May 19, 1910: Halley’s Comet Brushes Earth With Its Tail

1910: Earth passes through the tail of Halley’s comet. The anticipation of its arrival creates quite a stir. In some circles, the comet’s unusually close approach is seen as a sign of impending doom, a notion the down-market press does little to dispel.
The comet was named for British astronomer Edmond Halley, the first to determine [...]

Intricate space surgery revives Hubble camera

In what amounted to electronic brain surgery, a space-suited astronaut cut through shielding on a broken camera deep inside the Hubble Space Telescope on Saturday, removed a cover plate that wasn’t designed to be taken off in orbit, used a custom tool to pull out four blown circuit boards, and then installed a fresh set.
Running [...]