Vote Now! Best Space Stories of the Week - Sept. 15, 2013

Voyager 1 Enters Interstellar Space, Mysterious Chinese Satellites & More

Xinhua/Yan Yan

Last week new data indicated Voyager 1 entered interstellar space, experts were puzzled by Chinese satellites and scientists speculated that a deep impact comet probe may be spinning out of control.

FIRST STOP: It's Official! Voyager 1 Spacecraft Has Left Solar System

It's Official! Voyager 1 Spacecraft Has Left Solar System

NASA/JPL-Caltech

New data from NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft, which has been hurtling away from the Sun since it was launched in 1977, indicates that the spacecraft has indeed left the comfort of the heliosphere — the bubble of hot, charged particles surrounding the Solar System — and entered into a region of cold, dark space, known as interstellar space. [Full Story]

[ Voyager 1 Spacecraft Enters Interstellar Space: Complete Coverage ]

NEXT: Mysterious Actions of Chinese Satellites Have Experts Guessing

Mysterious Actions of Chinese Satellites Have Experts Guessing

Xinhua/Yan Yan

Space experts tracking a set of Chinese spacecraft are puzzled by the satellites, which are being cast in some circles as potential testbeds for anti-satellite hardware while others contend they are prosaic probes to sharpen the country’s overall space skills. [Full Story]

NEXT: NASA's Deep Impact Comet Probe May Be Spinning Out of Control

NASA's Deep Impact Comet Probe May Be Spinning Out of Control

NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's well-traveled Deep Impact spacecraft, which slammed a probe into one comet and then flew by another, may be drifting out of control in deep space and starving for power. [Full Story]

NEXT: Astronaut Gave 'Gravity' Advice to Sandra Bullock from Space

Astronaut Gave 'Gravity' Advice to Sandra Bullock from Space

NASA/Warner Bros. via collectSPACE.com

Cady Coleman had just completed watching Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side" when the actress reached out to her for her advice. A NASA astronaut, Coleman was in space at the time. Bullock, meanwhile, was preparing for Alfonso Cuarón's new movie, "Gravity." [Full Story]

NEXT: Soyuz Space Capsule Landing Glitch No Danger to Crew, NASA Says

Soyuz Space Capsule Landing Glitch No Danger to Crew, NASA Says

NASA

Three astronauts who flew back to Earth from the International Space Station on Tuesday night (Sept. 10) were in no danger during their descent despite a minor glitch onboard their Russian-built Soyuz spacecraft, according to NASA officials. [Full Story]

NEXT: One-Way Mars Colony Project Draws 200,000 Volunteers

One-Way Mars Colony Project Draws 200,000 Volunteers

Mars One / Bryan Versteeg

A group that's looking for the first Red Planet colonists received applications from more than 200,000 prospective astronauts vying for a spot on a one-way trip to Mars. [Full Story]

NEXT: Touchdown! US-Russian Crew Returns to Earth on Soyuz Space Capsule

Touchdown! US-Russian Crew Returns to Earth on Soyuz Space Capsule

NASA TV

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft safely touched down on the steppes of Kazakhstan in Central Asia to return a Russian-U.S. crew home. The Soyuz landed at about 10:59 p.m. EDT to return a NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts. [Full Story]

NEXT: Millionaire Space Tourists Relive Cosmic Potty Training

Millionaire Space Tourists Relive Cosmic Potty Training

Stacey David Severn from StarTalk Radio

Two of the world's first space tourists, entrepreneur Dennis Tito and computer game developer Richard Garriott, traded war stories about their astronaut toilet training in NYC. See how their training, or lack of it, paid off. [Full Story]

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Space.com Staff
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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.