2012 doomsday prediction nothing but a hoax, says NASA scientist

October 12th, 2009 LONDON - A Mayan elder has insisted that the year 2012 will not bring the end of the world, despite claims that a Mayan calendar shows that time will "run out" on December 21 of that year. A significant time period for the Mayans does end on the date, and enthusiasts have found a series of astronomical alignments they say coincide in 2012, including one that happens roughly only once every 25,800 years.

October 8th, 2009 Correction: Iranian nuclear scientist storyTEHRAN, Iran — In an Oct. 7 story about the disappearance of an Iranian nuclear scientist, The Associated Press erroneously reported that the Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat identified an Iranian who disappeared in Georgia as a second nuclear scientist.

September 25th, 2009 London, Sept 25 (ANI): The world will end on 21 December 2012, claims "web-bot" technology that has pushed apocalyptic prophecy into the internet age. According to web's conspiracy theorists, the bots accurately predicted the September 11 attacks and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, and now they believe that a cataclysm of some sort will devastate the planet on 21 December, 2012.

September 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - India's maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan has been successful in finding traces of water on the lunar surface, the US space agency NASA said here Thursday, and thanked the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the partnership. A National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) official said that traces of water and hydroxyl, a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, was also found in the lunar soil.

September 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - As news trickled out about Indian maiden lunar mission tracing water molecules on the moon's surface, scientists rejoiced at the discovery and hope that it will pave the way for growing vegetation in the earth's natural satellite in future. I am really very happy to know that the the NASA payload on Chandrayaan-1 has traced water.

September 18th, 2009 Veteran crew named for final space shuttle flightWASHINGTON — NASA's chief astronaut will shut off the lights on America's space shuttle program. NASA announced Friday the crew for the last scheduled space shuttle mission, targeted for next September.

September 17th, 2009 Coldest place in the solar system? Right nearbyWASHINGTON — Astronomers have found the coldest spot in our solar system and it may be a little close for comfort. It's on our moon, right nearby.

September 2nd, 2009 PANAJI - In a considerable downer for space conspiracy theorists, Chandrayaan-1's terrain-mapper camera has recorded images of the landing site of US spaceship Apollo 15 and tracks of its lunar rovers that were used by astronauts to travel on moon's surface nearly four decades ago, a scientist said Wednesday. Prakash Chauhan of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the images captured by the hyper-spectral camera on board Chandrayaan-1 debunked conspiracy theories that have claimed that the Apollo 15, the fourth US mission to land on the moon was a hoax.

August 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA scientists have placed about a dozen monitoring 'spiderbots' inside the volcanic crater in Mount St Helens in the US, which are high-tech devices that can detect an impending eruption. Mount St. Helens is one of the most active volcanoes in the US.

July 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Jupiter appears to have again been hit by a speeding celestial object that left a giant dark scar in the giant gaseous planet's atmosphere, NASA astronomers said. The US space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory received a tip early Monday from Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley who had spied the spot near the planet's south pole.

July 21st, 2009 Aussie stargazer spots scar from Jupiter collisionLOS ANGELES — An amateur stargazer in Australia spotted an Earth-sized gash on Jupiter, possibly caused by a collision with a comet, NASA scientists say. Using an infrared telescope on Hawaii, NASA scientists found evidence that Jupiter was apparently struck in recent days near its south pole.

June 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA, along with Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, known as METI, have released a new digital topographic map of Earth that covers more of our planet than ever before. The map was produced with detailed measurements from NASA's Terra spacecraft.

June 17th, 2009 NASA aims for unmanned moon rocket launch ThursdayWASHINGTON — NASA plans to launch an unmanned rocket to the moon Thursday, the first such mission in a decade. The space agency announced plans for the Cape Canaveral launch Wednesday after deciding to postpone a space shuttle mission because of a hydrogen gas leak.

May 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA researchers are using satellite data to cultivate the most accurate estimates of soil moisture, which would improve global crop forecasting. Soil moisture is essential for seeds to germinate and for crops to grow.

May 9th, 2009 Warning: Sunspot cycle beginning to riseWASHINGTON — When the sun sneezes it's Earth that gets sick. It's time for the sun to move into a busier period for sunspots, and while forecasters expect a relatively mild outbreak by historical standards, one major solar storm can cause havoc with satellites and electrical systems here.