Best Space Stories of the Week – March 6, 2016

The farthest galaxy, a mistaken announcement, and an American space hero comes home — it's Space.com's top stories of the week.

The farthest galaxy

A galaxy named GN-z11 turns out to be the farthest galaxy ever measured, thanks to Hubble Space Telescope. [Full story: Farthest Galaxy Yet Smashes Cosmic Distance Record]

Track satellites from the comfort of home

Space.com has partnered with N2YO.com to provide an online satellite tracker you can use to view overhead visitors in the night sky. [Full story: Introducing Space.com's New Satellite Tracker from N2YO]

Portrait of Mars as a young planet

New research suggests that that falling rain or snow helped carve valley networks on the red planet. [Full story: Mars' Ancient Face-Lift: Water Carved Planet's Features, Not Massive Volcano]

Not so fast, my friend

Researchers who announced the discovery of the source of a Fast Radio Burst (FRB) may have been mistaken. [Full story: Not So Fast: Discovery of Radio Burst Source May Be Flawed]

You're in the transit zone

Aliens hunting for habitable planets could use the same method we use to search for them. [Full story: Hunt for Intelligent Aliens Should Focus on 'Transit Zone']

Sabre dance

The US Air Force could borrow ideas from the Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE) developed by an British company. [Full story: US Military Set to Unveil Concepts Based on Skylon Space Plane Tech]

Eyes on the Moon Prize

The private race to the moon with $30 million in prize money is set to come to the small screen under the auspices of executive producer J.J. Abrams and Oscar-nominated director Orlando von Einsiedel. [Full story: 'Moon Shot': JJ Abrams' Web Series About Private Moon Race Coming Soon (Video)]

Where's the space rock?

A 100-foot-wide (30 meters) asteroid will zip by Earth on March 8, but details are hazy. [Full story: Uncertainty Surrounds Asteroid Near-Earth Flyby Next Week]

Take an extra day

The American hero who spent almost a year in space coincidentally arrived back on Earth on the rare date of Feb. 29. [Full story: Space Station Command Change Is One Giant Leap (Day) for Space History]

How many times must a man circle the earth?

Count up the 5,440 orbits astronaut Scott Kelly and other achievements he accomplished during his nearly one-year mission in space. [Full story: By the Numbers: Astronaut Scott Kelly's Year-in-Space Mission]