June 2005 in science

[edit] June 30, 2005

The launch of the next space shuttle mission is scheduled for July 13, 2005. (BBC)

NASA publishes pictures taken by the Cassini spacecraft showing a feature that could be a lake of liquid methane or ethane, close to the southern pole of Titan. (BBC)

The Stafford-Covey panel reports that 12 of 15 recommendations by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) were met or exceeded. It also states that the shuttle "is a safe vehicle to fly," even though three recommendations were not met. (BBC)
Countries backing the ITER fusion reactor meet in Moscow and decide that the experimental fusion reactor will be built in Cadarache, Southern France. The competing site in Japan will receive compensation. (PhysOrg) (European Commission) (BBC) (IHT)

ESA announces that the MARSIS radar experiment on board the Mars Express Orbiter is operational. (YahooNews/AFP)

The first specifically designed solar sail craft, Cosmos 1, a joint private project between Planetary Society, Cosmos Studios and the Russian Academy of Science, is launched from a Russian submarine. The rocket, however, fails 83 seconds after the launch and the chance of mission failure is "significant". (BBC) (SBS)

The BLAST telescope lands safely in the Canadian arctic after four days of taking data, while held aloft by a balloon. (CBSNews)

The supply craft Progress docks at the International Space Station, after cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev takes over control of the spacecraft. (spaceflightnow)

ESA announces that the deployment of the second MARSIS boom on the Mars Express Orbiter was a full success. (ESA)
IBM and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology announce that they are working on a computer model of the brain, creating a 3-D simulation of the neocortex. (CNN Money)

The second MARSIS antenna boom of the Mars Express Orbiter is being deployed. Mission engineers are evaluating the success of this operation. (BBC)
The space shuttle Discovery returns to the launch pad in Cape Canaveral for a planned launch on July 13. (YahooNews/AP)

An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 strikes about 80 miles (130 kilometers) off the coast of northern California on Tuesday night, briefly prompting a tsunami warning along the Pacific coast but with no immediate reports of damages or injuries. (AP)

A 7.9 magnitude earthquake occurs in the Andes mountains, Chile, killing at least eight persons and injuring several others. (Yahoo News) (BBC)
Astronomers announce the discovery of the smallest exoplanet, yet, with about 7.5 times Earth's mass. It orbits the star Gliese 876, where two Jupiter-like planets were previously detected. (BBC)
Red Hat releases Fedora Core 4. (ZDNet)

Dr Modadugu Vijay Gupta was awarded the World Food Prize for his development of low-cost fish farming techniques. World Food Prize

Tinkerers and innovators have devised a way to link useful data graphically using Google Maps. Vital information such as crime statistics, gas prices, dark alleyways, housing prices, and potentially much more could be displayed as pinpoints on a Google Map. Efforts to improve the technology are currently underway. (CNN)
The first Atlantic Tropical storm of the 2005 season develops south of Cuba. (CNN) (CBSnews)

Debian GNU/Linux: Version 3.1, codenamed sarge, is released. (Press release)
Apple Computer announces they will change the processors for their Macintosh computer lineup from IBM PowerPCs to Intel-made CPUs. (Ziff Davis) (BBC)

After 5 weeks of slow progress Mars Rover Opportunity is freed from the sand dune that it got stuck in April. (CNN)

Scientists claim they have sequenced the DNA of an extinct cave bear. It was extracted from the remains of animals that died about 40,000 years ago in Austria. (BBC)

A new type of sauropod has been discovered with a short, stubby neck. Unlike all other known sauropods, whose long necks could get up to four times the length of their backs, Brachytrachelopan's neck was shorter than its backbone. This species was also unable to lift its neck and head above horizontal. (National Geographic)
Astronomers announce the results of the most detailed simulation of the evolution of the Universe, using supercomputers, called the Millennium Run. (BBC)