|  Spacewalking Astronauts Tackle 'High-Flying Plumbing' Job on Space Station  | Two American astronauts took a marathon spacewalk on Friday, spending nearly eight hours outside the International Space Station on a truly out-of-this-world plumbing job. NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindrgren spent seven hours and 48 minutes working outside the station to perform the vital maintenance on their spacecraft. The duo's first-ever spacewalk last week, commanded by Kelly, had the two on separate tracks as they performed a variety of long-term maintenance tasks outside the station.
| Read More » Monsanto to Mexico honey farmers: Our soya seeds not to blame for woes  | By P.J. Huffstutter and Tomás Sarmiento CHICAGO/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Monsanto Co on Friday denied that plantings of its genetically modified soybeans have impacted bees, led to deforestation or caused damage to the honey production industry in two Mexican states. Mexico's Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked a move to allow the planting of genetically modified soya seeds in the southern Mexican states of Campeche and Yucatan, arguing that indigenous communities that had fought the move should be consulted before it was approved.
| Read More » Astronauts carry out marathon spacewalk to recharge cooling system By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Two U.S. astronauts spent nearly eight hours spacewalking outside the International Space Station on Friday, grappling with an escape of potentially hazardous ammonia as they switched out a cooling system, NASA said. Station commander Scott Kelly and flight engineer Kjell Lindgren left the station's airlock around 6:30 a.m. EST for what turned out to be a spacewalk lasting nearly eight hours. A few flakes of ammonia escaped when the cooling system was being recharged, but posed no threat to the astronauts and required no decontamination before they returned to the station, said NASA mission commentator Rob Navias. Read More » Six Surprising Facts About 'The Martian'  | Here are six surprising things you might not know about this Red Planet survival story. Based on the novel by Andy Weir, "The Martian" tells the story of astronaut Mark Watney, who, during a mission to the Red Planet, is mistaken for dead by his crewmates and left behind. In order to survive on Mars, Watney has to rely on his incredible problem-solving skills and his sense of humor.
| Read More » How to Make History as a NASA Astronaut Without Walking on Mars  | But with the space agency's schedules pegging a journey to the Red Planet in the mid-2030s timeframe, it may fall to even more future recruits to become the first astronauts to walk on Mars. That's not to say there aren't opportunities to make history as a new NASA astronaut. Although there have been more than 365 NASA astronauts to date, there remains firsts to be achieved and all that you have to do to claim them is get chosen for the corps.
| Read More » 'Star Wars' International Trailer Is Packed with New Footage  | Audiences thought they'd have to wait until December to see more scenes from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," but a newly released international trailer features as-yet-unseen footage. More droids, more ships, more Princess Leia, a cameo by C-3PO and Chewbacca blowing some stuff up are among the new bits of footage that appear in the international trailer (released today) that were not featured in the English-language trailer released in October. The villain, Kylo Ren, rasps, "I will complete our destiny," and the cryptic use of the word "our" has people speculating about his identity.
| Read More » See the Moon and 3 Planets Shine Before Dawn This Weekend  | A spectacular gathering of three bright planets and a lovely waning crescent moon will be the chief celestial attraction in the predawn sky this weekend, with the moon, Venus, Mars and Jupiter all making an appearance. On Saturday (Nov. 7), three of these objects – Venus, Mars and the moon – will appear to crowd into a relatively small spot in the sky. On Saturday morning, the moon will shine less than 2 degrees to the right of Venus (your closed fist held out at arm's length covers 10 degrees of the night sky).
| Read More » Monsanto to Mexico honey farmers: Our soya seeds not to blame for woes  | By P.J. Huffstutter and Tomás Sarmiento CHICAGO/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Monsanto Co on Friday denied that plantings of its genetically modified soybeans have impacted bees, led to deforestation or caused damage to the honey production industry in two Mexican states. Mexico's Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked a move to allow the planting of genetically modified soya seeds in the southern Mexican states of Campeche and Yucatan, arguing that indigenous communities that had fought the move should be consulted before it was approved.
| Read More » F-35 Fighter Jet Blasts Through 1st-Ever Airborne Gun Test  | A four-barrel machine gun blasts a spray of rounds into midair. It was the first of a series of trials meant to test the functionality of the jet's internal 25-millimeter machine gun, according to Lockheed Martin, the defense contractor that developed the fighter jet. The plane is equipped with a four-barrel machine gun, which remains hidden under a trap door in the left wing of the plane, near the cockpit, until it's time to fire.
| Read More » Jetpack Pilot Soars Over NYC's Hudson River, Salutes Lady Liberty  | A man wearing a jetpack soared across the Hudson River in New York City on Tuesday (Nov. 3), looping around the Statue of Liberty before landing safely on the deck of a boat. The jetpack-wearing joyrider was David Mayman, an Australian entrepreneur who has spent the past 10 years designing and building prototypes of the wearable flying device.
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