Favorable chemistry and episodes with thin films of liquid water during ongoing, long-term climate cycles may sometimes make the area where NASA's Phoenix Mars mission landed last year a favorable environment for microbes.

The Helix Nebula, NGC 7293, is not only one of the most interesting and beautiful planetary nebulae; it is also one of the closest nebulae to Earth, at a distance of only 710 light years (219 pc) away. A new image, taken with an infrared camera on the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii, shows tens of thousands of previously unseen comet-shaped knots inside the nebula. The sheer number of knots -- more than have ever been seen before -- looks like a massive fireworks display in space.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has transmitted its first images since reaching the moon on June 23. The spacecraft's two cameras, collectively known as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC, were activated June 30. The cameras are working well and have returned images of a region in the lunar highlands south of Mare Nubium (Sea of Clouds). As the moon rotates beneath LRO, LROC gradually will build up photographic maps of the lunar surface.

Three members of the International Space Station crew will board a Soyuz spacecraft attached to the station and move it to a different docking port on Thursday, July 2. The journey will be broadcast live on NASA Television.

Image: Buzz Aldrin's Speedmaster Larger image

It is one of the defining events in history: on the 21st of July 1969 at 02:56:20 GMT, Neil Armstrong stepped onto the Moon and was joined a few minutes later by Buzz Aldrin. For a brief moment in time, the Apollo 11 mission united people from all over the world in a way that nothing else ever had. Everyone of a certain age remembers exactly where they were when they heard the words, "The Eagle has landed."

As America celebrates its 233rd birthday this holiday weekend, there will be an extra light in the sky along with the fireworks. Across the country, Americans will be treated to spectacular views of the International Space Station as it orbits 220 miles above Earth. Many locations will have unusually long sighting opportunities of as much as five minutes, weather permitting, as the station flies almost directly overhead.

Last few days remaining to win a scholarship to attend IAC'09 in Korea through SGAC "Move An Asteroid 2009" Competition! "Move An Asteroid 2009" is an International Student and Young Professional Technical Paper Competition. The competition accepts individuals or team (maximum of 3 individuals) under the age of 33 to submit a 3-10 page technically detailed paper on a unique and innovative concept for deflecting an asteroid/comet with at least 50 metre of diameter. Please visit www.spacegeneration.org/asteroid for more information. The deadline for entries is 26th July 2009. The winner will be sponored to attend IAC and SGC '09 in Daejeon, South Korea. The entries should be send to asteroid@spacegeneration.org