Archive for 2008
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Sunspots Pump Plasma Into Interplanetary Space
September 30, 2008
News and Features -
Scientists find that dim areas at the edges of active sunpot regions may hold the key to the sun's energy processes.
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STONE-6, Microbes 0
September 30, 2008
News and Features -
Using an artificial meteorite, scientists have determined that organisms in meteorites wouldn't survive a fall to Earth. However, the study does show that meteorites could still retain biosignatures that would provide evidence for life on other worlds.
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Plume from Rabaul Volcano
September 30, 2008
News and Features -
Rabaul Volcano released a plume of ash and steam in late September 2008.
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NASA, U.S. Chess Federation to Begin Earth vs. Space Match
September 30, 2008
News and Features -
It will be the Earth vs. space in a unique chess match, and you can help Earth win.
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NASA Mars Lander Sees Falling Snow, Soil Data Suggest Liquid Past
September 30, 2008
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NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has detected snow falling from Martian clouds. Spacecraft soil experiments also have provided evidence of past interaction between minerals and liquid water, processes that occur on Earth.
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Dust Storm off Egypt
September 29, 2008
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A thick plume of dust blew off the northern coast of Egypt, west of the Nile Delta, and over the Mediterranean Sea on September 25, 2008.
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Nicaraguan Volcano Provides Insight into Early Mars
September 29, 2008
News and Features -
Although volcanoes on Mars today are dormant or extinct, in the distant past the Red Planet was literally a hotbed of volcanic activity. Cerro Negro, an active volcano in Nicaragua, offers clues to what the martian era of fire and brimstone may have been like – and what types of organisms could have lived in that superheated world.
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Earth's Oldest Rocks
September 26, 2008
News and Features -
Scientists have discovered rocks that are 4.28 billion years old, making them 250 million years more ancient than any previously discovered rocks. Our planet formed about 4.6 billion years ago, so these rocks could provide a unique window on the young Earth.
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Reisman Takes a Bite Out of the Big Apple
September 26, 2008
News and Features -
In April, astronaut Garrett Reisman performed an unprecedented event in space when he threw out the first pitch at a Yankees game from onboard the International Space Station.
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Opportunity to Endeavor
September 26, 2008
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After climbing out of Victoria crater, NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity is now making a long trek to a new crater called Endeavour. This large crater could hold more clues about the history of Mars' climate.
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NASA Stardust Capsule to Go on Display at Smithsonian
September 26, 2008
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Having returned the world's first particles from a comet, NASA's Stardust sample return capsule will join the collection of flight icons in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. The capsule will go on public display in the museum's Milestones of Flight Gallery on Oct. 1, the 50th anniversary of NASA.
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Diamonds May Be Life's Birthstone
September 25, 2008
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Researchers have come up with a new model in which the first molecules of life formed on diamonds.
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Severe Storms: Typhoon Hagupit
September 25, 2008
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Powerful Typhoon Hagupit slammed into South China on September 24, 2008.
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Powerful Nearby Supernova Caught by Web
September 25, 2008
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The vast online archives from many of the world's premier telescopes have helped scientists identify one of the nearest supernovas in the last 25 years, over a decade after it exploded.
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Earth's Platinum Standard
September 24, 2008
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By comparing the composition of meteorites and planets like Earth and Mars, scientists are providing clues about planetary formation in the early solar system. The study also reveals how some of Earth's rarest metals may have come from space.
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Cool Summer, Warm Future
September 24, 2008
News and Features -
Despite a moderate summer, the heat is rising in Southern California.
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Solar Wind Loses Power, Hits 50-year Low
September 24, 2008
News and Features -
In a briefing today at NASA headquarters, solar physicists announced that the solar wind is losing power. This development has repercussions across the solar system.
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Summer as a Rocket Scientist: College Students Help Develop Earth-Observing Satellite
September 23, 2008
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Six students spent their summer working on technology for an upcoming NASA Earth-monitoring mission.
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Our Mixed-Up Solar System
September 23, 2008
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Chemical studies of the comet Wild 2 are challenging views about the history and evolution of the solar system. Such studies could yield important clues about the early formation of the planets.
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Hubble Servicing Shuttle Mission Set for October
September 22, 2008
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Atlantis' seven astronauts will upgrade what may be the most significant satellite ever launched.
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Diving for the Moon
September 22, 2008
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NASA astronaut Mike Gernhardt is in charge of developing rovers and spacesuits for the next round of human exploration of the moon. This summer, however, he spent a week piloting a one-person submarine through the depths of a lake in British Columbia, Canada. There is, he insists, a connection.
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This Month in Exploration - September
September 22, 2008
News and Features -
Fifteen years ago, the space shuttle Discovery crew deployed the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite, the first high-speed, all-digital communications satellite.
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Hurricane Ike
September 19, 2008
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Between the last week of August and the first week of September 2008, the Atlantic Ocean queued up a series of tropical storms. Ike became a large storm that raked over Cuba and targeted the Texas coast.
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Introducing NASA eClips: A New Approach to Learning
September 18, 2008
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NASA's new free Web-based educational videos are designed to get students excited about science and engineering.
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Flooding along the Gulf Coast
September 18, 2008
News and Features -
Hurricane Ike pushed water far inland over a wide swath of the Gulf Coast when the storm came ashore on September 13, 2008.
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Swashbuckling Scientists Discover Northern Vents
September 18, 2008
News and Features -
From Astrobiology Magazine, European Edition is a story of how researchers recently explored the ocean floor between Greenland and Norway. They discovered hydrothermal vents that support an extremophile ecosystem. The find supports the idea that biological communities could exist on other worlds.
