Scientists have discovered that the currents in the Earth's oceans bear a striking resemblance to the bands of clouds in Jupiter's atmosphere. The clouds on Jupiter and the other gas giant planets form into bands which move in alternating directions from top to bottom. The similarity is more than coincidental, as both phenomena seem to be based on similar physical forces. This discovery could have implications in both climate research here on Earth, and the design of new space missions to explore the outer planets.

Radio astronomers have discovered two molecules never before seen in space in an interstellar cloud near the centre of the Milky Way. So far, about 130 different molecules have been found in space, but they usually contain only a few atoms each. These newly discovered molecules, propanal and propenal, have 8 and 10 atoms respectively. By finding complex molecules like this in space, scientists can get a better idea of the starting materials that Earth had to work with when it formed billions of years ago, and how life could have evolved.

Designed to test two of Einstein's predictions about the nature of gravity and relativity, NASA's Gravity Probe B spacecraft is about halfway through the initialization and checkout phase of its mission. Mission operators have transmitted more than 5,000 commands to the spacecraft, and everything seems to be functioning properly, including its gyroscopes and the targeting system that keeps it locked onto the guide star: IM Pegasi. If everything continues to go as planned, it should begin scientific operations in August, and deliver the final results in a year.

History was made today when test pilot Mike Melvill became the first private citizen to get his astronaut wings today when he flew Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne (SS1) into space, reaching an altitude of more than 100 km (62.5 miles).

The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft snapped this self portrait recently as part of a series of tests of the CIVA camera system on the Philae lander. In the picture you can see the back of Rosetta's solar panels and some of the spacecraft's body at the lower right. The CIVA imaging camera system consists of six identical micro cameras which will take panoramic photos of Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko when it arrives in 10 years. This picture was taken when Rosetta was 35 million km (21.7 million miles) from Earth.

The newest image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft was taken on May 18, and shows beautiful swirling clouds in Saturn's southern hemisphere. This image was taken with the spacecraft's narrow angle camera at a distance of 23.4 million km (14.5 million miles) using a special filter that's sensitive to the absorption and scattering of sunlight from methane gas in the infrared spectrum.

NASA scientists coined the term "blueberries" to describe the tiny hematite balls found on Mars by Spirit and Opportunity over the last few months - it was one of the most powerful pieces of evidence that liquid water once flowed across the surface of Mars. Researchers from the University of Utah had a hunch these hematite concretions would turn up on the Red Planet, since there are similar conditions in Utah's national parks. The geologists believe the blueberries on Earth were formed 25 million years ago when minerals precipitated from groundwater flowing through sandstone.

A Russian-built Proton rocket successfully launched an Intelsat 10-02 communications satellite today from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazahkstan. The rocket lifted off on Thursday at 2227 UTC (6:27 am EDT), and began the 9-hour journey to reach geosynchronous orbit. When it begins operations in August, the Intelsat 10-02 satellite will provide television, data and other telecommunication services to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

All eyes will be on Mojave next week to see if Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne can reach 100km (62 miles) of altitude, but another team in Texas could be hot on their heels. Armadillo Aerospace's John Carmack reported that a prototype of his team's rocket completed a successful test flight this week. The rocket lifted off from the launch pad, flew to a height of 40 metres (131 feet), and then returned to within less than 0.3 metres (1 foot) of its starting position. Carmack isn't sure his team will be able to meet the deadline to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize, but they may push to make an attempt if Rutan's team fails.

The latest image from Cassini shows four dark turbulent storms in Saturn's southern hemisphere. Storms like this are short lived, and will often merge together, or spawn new storms. This image was taken over a month ago, on May 15, when the spacecraft was 24.7 million km (15.3 million miles) away from Saturn. Cassini will arrive at Saturn at the end of June.

The Canadian-built MOST space telescope has shed new light on how stars like our own Sun can actually be quite turbulent, vibrating and flaring up unexpectedly. MOST tracked a star called eta Bootis for 28 straight days without interruption, and measured its brightness more than 250,000 times - 10 times more accurately than any previous instrument could reach. MOST should also assist planet hunters by watching how a star brightens and dims as planets pass in front of it, similar to Venus' recent transit across the face of the Sun.

After a long journey across rough terrain, NASA's Spirit Rover has finally reached the base of the Columbia Hills. It didn't wait long, though, and began climbing up the 90-metre (300 foot) high hills late last week. Scientists have identified several interesting rocks they'd like to study, including ones which look like they're disintegrating from the inside out, leaving a remnant "shell". Spirit is starting to show signs of wear; its right front wheel is slightly malfunctioning, and drawing much more power than the other wheels.

Where did the world's oceans come from? Some scientists believe all that water was originally locked into rocks, and slowly leaked out over millions of years. Others believe it was delivered from space by comets crashing into our planet. The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft might help find the answer. When it reaches Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Rosetta will send down a small lander, Ptolemy, that will measure the chemical signature of the comet's water, and see if that matches our water.

Cassini hasn't just been focused on Phoebe; it's also turned its camera on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. This image of the mysterious, cloud covered moon was taken on May 22, when the spacecraft was 21.7 million km (13.5 million miles) away. The northern hemisphere is much brighter than the southern hemisphere, which is the exact opposite situation that the Voyager spacecraft saw when they flew by 23 years ago, and it indicates the moon in the opposite season.

Using a combination of ground and space-based telescopes, an international team of astronomers have measured the mass of an ultra-cool star and its companion brown dwarf. The star is located 40 light-years away, and contains only 8.5% the mass of the Sun. Its companion brown dwarf is even lighter; only 6% the mass of the Sun. They orbit one another at a distance of only 2.5 times the distance of the Earth and the Sun. Measuring these low mass objects is difficult because there's no relation between their size and brightness. But in a binary system like this, astronomers can determine their mass by measuring how the objects interact with each other.

Cassini made its closest approach to Saturn's moon Phoebe on June 11, and the pictures are in. This photo is a skyline view of Phoebe that shows how the darker surface has been swept away in some areas to reveal the brighter material underneath. Scientists will be analyzing these pictures for years to try and understand the mechanism at work here. The large crater in this picture is 45 km (28 miles) in diameter, and the rim shows the greatest amount of this streaking.

This incredibly detailed image of Phoebe was taken when Cassini was only 12,000 km (7,400 miles) away from the small moon. It shows a 13-km (8-mile) diameter crater with building-sized rocks and other debris on its floor. There are additional craters visible in the image as well. The moon is generally very dark in colouration, but the brighter spots were probably caused by small meteorites that excavated the dark surface to show the lighter coloured ice below. Images that were taken when the spacecraft was even closer to Phoebe are still coming.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft made its first close encounter with the Saturnian system on June 11 when it swept past Phoebe. The spacecraft got as close as 2,000 km (1,240 miles) to the small moon, and saw incredible details on its smashed up surface. The evidence is starting to show that Phoebe may be an ice-rich body coated with a thin layer of dark material. Instruments on board Cassini will measure the moon's density to get a better sense about how much of it is composed of ice. Cassini will reach Saturn on June 30.