AfterTek

Any of us would grab at the chance to get our hands on an expensive car. But what is a Ferrari or Lamborghini when you can get yourself your very own space shuttle? NASA stated this week that they are contemplating a few ideas on how and where they can put their retired space shuttles. They have already called a few schools, science museums, and “other appropriate organizations” that they will no longer be using.

NASA has estimated each space shuttle to be worth about $42 million for each shuttle. This includes delivery – but they admit that it could cost more than this. People who need it delivered farther will have to fork over more money.

Scientists said that they have been keeping a close eye on the planet Mercury and have noticed that it is beginning to shrink in size. The planet’s core seems to be cooling – which has triggered a magnetic dynamo and is causing it to become smaller.

It is believed that Mercury is at least one-third greater smaller than in the past. This comes after the NASA MESSENGER probe sent 1,200 pictures taken from 120 miles from Mercury’s surface.

NASA was able to relax (if only for a moment) and congratulate one another for the successful landing of the Mars Phoenix Lander. Scientists have been working on the new spacecraft for months now and have been preparing it for the ‘7 minutes of terror’ that many have referred to the landing process.

The lander promises to not only prepare for the ongoing efforts to send humans to Mars, but also will further the investigation of the possibility that life once existed on Mars. Before it could complete its mission, though, it had to land. After months of travel through the dark depths of space, it reached the fringe of Mars’ atmosphere and began a plunge. The seven minute entry has been a punishing one on past satellites — of the 11 objects which various nations have tried to land on Mars, only 5 survived.