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For the next few days backyard astronomers can see for themselves the long lost asteroid Hermes. Science@NASA -- It's dogma now: an asteroid hit Earth 65 million years ago and wiped out the dinosaurs. But in 1980 when scientists Walter and Luis Alvarez first suggested the idea to a gathering at the American Association for Advancement of Sciences, their listeners were skeptical. Asteroids hitting Earth? Wiping out species? It seemed incredible. At that very moment, unknown to the audience, an asteroid named Hermes halfway between Mars and Jupiter was beginning a long plunge toward our planet. Six months later it...

May 15, 2003, 7:10 AM EDT NEW YORK -- A commercial plane carrying returning military personnel flew near the Statue of Liberty and low over part of Manhattan, prompting emergency calls from people on the ground. The Continental Airlines plane, a Boeing 777, was given permission to change its flight plan as it approached its destination of Newark Liberty International Airport at about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The flight pattern was intended "to provide a special homecoming for members of our armed forces," the FAA said in a statement. The statement said FAA officials "regret any...

<p>The FAA said it would no longer allow overflights of Manhattan after a charter jet carrying troops home from the war with Iraq flew low over the skyline Wednesday, stirring fears that another terror attack was under way.</p> <p>"The FAA regrets any negative effect this flight had on some New York City residents. The FAA has since issued an order that future, similar requests will not be granted," the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement late Wednesday.</p>

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 March 19 Jupiter's Great Dark Spot Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, Cassini Project, NASA Explanation: Seventeenth century astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini was an astute observer of Jupiter's Great Red Spot. So it seems only fitting that his namesake, the Cassini spacecraft, has enabled detailed observations of another planet-sized blemish -- Jupiter's Great Dark Spot. Unlike the Red Spot, the Great Dark Spot lies near Jupiter's north pole and...

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Trekking to the top of Mt. Hamilton, some 4,000 feet above the Silicon Valley, amateur astronomer Rick Baldridge took still photos and video footage on Feb. 1 of what he thought would be an uneventful re-entry flyover by the space shuttle Columbia.</p>

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 September 29 Venus: Just Passing By Credit: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA Explanation: Venus, the second closest planet to the Sun, is a popular way-point for spacecraft headed for the gas giant planets in the outer reaches of the solar system. Why visit Venus first? Using a "gravity assist " maneuver, spacecraft can swing by planets and gain energy during their brief encounter saving fuel for use at...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 June 22 Io: The Prometheus Plume Credit: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA Explanation: Two sulfurous eruptions are visible on Jupiter's volcanic moon Io in this color composite Galileo image. On the left, over Io's limb, a new bluish plume rises about 86 miles above the surface of a volcanic caldera known as Pillan Patera. In the middle of the image, near the night/day shadow line, the ring shaped...