VATICAN CITY - The Vatican's chief astronomer says that believing in aliens does not contradict faith in God. The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, says that the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones. In an interview published Tuesday by Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Funes says that such a notion "doesn't contradict our faith" because aliens would still be God's creatures.

HAT CREEK, Calif. - Dotting a rocky plain north of Mount Lassen, 42 radio antennas are cocked like ears toward the sky, being readied for an expanded hunt for life beyond Earth. The Allen Telescope Array is slowly coming together as the new listening post for SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Here at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory, silver-snouted antennas soon will take up the quest for a technological culture that is audacious or lonely or hopeful enough to deliberately beam a signal into the beyond.

The U.S. space agency says it's completed the first tests of the J-2X engine that will power the upper stages of the Ares I and Ares V rockets. The Ares V will carry cargo and components into orbit for trips to the moon and later to Mars. This series of tests is an important step in development of the J-2X engine, said Mike Kynard, manager of the upper stage engine for the Ares Projects at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. We started with a number of objectives and questions we needed answers to as we work to complete designs of the J-2X engine.

The Ulysses observatory, a U.S.-European mission, has won an international award for the scientific productivity of the spacecraft, now orbiting the sun. The European Space Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will receive the 2008 International SpaceOps Award for Outstanding Achievement from the International Committee on Technical Interchange for Space Mission Operations and Ground Data Systems, also known as the SpaceOps Committee. The award will be presented during the SpaceOps 2008 Conference next week in Heidelberg, Germany.

U.S. space agency scientists say they've observed a wave pattern, or oscillation, in Saturn's atmosphere that's only visible from Earth every 15 years. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the discovery came from a 22-year Earth-based program of observing Saturn -- the longest space temperature study ever recorded -- as well as the Cassini spacecraft's observations of temperature changes in Saturn's atmosphere. The Cassini infrared results indicate Saturn's wave pattern is similar to a wave pattern found in Earth's upper atmosphere.

The U.S. space agency says one of the first tests involving human subjects in support of its return-to-the-moon Orion Project has been completed. For three weeks, 23 volunteers were subjected to tests lasting from a few hours to overnight in a small test chamber at the Johnson Space Center in Houston while scientists measured the amount of carbon dioxide and moisture absorbed by a new system -- the Carbon-dioxide and Moisture Removal Amine Swing-bed, or CAMRAS, system. Officials said the tests, which took place April 14-May 1, are some of the first to use human subjects in support of NASA's Orion crew capsule, the Altair lunar lander and lunar rovers.

The U.S. space agency said Ed Weiler, interim chief of its science directorate, has been named the directorate's permanent director. Weiler will direct a wide variety of research and scientific exploration programs for Earth studies, space weather, the solar system and the universe, NASA officials said. He was a member of the Princeton University space astrophysics research staff from 1976-78, when he joined NASA as a staff scientist.

U.S. scientists, searching for signs of life from faraway planets, are building hundreds of radio telescopes in Northern California, their leader says. Jill Tarter, director of the Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute, said 42 of the planned 350 telescopes have been built in a mostly uninhabited area about 300 miles northeast of San Jose, Calif., the San Jose Mercury News reported Wednesday. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen donated $25 million to get the project going.

A U.S.-led team of scientists says the asteroid impact thought to have killed the dinosaurs hit with such force that carbon deep in the Earth's crust liquefied. The team of U.S., U.K., Italian and New Zealand researchers said those beads, known as carbon cenospheres, cannot be formed through plant matter combustion. Carbon embedded in the rocks was vaporized by the impact, eventually forming new carbon structures in the atmosphere, said Indiana University Professor Simon Brassell, study co-author and former adviser to lead author Mark Harvey.

Resources for public astronomy in New Mexico got a boost this week with the announcement of a new observatory to be built at Heron Lake State Park. The observatories are part of the division's award-winning "Reach for the Stars" program. Launched in 2004, "Reach for the Stars" brings night sky interpretation events to parks locations throughout the state.

University in talks to secure at-risk city facility and 50 jobs EDINBURGH University is in talks over a rescue plan for the city's Royal Observatory, where up to 50 jobs are under threat. The UK's Astronomy Technology Centre (ATC), which shares the observatory on Blackford Hill with the university's Institute of Astronomy, was told at the end of last year its budget will be halved over the next three years.

The U.S. space agency has started a project that provides an opportunity for people to send their names to the moon. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the names will be placed in orbit around the moon for years to come aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. Participants can submit their information at

GREENBELT, Md., April 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Using observations from NASAs Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), an international team of astronomers has discovered a timing mechanism that allows them to predict exactly when a superdense star will unleash incredibly powerful explosions. Scientists have observed thousands of these X-ray bursts from about 80 different neutron stars. But the team also found that the QPO frequency decreased over time from about 12 Millihertz to 8 Millihertz.

Night: Star party behind Hyde Park Lodge Living in New Mexico, we enjoy something about our world that an estimated two-thirds of our country's population can no longer see - - a starry night sky. Much has changed for the better since 1970, but one area that seems to slip under the radar is promotion of energy efficient and night-sky friendly lighting.

Home News IN BRIEF were expected to attend the launch of Europe's newest observatory yesterday. The Kielder Observatory, in the remote Kielder Water and Forest Park, in Northumberland, is the brainchild of Kielder Astronomical Society member Gary Fildes.

U.S. astronomers are planning technological strategies they will use in the future to identify Earth-like watery planets circling distant stars. The Penn State and University of Hawaii researchers plan to use an optical space telescope not yet developed and a mathematical method to accomplish their goal. Specifically, Darren Williams, associate professor of physics and astronomy at Penn Sate's Erie, Pa., campus -- the Behrend College -- said the search is for a temperate planet that contains surface water.

The U.S. space agency says a motor in the robotic arm of its Mars rover Opportunity that began stalling more than two years ago has become more troublesome. NASA said the engineers are also examining whether the motor can be used and assessing the impact on Opportunity's work if the motor is deemed unusable. Even under the worst-case scenario for this motor, Opportunity still has the capability to do some contact science with the arm, said John Callas, project manager for the twin rovers Opportunity and Spirit.

The European Space Agency announced the completion of the assembly of the Herschel space telescope and the start of several weeks of testing the spacecraft. The ESA said the telescope mirror of the Herschel infrared observatory is 11 feet in diameter, constructed from 12 silicon-carbide petals brazed together to form a single structure and coated with a layer of reflective aluminum, forming a lightweight mirror. The fully assembled telescope, which includes the primary mirror, a secondary mirror and its support structure, weighs 705 pounds, which the ESA said is remarkably low for such a structure capable of withstanding high launch loads and functioning precisely in the harsh environment of space.

Apr. 23--Kitt Peak National Observatory is turning 50. But there's more going on than meets the eye at Kitt Peak and at its parent organization, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, headquartered on the University of Arizona campus. Kitt Peak, and the NOAO, hold a long-term lease with the Tohono O'odham Nation for the Kitt Peak site.

The U.S. space agency says it has started installing instruments aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbitor, or LRO, that will examine the moon. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration says its engineers and technicians are working 24 hours a day at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., to ready the spacecraft for testing and eventual launch later this year. The spacecraft really is coming together now, said Cathy Peddie, LRO deputy project manager at Goddard.

HOUSTON, April 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Since humans first flew in space, nothing has captivated astronauts more than the view of home out the window of their spacecraft. In honor of Earth Day, April 22, NASA will make those views available to people here on Earth with an event highlighting imagery taken by astronauts and the science behind it. The broadcasts on Monday and Tuesday will include a discussion of the views by Dr. Justin Wilkinson, a scientist with the Crew Earth Observations Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

British astronomers say they've determined fully evolved galaxies existed 4 billion years after the birth of the universe. The University of Nottingham-led researchers said their finding challenges existing theories of the formation and evolution of galaxies. The astronomers said they used the most detailed infrared images of a portion of the sky ever made.

NASA's flagship mission to land a nuclear-powered, next- generation rover on Mars is facing development problems and ballooning costs that could threaten its scheduled launch next year. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told a congressional hearing this month that engineers had to redesign the heat shield on the Mars Science Laboratory after tests showed the protective layer would not survive entry through the Martian atmosphere. NASA is still aiming for a 2009 launch, but the space agency is also mulling alternative voyages in 2010 and 2011, Mr. Grif-fin told the House Science and Technology Committee on Feb. 13.