SCIENCE IN THE NEWS WEEKLY
Kepler Data Suggest That 'Solar Systems' Are Common
NASA's Kepler mission has added 26 new planets in 11 star systems to the list of confirmed exoplanets. The find tripled the number of known planet systems with multiple worlds that transit--or pass in front of--their stars. A new study concludes that such multiplanet hauls will become more common, because multiple-planet systems are much less likely than single candidates to turn out to be false positives.
In other space news, a cluster of European satellites has detected clouds of "cold plasma" that reach from the top of Earth's atmosphere to at least a quarter the distance to the moon.
Sometime in early 2014 NASA intends to take its first major step toward rebuilding its human spaceflight program. The milestone is the maiden test flight of its Orion spacecraft.
One of the twin GRAIL spacecraft launched by NASA last September has returned its first video of the Moon's hidden side after being pulled into orbit at New Year. The video reveals a landscape scarred by countless collisions with comets and asteroids.
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