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Explanation: Star trails arc above a moonlit beach and jetty in this serene sea and night skyscape. Captured on November 19, the single time exposure looks south down the Atlantic coast from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA. But the longest and brightest trail is a Minotaur 1 rocket, a stage separation and exhaust plume visible along the rocket's fiery path toward low Earth orbit. The multi-stage Minotaur was launched from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility at 8:15 pm Eastern Time in Virginia, about 400 miles away. On board were a remarkable 29 satellites destined for low Earth...

The launch time of the rocket Minotaur I rocket was between 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm as it depended on the weather conditions and the atmospheric conditions during the time of launch. The schedule of backup launch days was planned on Nov. 26. The launch of this rocket was intended to be visible to observers from an array of locations such as Indiana, north of Maine, Canada and South and north of Florida if the weather was fine. The Minotaur I rocket took off after 45 minute delay owing to a downrange tracking station issue and carried exactly 29 satellites...

The first launch of the Minotaur IV Space Launch Vehicle is scheduled to occur April 20 at noon PDT from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The Minotaur IV is the newest variant in the Minotaur family of rockets built by Orbital Sciences Corporation. It is a four-stage solid rocket vehicle consisting of three decommissioned Peacekeeper missile stages and a fourth commercially built stage developed by OSC. For this maiden lift-off, the rocket will be in a "lite" configuration consisting of only the first three stages and no fourth stage due to mission requirements. The payload for this first launch is...

An old stone quarry on the Greek island of Crete which has a network of underground tunnels could be the original site of the ancient Labyrinth, the maze that housed the Minotaur of Greek legend, scholars believe. An Anglo-Greek team believes that the site, near the town of Gortyn, has just as much claim to be the place of the Labyrinth as the Minoan palace at Knossos 20 miles away, which has been synonymous with the Minotaur myth since its excavation a century ago. The 600,000 people a year who visit the ruins at Knossos are told the site was...

WALLOPS ISLAND To take advantage of better weather, officials at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport have moved up the planned launch of a $60 million rocket to 7:35 tonight. The launch of the Minotaur I rocket, which carries several satellites, has been delayed twice because of storms. The launch window will be open until 11 p.m. today. If weather interferes again, another attempt could be made Saturday night. For updates on the launch, follow NASA_Wallops on Twitter. To watch the launch video, go to the NASA Wallops Web site: http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/webcast/ [1]

Bulgarian archaeologists have found an image of the legendary labyrinth of King Minos, the Bulgarian National Radio reported. The exclusive find was unearthed near the village of Golyam Derven last week. The team of Professor Daniela Agre, who are doing excavation works in the area, stumbled upon the unique artefact while researching a an ancient Thracian tomb's entrance stone. The labyrinth image, which is carved on the slate, is perfectly preserved. The legendary labyrinth was considered a just a myth from the Greek mythology until the exclusive finding. According to the legends, King Minos ordered the construction of the labyrinth...