Space Crime Doesn't Pay

A tiny lunar rock that was stolen from Honduras in the early 1990s was presented to Honduran President Ricardo Maduro on Saturday, at a ceremony to mark the rock's return. "Thank you for returning this material that is so valuable to the world," said Maduro, in a ceremony attended by NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe and Peruvian astronaut Carlos Noriega. NASA had turned over the moon rock to the Honduran ambassador in September after a federal court held the chunk rightfully belonged to Honduras. The rock was transported from the moon aboard Apollo 17. U.S. President Richard M. Nixon gave the 1.142-gram chunk to his counterpart, general Oswaldo Lopez Arellano, in 1973.

Rosetta Spacecraft Begins Voyage to Comet  

Europe's Rosetta space mission, which aims to chase and then land on a comet in search of secrets of the history of the solar system, has begun its ten year voyage after the spacecraft separated from an Ariane rocket early Tuesday. The rocket departed from the European Space Agency's (ESA) launch center in Kourou, French Guiana on the northeast coast of South America at 4:17 a.m. local time (2:17 a.m. EST) on the first stage of the mission's 4.34 billion-mile, 10-year journey to reach the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Tom Hanks Will Produce IMAX Moon Mission Documentary  

"Apollo 13" star Tom Hanks is set to return to the Moon, teaming up with big-screen movie firm Imax Corp. to produce a 3D documentary about NASA's historic lunar voyages. Imax said on Wednesday the two-time Oscar winner will co-produce and likely narrate "Magnificent Desolation," which will use never before seen photographs and previously unreleased NASA footage. Hanks and Imax first announced plans for the project in December 2002, but said the 45-minute movie is now on track for a 2005 release.