HUDF Team

A new study aiming to simulate conditions in the early universe has found tantalizing clues suggesting it may be possible to detect signals from the first stars. [Full Story]

NEXT: Huge Moon Crater's Water Ice Supply

Huge Moon Crater's Water Ice Supply Revealed

NASA/GSFC/SVS

New observations of the huge Shackleton crater at the moon's south pole, a spot earmarked for potential human exploration because it may contain water ice, but may be drier than previously thought. [Full Story]

NEXT: Happy Summer Solstice!

Happy Summer Solstice! How to Watch the Season Change Online

NASA/Kathryn Hansen

The Slooh Space Camera is hosting a live solar show this week to celebrate Summer Solstice and explore recent Sun spot activity. [Full Story]

NEXT: Odd Alien Planets So Close They See 'Planetrise'

Odd Alien Planets So Close Together They See 'Planetrise'

David Aguilar, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

NASA's Kepler space telescope has revealed two alien planets around a distant star, but they are the odd couple of extrasolar worlds. One planet is a so-called super-Earth, while the other much more like Neptune, scientists say. [Full Story]

NEXT: Mars Interior as Wet as Earth's

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Space.com Staff
News and editorial team

Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.