Vote Now! Top Space Stories of the Week - Aug. 26, 2012

Neil Armstrong's Passing, Mars Rover and More

NASA/Andy Chaikin/collectSPACE.com

In the seven days we learned the sad news of moonwalker Neil Armstrong's death, seen the Mars rover Curiosity make a move, pondered new theories about the Big Bang and a new hovercar concept. See the top stories of the last week here.

FIRST STOP: Neil Armstrong Dies at Age 82

Neil Armstrong Dies at 82

NASA

Neil Armstrong, an American icon and the first man ever to walk on the moon, died Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012, due to complications from heart surgery.

Armstrong commanded NASA's Apollo 11 mission to make the first manned lunar landing on July 20, 1969. He also commanded Gemini 8, which featured NASA's first space docking. [Full Story]p>NEXT: Mars Rover Fires Laser

Pew! Pew! Pew! NASA's Curiosity Rover Zaps Mars Rock with Laser

NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP

NASA’s Curiosity laser test-fired its rock-zapping laser for the first time Sunday (Aug. 19). [Full Story

NEXT STOP: LEGO May Make Mars Rover Curiosity Toy After 10,000 Votes

Alien Planet Haul: NASA Space Telescope Spots 41 New Exoplanets

NASA

The existence of more than 40 new alien planets has been confirmed by NASA's Kepler spacecraft, using a new technique that analyzes the gravitational tugs each world has on sibling planets orbiting their host stars. [Full Story

NEXT STOP: Mirrors Finished for NASA's New James Webb Space Telescope

New Hover Vehicle Recalls 'Star Wars' Bike

Aerofex

A resurrected hover vehicle won't fly through dense forests as effortlessly as the "Star Wars" speeder bikes from "Return of the Jedi," but its intuitive controls could someday allow anyone to fly it without pilot training. [Full Story

NEXT STOP: Alien Planet Haul: NASA Space Telescope Spots 41 New Exoplanets

LEGO May Make Mars Rover Curiosity Toy After 10,000 Votes

LEGO

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took a giant leap this weekend toward becoming an official LEGO toy.[Full Story

NEXT STOP: New Hover Vehicle Recalls 'Star Wars' Bike

Mirrors Finished for NASA's New James Webb Space Telescope

Ball Aerospace

One of the most challenging parts of NASA’s huge James Webb Space Telescope, the building of its ultrasophisticated mirror system, is now finished, and the mirrors are ready for shipping to NASA. [Full Story

NEXT STOP: Big Bang Was Actually a Phase Change, New Theory Says

Big Bang Was Actually a Phase Change, New Theory Says

Image via Shutterstock

A team of physicists says the Big Bang should be modeled as a phase change: the moment when an amorphous, formless universe analogous to liquid water cooled and suddenly crystallized to form four-dimensional space-time, analogous to ice. [Full Story

NEXT STOP: Ingredients for Big Black Holes Detected in Milky Way's Core

Ingredients for Big Black Holes Detected in Milky Way's Core

Keio University

Astronomers using a Japanese telescope have discovered evidence for how giant supermassive black holes grow at the cores of galaxies. [Full Story

NEXT STOP: Mars Rover Aces First Test Drive on Red Planet

First Milky Way Galaxy 'Twins' Found

Aaron Robotham, ICRAR/St Andrews using GAMA data

Researchers have found several galaxies around the universe that look a lot like our own Milky Way. [Full Story

NEXT STOP: NASA Finds Spiny Dinosaur Prints in Own Backyard

Mars Rover Aces First Test Drive on Red Planet

NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has aced its first drive on the Red Planet today (Aug. 22), snapping photos of its tracks to commemorate the Martian mobility milestone. [Full Story

NEXT STOP: First Milky Way Galaxy 'Twins' Found

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Space.com Staff
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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.