Archive for 2009

Headline News from NASA Science
November 24, 2009
News and Features

Get the latest news in earth science, heliophysics, astrophysics and planetary science from NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

NASA Assessing New Roles for Ailing QuikScat Satellite
November 24, 2009
News and Features

NASA mission managers are assessing options for future operations of the venerable QuikScat satellite following the age-related failure of a mechanism that spins the scatterometer antenna.

Oxygen and Ore
November 24, 2009
News and Features

Much of Earth's mineral wealth was deposited billions of years ago when chemical cycles on our planet were very different than today's. Recently, scientists used geochemical data from minerals to yield surprising information about conditions on the ancient Earth.

The Crab Nebula: A Cosmic Icon
November 24, 2009
News and Features

A star's death was observed on Earth as the supernova of 1054 A.D. Almost a thousand years later, a neutron star left behind by the explosion spews out high-energy particles into the expanding debris field known as the Crab Nebula.

Spitzer Telescope Observes Baby Brown Dwarf
November 24, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has contributed to the discovery of the youngest brown dwarf ever observed -- a finding that, if confirmed, may solve an astronomical mystery about how these cosmic misfits are formed.

Radar Strip Showing Crater Bessel
November 23, 2009
News and Features

Mini-RF S-band zoom radar image strip through central Mare Serenitatis on the near side of the Moon.

From Greenhouse to Icehouse
November 23, 2009
News and Features

A new study that reconstructed ocean temperatures from millions of years ago could provide new insight into how the Earth responds to climate change.

Cassini Sends Back Images of Enceladus as Winter Nears
November 23, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has sailed seamlessly through the Nov. 21 flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus and started transmitting uncalibrated temperature data and images of the rippling terrain.

NASA’s Newest Map of the World
November 20, 2009
News and Features

Why did it take nearly three decades for scientists to create the first global portraits of Earth from NASA's Landsat missions?

Receding Ice, Rising Oceans
November 20, 2009
News and Features

Astrobiology Magazine's climate blog, The Hot Zone, recently discussed how receding glaciers could have catastrophic consequences for Earth's climate. Increasing loss of glacial ice will lead to increasing water levels in the oceans. Ultimately, these changes could profoundly affect the biosphere.

Cassini Scanning Enceladus on Winter's Cusp
November 20, 2009
News and Features

Cassini is flying by Saturn's moon Enceladus this weekend for a last peek at the intriguing "tiger stripes" before winter darkness blankets the area for several years.

Mystery of the Solar Tsunami—Solved
November 20, 2009
News and Features

Sometimes you really can believe your eyes. That's what NASA's STEREO is telling researchers about a controversial phenomenon on the sun known as the solar tsunami.

SOFIA Seeks Secrets of Planetary Birth
November 19, 2009
News and Features

You don't always have to have a rocket to do rocket science. Sometimes a mere airplane will do – that is, a mere Boeing 747 toting a 17-ton, 9-foot wide telescope named SOFIA.

Hunting for Planets in the Dark
November 19, 2009
News and Features

A proposed space mission that aims to measure dark energy could also detect planets that current surveys are unable to find.

NASA's Wise Gets Ready to Survey the Whole Sky
November 19, 2009
News and Features

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, NASA's newest spacecraft is scheduled to roll to the pad on Friday, Nov. 20, its last stop before launching into space to survey the entire sky in infrared light.

Tilt Parameters End First Extrication Drive
November 19, 2009
News and Features

The preliminary results from the first extrication drive for Spirit on Sol 2088 (Nov. 17, 2009) indicate the rover stopped less than 1 second after it began, sensing more vehicle lateral tilt than permitted.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory Investigates the Sun's Cycle of Highs and Lows
November 19, 2009
News and Features

How intense will the next solar cycle be? Can we predict when a violent solar storm will blast Earth with energetic particles? Could a prolonged period of inactivity on the sun plunge Earth into a prolonged winter?

AIRS Produces CO2 Snapshot
November 18, 2009
News and Features

A new image from AIRS shows the transport of carbon dioxide across the globe.

NASA's Hurricane Page is All "a-Twitter"
November 18, 2009
News and Features

In 2005, NASA created the NASA Hurricane and Tropical Cyclone Web page that covers NASA research on tropical cyclones around the world every day.

Subaru Spots Strange Spin
November 18, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers have found that the extrasolar planet HAT-P-7b has a retrograde or highly tilted orbit. Studying such planets is important in understanding the diversity of planetary systems and assessing current models of how planets migrate. The findings could help astrobiologists in the search for habitable planets beyond our solar system.

Be A Martian
November 18, 2009
News and Features

A new Web site allows you to participate as citizen scientists to improve Martian maps, take part in research tasks, and assist Mars science teams studying data about the Red Planet.

NASA's Wise Gets Ready to Survey the Whole Sky
November 18, 2009
NASA Breaking News

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or Wise, is chilled out, sporting a sunshade and getting ready to roll. NASA's newest spacecraft is scheduled to roll to the pad on Friday, Nov. 20, its last stop before launching into space to survey the entire sky in infrared light.

NASA Hosts Native Peoples Workshop to Study Climate Change
November 17, 2009
NASA Breaking News

NASA will hold a second national strategies workshop to examine the impacts of climate change and extreme weather variability on native peoples and their homelands.

The View From Space: Two New Experiments Take Fresh Looks at Earth's Coast, Atmosphere
November 17, 2009
News and Features

They've only been on orbit a couple of months, but two new sensors examining our upper atmosphere and oceans already are demonstrating the International Space Station's value as an Earth science observing platform.

Clouds Can Reveal Shape of Continents
November 17, 2009
News and Features

In some parts of the world the difference in the amount of clouds over land versus ocean is so stark that the outlines of continents and other landmasses can be traced through observations of clouds alone.

Primordial Soup Not Simmering
November 17, 2009
News and Features

Features discovered in 3.4 billion-year-old rocks indicate that temperatures on early Earth may have been dramatically cooler than previously believed. The finding could have implications in understanding the conditions in which life first evolved on our planet.

Rosetta Completes Final Earth Flyby
November 16, 2009
News and Features

On its way to a 2014 rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, with JPL instruments on board, flew past Earth today to pick up energy.

Taking a Bite of Antarctic Ice
November 16, 2009
News and Features

NASA’s IceBite team will spend six weeks studying a place on Earth that resembles the Phoenix landing site on Mars. The place: a mile above sea level in Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys. The ultimate goal: to test ice-penetrating drills for a future mission to the martian polar north.

LCROSS Impact Data Indicates Water on Moon
November 16, 2009
News and Features

The argument that the moon is a dry, desolate place no longer holds water.

New Moon Sets Stage for Brilliant Leonids Meteor Shower
November 16, 2009
News and Features

A cooperative new moon is setting the stage for one of the best Leonids meteor showers in years.

Tropical Depression Phyan (Arabian Sea)
November 13, 2009
News and Features

Cyclone Phyan broke a 43 year record when it made landfall north of the city of Mumbai, India during the evening hours on November 11.

El Nino Picking Up Steam
November 13, 2009
News and Features

El Niño is experiencing a late-fall resurgence.

NASA to Begin Attempts to Free Sand-Trapped Mars Rover
November 13, 2009
News and Features

NASA will begin transmitting commands to its Mars exploration rover Spirit on Monday as part of an escape plan to free the venerable robot from its Martian sand trap.

Students Send Microbe Experiment on Space Shuttle Atlantis
November 13, 2009
News and Features

An experiment by college students that will study how microbes grow in microgravity is heading to orbit aboard space shuttle Atlantis.

Measuring Climate Change
November 13, 2009
News and Features

Astrobiology Magazine's climate blog, The Hot Zone, recently spoke with Dr. Marty Mlynczak of NASA's Langley Research Center about the limitations of the technology we have on hand to measure climate change. Some of the things we can't measure could be important in understanding the links between climate and habitability.

NASA's Great Observatories Celebrate International Year of Astronomy
November 12, 2009
News and Features

A never-before-seen view of the turbulent heart of our Milky Way galaxy was unveiled by NASA on Nov. 10, to commemorate the 400 years since Galileo first turned his telescope to the heavens in 1609.

WISE Is Chilling Out
November 12, 2009
News and Features

Engineers are busy cooling the science instrument on NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE.

A Tale of Planetary Woe
November 12, 2009
News and Features

Some scientists believe that a relatively wet and warm ancient Mars may have been a second location for life. However, Mars did not end up as a planet filled with the multitude of life we see on Earth. NASA's new Mars orbiter, MAVEN, may help astrobiologists understand why.

Swift XMM-Newton Satellites Tune Into a Middleweight Black Hole
November 10, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center find that an X-ray source in galaxy NGC 5408 represents one of the best cases for a middleweight black hole to date.

Frost-Covered Phoenix
November 10, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has captured images of the Phoenix lander shrouded in dry-ice frost on Mars. Phoenix has been inactive since the completion of its mission in November 2008. Early next year, scientists will try to contact the lander to see if it is still able to communicate.

NASA Nobel Laureate Presents 'Story of the Universe'
November 10, 2009
News and Features

This new interactive from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center presents a video lecture by NASA scientist and 2006 Nobel Prize laureate Dr. John Mather.

Hurricane Ida Heads Across the Gulf of Mexico
November 10, 2009
News and Features

Residents of the U.S. Gulf Coast thought they were getting a break this hurricane season until Hurricane Ida showed up.

NASA Spinoff 2009 Highlights Technologies That Improve Life on Earth
November 09, 2009
News and Features

The 2009 edition of NASA's Spinoff, a publication that shows how NASA technology is being put to use in everyday life here on Earth, is available in print and online.

The Stars My Destination
November 09, 2009
News and Features

The Voyager spacecraft are now in the outermost layer of the heliosphere, traveling toward interstellar space – the first man-made spacecraft to travel such a vast distance from Earth.

Hurricane Ida in the Gulf of Mexico
November 09, 2009
News and Features

Residents of the U.S. Gulf coast thought they were getting a break this hurricane season until Ida showed up. Today, November 9, Ida is a hurricane and is headed for a landfall in the western Florida Panhandle after midnight.

NASA Reproduces a Building Block of Life in Laboratory
November 09, 2009
News and Features

NASA scientists studying the origin of life have reproduced uracil, a key component of our hereditary material, in the laboratory.

Think Global, Act Local
November 06, 2009
News and Features

Local measurements can provide information about the real impacts of climate change.

Phoenix Lander Seen in Winter Images
November 05, 2009
News and Features

Winter images of NASA's Phoenix Lander showing the lander shrouded in dry-ice frost on Mars.

Starring Intelligent Aliens
November 05, 2009
News and Features

The most probable place to find intelligent life in the galaxy is around stars very similar to our sun, a new study has found.

Mercury Rising
November 04, 2009
News and Features

On its final flyby of Mercury, NASA's Messenger spacecraft has captured images of never before seen regions of the planet.

Primitive Particles Discovered
November 03, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have discovered 'ultra-primitive' material in stratospheric dust samples collected by high-flying aircraft.

Fantastic Voyage - Voyager Spacecraft
November 02, 2009
News and Features

By travelling to the outer solar system, the two Voyager spacecraft allowed us to see amazing details of far-distant planets and moons.

Fish – It's What's for Dinner
October 30, 2009
News and Features

The oceans of Earth play an essential role in making our planet habitable for life as we know it. The future of our oceans, however, may be in jeopardy.

A Blast From the Deep, Dark Past
October 30, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers have imaged the most distant object ever seen--a star collapsing into a black hole more than 13 billion light-years away.

Life's Ancient Island in the Ice
October 29, 2009
News and Features

Scientists may have uncovered how Beringia supported such diversity at a time when conditions for life were harsh.

Volcanoes Set the Stage for an Ice Age
October 28, 2009
News and Features

Researchers have discovered connections between volcanoes and a deadly ice age that occurred 450 million years ago.

Fire at Fuel Storage Facility in Puerto Rico
October 27, 2009
News and Features

On the morning of October 23, 2009, an explosion rocked fuel storage tank facilities near San Juan, Puerto Rico, with the same force as a 2.8-magnitude earthquake, according to CNN.

Spotting Spores
October 27, 2009
News and Features

Chemists have developed a technology to rapidly assess the presence of microbial life on spacecraft. The method will help in decontaminating spacecraft before launch, and could have medical and pharmaceutical uses on Earth.

NASA's Fermi Telescope Celebrates First Year of Gamma-Ray Science
October 27, 2009
News and Features

NASA will hold a news teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Oct. 28, to discuss the first-year science results from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.

NASA Science Flights in the Antarctic Study Sea Ice
October 27, 2009
News and Features

Currently underway, Operation Ice Bridge is the largest airborne survey of Earth's polar ice ever flown.

IBEX Maps Our Place in the Galaxy
October 26, 2009
News and Features

NASA's IBEX spacecraft has made it possible for scientists to construct the first comprehensive sky map of our solar system and its location in the Milky Way. The new view will help researchers study the interaction between our galaxy and sun, and the conditions that allow for habitability in our solar system.

El Niño, La Niña, and Rainfall
October 26, 2009
News and Features

For many people, El Niño and La Niña mean floods or drought, but the events are actually a warming or cooling of the eastern Pacific Ocean that impacts rainfall. These sea surface temperature and rainfall anomaly images show the direct correlation between ocean temperatures and rainfall during El Niño and La Niña events.

Science At NASA on Flickr
October 26, 2009
RSS Feeds

Science At NASA on Flickr (http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photos_public.gne?id=28445820@N02&lang=en-us&format=rss_200) - View images from science education and outreach events.

A Long Night Falls Over Saturn's Rings
October 26, 2009
News and Features

As Saturn's rings orbit the planet, a section is typically in the planet's shadow, experiencing a brief night lasting from 6 to 14 hours. However, once approximately every 15 years, night falls over the entire visible ring system for about four days.

Detecting Life-Friendly Moons
October 26, 2009
News and Features

The search for life-friendly real estate around distant stars doesn't have to be limited to planets. New research shows that habitable exomoons can be detected with a new method using current technology.

Ares I-X Rocket Set for Test Flight
October 23, 2009
News and Features

The Ares 1-X rocket is currently targeted to make its test flight between 8 a.m. and noon EDT on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Galaxy Cluster Smashes Distance Record
October 22, 2009
News and Features

The most distant galaxy cluster yet has been discovered by combining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical and infrared telescopes. The cluster is located about 10.2 billion light years away.

NASA Researchers Explore Lightning's NOx-ious Impact on Pollution, Climate
October 22, 2009
News and Features

Every year, scientists learn something new about the inner workings of lightning. With satellites, they have discovered that more than 1.2 billion lightning flashes occur around the world every year.

Sailing With NASA
October 22, 2009
News and Features

Liberty Star Doing Well Despite Challenging Weather

Building Planet Earth
October 22, 2009
News and Features

A new study shows how rocky planets are formed from the manic swirl of gas and dust that surround a young star, and determines what chemical building blocks are used to construct the planets. Understanding the dynamics and chemistry that create planetary systems can help astronomers in their search for Earth-like planets in the galaxy.

Oases for Life on the Mid-Caymen Rise
October 21, 2009
News and Features

A team of oceanographers and astrobiologists is currently exploring one of the deepest points in the Caribbean Sea. Follow their blog as they search for life in this extreme seafloor environment.

GOES-P Satellite Preparing for Launch in March 2010
October 21, 2009
News and Features

GOES-P is being prepared for an early March 2010 launch and if the launch schedule holds, it boasts an unprecedented two launches in approximately 8 months.

The 2009 Orionid Meteor Shower
October 21, 2009
News and Features

The Orionid meteor shower peaks this week and it could be a very good show.

Astronomers Find Organic Molecules Around Gas Planet
October 21, 2009
News and Features

Researchers have detected the basic chemistry for life in a second hot gas planet, advancing astronomers toward the goal of being able to characterize planets where life could exist.

Category 5 Hurricane Rick
October 20, 2009
News and Features

Hurricane Rick was a Category 5 storm on October 18, 2009, near the time when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image.

Team Runs Operational Test to Prepare for Extracting Spirit
October 20, 2009
News and Features

Engineers using test rovers on Earth to prepare for extracting the sand-trapped Spirit rover on Mars have added a new challenge to their preparations.

32 New Exoplanets Found
October 20, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers have reported 32 new exoplanets discovered using the HARPS spectrograph for ESO's 3.6-meter telescope. HARPS has provided a boost in the number of planets that are only a few times more massive than Earth. Some of these low-mass planets rest close to the habitable zone of their host stars.

Ice Bridge Blog: Up and Down Thwaites Glacier
October 20, 2009
News and Features

On Sunday, Oct. 18, researchers and crew flew on the DC-8 aircraft’s second Antarctic flight of the Operation Ice Bridge Campaign.

Building an Astrobiology Tool Kit
October 19, 2009
News and Features

In this blog entry, Juan Diego Rodriguez Blanco from the AMASE 2009 team discusses how instruments for future Mars missions are tested on Earth. This year, equipment for ESA's ExoMars mission and NASA's Mars Science Laboratory were put through the ropes on the arctic island of Svalbard.

LCROSS Captures All Phases of Centaur Impact
October 19, 2009
News and Features

NASA’s Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) was a smashing success, returning tantalizing data about the Centaur impact before the spacecraft itself impacted the surface of the moon.

NASA Science Flights in the Antarctic Study Sea Ice
October 19, 2009
News and Features

Currently underway, Operation Ice Bridge is the largest airborne survey of Earth's polar ice ever flown. It is currently in its sixth year as a NASA field campaign.

Battle of the Bands
October 19, 2009
News and Features

Banded rocks scattered across the upper Midwest and elsewhere around the world are providing information about the environment of the early Earth. Once mined as a source of iron, these rocks can tell scientists about the geochemical conditions that existed on Earth more than 2 billion years ago.

Cassini Data Help Redraw Shape of Solar System
October 16, 2009
News and Features

Images from the Ion and Neutral Camera on NASA's Cassini spacecraft suggest that the heliosphere, the region of the sun's influence, may not have the comet-like shape predicted by existing models.

NASA Spacecraft Provides First View of Our Place in the Galaxy
October 16, 2009
News and Features

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer has helped scientists construct the first comprehensive map of our solar system and its location in the Milky Way galaxy.

Europa Has Enough Oxygen For Life
October 16, 2009
News and Features

New research suggests that there is plenty of oxygen available in the subsurface ocean of Europa to support oxygen-based metabolic processes for life similar to that on Earth. In fact, there may be enough oxygen to support complex, animal-like organisms with greater oxygen demands than microorganisms.

Operation Ice Bridge Campaign Takes Flight in Antarctica
October 16, 2009
News and Features

Currently underway, Operation Ice Bridge is the largest airborne survey of Earth's polar ice ever flown. It is currently in its sixth year as a NASA field campaign.

Interstellar Boundary Explorer Science Update Today on NASA TV
October 15, 2009
News and Features

Tune if for the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) Science Update today, Thurs. Oct. 15, 2:15 p.m. EDT on NASA TV.

IBEX Explores Galactic Frontier, Releases First-Ever All-Sky Map
October 15, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft has made it possible for scientists to construct the first comprehensive sky map of our solar system and its location in the Milky Way galaxy. The new view will change the way researchers view and study the interaction between our galaxy and sun.

FIRST Makes New Observations of Earth's Atmosphere
October 15, 2009
News and Features

High in Chilean desert, one of the driest places on Earth, NASA researchers are studying water vapor.

Earthquake off Samoa Generates Tsunami
October 15, 2009
News and Features

On September 29, 2009, a tsunami struck the southern shoreline of Upolu, the easternmost of the Samoan islands. These false-color satellite images show damage to vegetation on Upolu’s coast.

Migrating Microbes
October 15, 2009
News and Features

With every spacecraft that leaves Earth, millions of microbes hitch a ride into space. As astrobiologists search for life in other worlds, preventing forward and back contamination remains a key priority.

Diviner Observes LCROSS Impact
October 14, 2009
News and Features

LRO's Diviner instrument obtained a series of thermal maps before and after the impact at approximately two hour intervals at an angle of approximately 48 degrees off nadir.

NASA participates in the Arctic Mars Analogue Svalbard Expedition
October 14, 2009
News and Features

Throughout most of the month of August, an international team of scientists participated in the Arctic Mars Analogue Svalbard Expedition (AMASE) in Norway, conducting scientific research and testing instruments for future NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) Mars robotic missions.

Science and Astronomy Night for Students hosted by the White House
October 14, 2009
News and Features

See photos from an Astronomy Night event hosted on the White House lawn. Local middle school students had an opportunity to learn about the solar system and the vast universe beyond on Wednesday, Oct 7.

Green Rocket Fuel
October 14, 2009
News and Features

Researchers are developing a new type of rocket fuel made from a frozen mixture of water and 'nanoscale aluminum' powder. The fuel would be more environmentally friendly, and could be manufactured on the moon, Mars or other water-bearing bodies. Such fuels could play an important role in future missions beyond our planet.

NASA Celebrates Earth Science Week
October 13, 2009
News and Features

During the week of October 11-17, the world will be celebrating Earth Science Week and NASA has a major part in that celebration. NASA studies a variety of topics on Earth science, from climate change to hurricanes.

A Hazy View of Early Earth
October 13, 2009
News and Features

The atmosphere of the early Earth may have been filled with particulate haze, much like a smoggy day in Los Angeles. This hazy air would have affected the ancient climate and even may have influenced the origin and evolution of life.

LCROSS Impacts the Lunar Surface
October 13, 2009
News and Features

LCROSS and its Centaur rocket stage hit near the lunar south pole in a search for water ice.

Hubble's Amazing Rescue
October 13, 2009
News and Features

PBS tells the story of how the world's most beloved telescope was saved, which premieres Oct. 13.

New Antenna May Reveal More Clues About Lightning
October 09, 2009
News and Features

Many launches at Kennedy and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station are scrubbed because they are within "Lightning Alley."

LCROSS animation of impact
October 09, 2009
News and Features

Watch an animation of LCROSS impacting the moon!

LCROSS Impacts the Lunar Surface
October 09, 2009
News and Features

LCROSS and its Centaur rocket stage hit near the lunar south pole in a search for water ice.

Arctic Sea Ice Extent is Third Lowest on Record
October 08, 2009
News and Features

U.S. satellite measurements show Arctic sea ice extent in 2009 – the area of the Arctic Ocean covered by floating ice – was the third lowest since satellite measurements were first made in 1979.

Dirty Stars are Popular Hosts
October 08, 2009
News and Features

New research indicates that the composition of a star may indicate whether or not the star supports orbiting planets. 'Dirty' stars form from clouds of dust and gas that contain lots of heavy elements... and scientists believe these stars are good candidates for hosting solar systems.

LCROSS Set For Lunar Impact Friday
October 08, 2009
News and Features

LCROSS and its Centaur rocket stage will hit near the lunar south pole in a search for water ice.

NASA Refines Asteroid Apophis' Path Toward Earth
October 08, 2009
News and Features

Using updated information, NASA scientists have recalculated the path of a large asteroid. The refined path indicates a significantly reduced likelihood of a hazardous encounter with Earth in 2036.

White House to Host Science and Astronomy Night for Students
October 07, 2009
News and Features

The White House will host 150 D.C. area students to star gaze and conduct hands-on experiments with astronomers from across the country.

NASA Space Telescope Discovers Largest Ring Around Saturn
October 07, 2009
News and Features

LCROSS Flight Director's Blog
October 07, 2009
News and Features

Once More Around the Earth: September 4 - October 5

STEREO Captures Sun's Eruption
October 06, 2009
News and Features

The twin STEREO spacecraft (called “Behind” and “Ahead” denoting their relative positions in space), captured a large and dramatic prominence eruption over about a 30-hour period between Sept. 26-27, 2009.

LCROSS Mission Set For Oct. 9 Lunar Impact
October 06, 2009
News and Features

The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite and its Centaur rocket stage will hit near the lunar south pole in a search for water ice.

Local LCROSS Impact Events
October 06, 2009
News and Features

Find LCROSS impact events near you. Are you hosting an LCROSS impact event that's open to the public? Please email the name of the organization, location, web site, details of the event and contact information to us. We'll add you to the map and list!

Islands of Life Across Space and Time
October 06, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have provided the first quantitative evaluation of planetary habitability. The study shows how the habitability of Earth has changed in the past, and will aid astrobiologists in evaluating the habitability of other planets in our solar system and beyond.

Streams of the Sun
October 05, 2009
News and Features

Contrary to popular belief, the number of sunspots visible on the sun may not be an indication of changes in the sun's impact on Earth. Last year, the Earth was bombarded with high levels of solar energy - even though the sun was in a quiet phase of its 11-year cycle and sunspots had virtually disappeared.

Study Highlights Data on How Pollution Travels
October 05, 2009
News and Features

JPL satellite data on the global transport of carbon monoxide are highlighted in a new National Academy of Sciences report on long-range transport of air pollutants.

Cloudy, with Pebble Showers
October 05, 2009
News and Features

A newly-discovered exoplanet has an atmosphere that contains the same ingredients as rocks. In fact, a storm on COROT-7b may include pebbles condensing out of the air to rain into lakes of lava. COROT-7b is less than twice the size of Earth and can help astronomers understand how small, rocky planets form and evolve.

Herschel's Multi-Hued View of the Sky
October 05, 2009
News and Features

A new image from the Herschel Observatory shows off the observatory's talents for seeing multiple wavelengths of light.

LCROSS Mission Set For Oct. 9 Lunar Impact
October 02, 2009
News and Features

The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite and its Centaur rocket stage will hit near the lunar south pole in a search for water ice.

Dinosaur-Killer was Soft on Algae
October 02, 2009
News and Features

Molecular fossils of algae in the so-called “K-P boundary” point to a very fast recovery of these organisms following the meteorite impact that killed the dinosaurs.

Space Radar Reveals Topography of Tsunami Site
October 02, 2009
News and Features

Two color-coded perspective views of the Independent State of Samoa (left) and American Samoa (right), generated with digital elevation data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, illustrate the varying topography of the islands.

Earthquake off Samoa Generates Tsunami
October 01, 2009
News and Features

On the morning of September 29, 2009, a large undersea earthquake near Samoa generated a destructive tsunami that killed more than 100 people, said news reports.

Seeking Life’s Shadow
October 01, 2009
News and Features

New research on ancient fossils also may offer insight into finding signs of life in Martian rocks.

Cleaner Water, Lower Cost
October 01, 2009
News and Features

Water technology from life in space is providing cleaner water on Earth.

Cosmic Rays Hit Space Age High
September 30, 2009
News and Features

Planning a trip to Mars? Take plenty of shielding. According to sensors on NASA's ACE (Advanced Composition Explorer) spacecraft, galactic cosmic rays have just hit a Space Age high.

Double Dust Disks
September 30, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers have explored one of the most compact dust disks ever resolved around another star, where an inner disk is accompanied by an outer disk. The finding may be an example of a young planetary system just entering the last phase of planet formation and could teach us about the evolution and formation of habitable planets.

LCROSS Mission Changes Target Crater for Oct. 9 Impact
September 30, 2009
News and Features

Based on new analysis of available lunar data, Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) has shifted the target crater from Cabeus A to Cabeus (proper).

MESSENGER Spacecraft Flies by Mercury
September 30, 2009
News and Features

MESSENGER flew by Mercury for the third and final time Sept. 29, 2009. The spacecraft passed less than 142 miles above the planet's rocky surface enabling it to enter orbit in 2011.

Operation Ice Bridge: Mission to Antarctica
September 29, 2009
News and Features

Operation Ice Bridge, a six-year NASA field campaign, is the largest airborne survey of Earth's polar ice ever flown.

Planetary Petri Dish
September 29, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers have discovered a clump of planet-forming material around a distant star that looks as if it is being pushed around by another star or planet. The observation is unlike anything seen before and offers a rare look into the early stages of planet formation.

Floundering El Niños Make for Fickle Forecasts
September 29, 2009
News and Features

Since May 2009, the tropical Pacific Ocean has switched from a cool pattern of ocean circulation known as La Niña to her warmer sibling, El Niño. This cyclical warming of the ocean waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific generally occurs every three to seven years, and is linked with changes in the strength of the trade winds.

Fun Science: Iceberg Chasing and Laser Lights
September 29, 2009
News and Features

During the 2009 AMASE Expedition to Svalbard, scientists were able to carry out 'fun science' activities in addition to their normal research schedule. In this report, team member Juan Diego Rodriguez-Blanco discusses projects like 'iceberg chasing' and developing Raman spectroscopy for Mars.

Letters from SARA
September 28, 2009
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Letters from SARA (http://www.nasascience.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/letters-from-sara/RSS) - The Senior Adviser for Research & Analysis writes a letter to the community once a month.

City of Dubai at Night, United Arab Emirates
September 28, 2009
News and Features

The city of Dubai is the largest metropolitan area in the emirate of Dubai, one of the member states of the United Arab Emirates. Dubai is located along the southern Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula, and its signature city is known for high profile architectural and development projects.

Ice Deposit Larger Than Texas
September 28, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has provided 3D images of the north-polar ice layers of Mars. The images provide validation for theoretical models of Mars' climate cycles over the past few million years. With accurate climate models, scientists can help determine whether or not Mars was once a habitable environment for life.

Science for a Hungry World
September 28, 2009
News and Features

This series of videos illustrate the value of the unique perspective gained from space and enforces the need for global agricultural monitoring and accurate forecasting.

The Ups and Downs of Global Warming
September 28, 2009
News and Features

Naturally occurring periods of no warming or even slight cooling could easily be part of a longer-term pattern of global warming, according to a recent study.

Twin Keck Telescopes Probe Dual Dust Disks
September 28, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers using the twin 10-meter telescopes at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii have explored one of the most compact dust disks ever resolved around another star.

ROSES 2009 Clarifications, Corrections and Amendments
September 28, 2009
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ROSES 2009 Clarifications, Corrections and Amendments (http://nasascience.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/grant-solicitations/roses-2009/RSS) - Stay up to date with the latest ROSES 2009 clarifications, corrections and amendments.

NASA Instruments Reveal Water Molecules on Lunar Surface
September 25, 2009
News and Features

NASA scientists discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the moon. Instruments aboard three separate spacecraft revealed water molecules in amounts that are greater than predicted.

NASA Goddard Shoots the Moon to Track LRO
September 25, 2009
News and Features

The laser ranging effort to track the LRO spacecraft produces distance measurements accurate to within about four inches over nearly 250,000 miles.

NASA Spacecraft Sees Ice on Mars Exposed by Meteor Impacts
September 25, 2009
News and Features

The team operating the Context Camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter frequently discovers new dark spots on Mars that, upon closer examination, turn out to be brand new impact craters.

ICESat Maps Profound Polar Thinning
September 24, 2009
News and Features

Researchers have used NASA’s Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) to compose the most comprehensive picture of changing glaciers along the coast of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.

Comets May Give Life a Hand
September 24, 2009
News and Features

A comet hitting Earth would seem to bring only death and destruction, but one group is studying how such an impact could promote certain necessary chemical steps in the origin of life. The researchers are focusing on how comet collisions might have influenced the molecular orientation, or handedness, of our planet's biology.

NASA To Reveal New Scientific Findings About The Moon
September 24, 2009
News and Features

NASA will hold a media briefing at 2 p.m. EDT today to discuss new science data from the moon collected during national and international space missions. NASA.gov and NASA TV will provide live coverage of the briefing.

NASA Invites Students to Drop Everything
September 24, 2009
News and Features

NASA is inviting student teams to experience microgravity science by designing and building experiments to be conducted in a NASA drop tower. Dropping In a Microgravity Environment, or DIME, is a competition for high school students. Students in grades 6-9 can compete in What If No Gravity?, or WING.

How to Make a Planet
September 24, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope found evidence that a companion to a star -- either another star or a planet -- could be pushing planetary material together, as illustrated here.

Radar Map of Buried Mars Layers Matches Climate Cycles
September 23, 2009
News and Features

New, three-dimensional imaging of Martian north-polar ice layers by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is consistent with theoretical models of climate swings during the past few million years.

Cooking Life's Ingredients, with a Pinch of Salt
September 23, 2009
News and Features

By studying a chemical mixture thought to be present in the Earth's early oceans, scientists have discovered that amino acids can be 'cooked' into many other important building blocks of life when they are embedded in salt crusts. The finding could have important implications in our understanding of life's origins.

With an Eye on Locusts and Vegetation, Scientists Make a Good Tool Better
September 23, 2009
News and Features

Locusts, the grasshopper-like insects of Biblical lore, are normally docile creatures that prefer solitary lives in the desert, away from other members of their species. But sometimes, when the rains come and patches of green begin to dot dry landscapes, their populations skyrocket and something extraordinary can happen.

Podcast Series Shares NASA's Advances in Agriculture
September 23, 2009
News and Features

"Science for a Hungry World" spotlights scientific advances in monitoring agricultural production and landscape changes that affect the sustainability of the world's food supply.

EVE: Measuring the Sun's Hidden Variability
September 22, 2009
News and Features

To monitor energetic solar photons, NASA is going to launch a sensor named "EVE," short for EUV Variability Experiment, onboard SDO this winter.

AMASE 2009 Expedition Finishes
September 22, 2009
News and Features

Adrienne Kish reports from the field during the closing days of the AMASE 2009 Expedition to Norway's Svalbard island in the arctic. As the mission completed, the research team simulated a week in the life of a Mars rover science team in preparation for a future Mars sample return mission.

Google Earth Application Maps Carbon's Course
September 22, 2009
News and Features

Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words, particularly when the picture is used to illustrate science. Technology is giving us better pictures every day, and one of them is helping a NASA-funded scientist and her team to explain the behavior of a greenhouse gas.

Cassini Reveals New Ring Quirks, Shadows During Saturn Equinox
September 22, 2009
News and Features

Images of in the rings of Saturn taken during the planet's equinox last month reveal newly discovered bumps in the rings are as high as the Rocky Mountains.

Learning How Materials Work in Space to Make Them Better on Earth
September 21, 2009
News and Features

What's about the size of a large refrigerator, weighs a ton and may help pave the way for new and improved metals or glasses here on Earth?

In Search of Dark Asteroids (and Other Sneaky Things)
September 21, 2009
News and Features

To hunt for the "ninjas" of the cosmos -- dim objects that lurk in the vast dark spaces between planets and stars -- scientists are building by far the most sensitive set of wide-angle infrared goggles ever, a space telescope called the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE.

Adding Up the Odds for Life
September 21, 2009
News and Features

Researchers are laying the groundwork for a new equation that could mathematically quantify whether or not a particular environment is habitable for life as we know it. The concept is based on the Drake equation, which was developed for estimating the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy.

LRO Begins Detailed Mapping of Moon's South Pole
September 18, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has successfully completed its testing and calibration phase and entered its mapping orbit of the moon.

Confirming a Hot Earth
September 18, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have confirmed the existence of a solid, rocky planet orbiting a distant star. The research also revealed a second Super Earth in the same solar system. Studies like these bring us closer to the discovery of habitable exoplanets similar to Earth.

NASA Lunar Satellite Begins Detailed Mapping of Moon's South Pole
September 18, 2009
News and Features

LRO completed its calibration phase and began mapping its moon orbit. The spacecraft has made significant progress toward creating the most detailed atlas of the moon's south pole yet.

Snapshots From Space Cultivate Fans Among Midwest Farmers
September 18, 2009
News and Features

Noreen Thomas’ farm looks like a patchwork quilt. Fields change hue with the season and with the alternating plots of organic wheat, soybeans, corn, alfalfa, flax, or hay.

Planck Snaps its First Images of Ancient Cosmic Light
September 18, 2009
News and Features

The Planck mission has captured its first rough images of the sky, demonstrating the observatory is working and ready to measure light from the dawn of time.

Space Hand-Me-Downs
September 17, 2009
News and Features

Much of the biology on Earth involves molecules that are oriented in a left-handed direction. A proposed nano-satellite would carry up some of these bio-molecules to see if something in space might be responsible for this left-handed excess.

NASA Satellite Data Show Progress of 2009 Antarctic Ozone Hole
September 17, 2009
News and Features

The annual ozone hole has started developing over the South Pole, and it appears that it will be comparable to ozone depletions over the past decade. This composite image from September 10 depicts ozone concentrations in Dobson units, with purple and blues depicting severe deficits of ozone.

What's New from SARA
September 17, 2009
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What's New from SARA (http://nasascience.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/whats-new/RSS) - Get the latest updates to the SARA Web site and announcements.

James Webb Space Telescope Begins to Take Shape
September 17, 2009
News and Features

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is starting to come together. A major component of the telescope, the Integrated Science Instrument Module structure, recently arrived at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. for testing in the Spacecraft Systems Development and Integration Facility.

Asteroid Juno Grabs the Spotlight
September 17, 2009
News and Features

Toward the end of September, the sun will turn a spotlight on the asteroid Juno, giving that bulky lump of rock a rare featured cameo in the night sky.

Swift's Ultraviolet Portrait of the Andromeda Galaxy
September 16, 2009
News and Features

In a break from its usual task of searching for distant cosmic explosions, NASA's Swift satellite has acquired the highest-resolution view of a neighboring spiral galaxy ever attained in the ultraviolet.

Saturn's Turbulent 'Storm Alley' Sets Another Record
September 16, 2009
News and Features

The longest continuously observed thunderstorm in the solar system has been roiling Saturn's atmosphere since mid-January and is still churning now, according to a presentation by a Cassini team scientist at the European Planetary Science Congress in Potsdam, Germany.

'Smog Blog' Celebrates One Year
September 16, 2009
News and Features

SERVIR's "Smog Blog" provides timely information about air pollution and its sources throughout Mesoamerica and the Caribbean.

Haumea Hot Spot
September 16, 2009
News and Features

A dark red spot discovered on the dwarf planet Haumea, which orbits beyond Neptune, appears to be rich in minerals and organic compounds. Studying the composition of objects like Haumea can help astrobiologists understand the inventory of compounds in our solar system that may have played a role in life's origins.

Testing for the Moon in the Arizona Desert
September 16, 2009
News and Features

The Desert RATS -- or Research and Technology Studies -- allow NASA to analyze and refine technologies and procedures in extreme environments on Earth.

Satellites Could Help Keep Hungry Populations Fed
September 15, 2009
News and Features

Few non-scientists have ever heard of "NDVI," but this tool will play a key part in helping us to keep food on the table as future populations swell.

Landsat: A Space Age Water Gauge
September 15, 2009
News and Features

NASA has released a video illustrating an innovative satellite-based method that maps agricultural water consumption.

Scientists Discover New Radiation Belt at Saturn
September 15, 2009
News and Features

Scientists using the Cassini spacecraft's Magnetospheric Imaging instrument have detected a new, temporary radiation belt at Saturn, located around the orbit of its moon Dione at about 377,000 kilometers (234,000 miles) from the center of the planet.

Craters Count Jupiter's Age
September 15, 2009
News and Features

Craters on the two largest objects in the asteroid belt could help identify at what point during the early solar system Jupiter was created. Vesta and Ceres are believed to be two of the oldest objects in the solar system and studying them could shed light on how our solar system has formed over time.

Roving the Ocean Floor
September 14, 2009
News and Features

A rover that has been driving across the ocean floor off the California coast is providing researchers with an entirely new view of life in the deep ocean. The Benthic Rover is exploring the unique habitats deep below the Pacific waters and is also helping document the effects of climate change on these fragile environments.

Arctic Preparations for Mars
September 14, 2009
News and Features

Previous missions to Mars have been searching for signs that Mars once had liquid water, and potentially habitats for life. The next generation of martian rovers will search for signs of past or present life on Mars more directly. Technologies for such missions are now being tested in the remote arctic.

NASA'S LCROSS Reveals Target Crater for Lunar South Pole Impacts
September 14, 2009
News and Features

LCROSS will search for water ice by sending its spent upper-stage Centaur rocket to impact the permanently shadowed polar crater.

Electronic Nose to Return from Space Station
September 11, 2009
News and Features

Sniffing out any potential contaminants on the International Space Station where it was stationed for the last six months, the JPL-built electronic nose, or ENose, is homeward bound.

The Rise and Fall of Oxygen
September 11, 2009
News and Features

New research confirms that a rise in atmospheric oxygen drove oxygenation of ancient oceans on Earth, and ultimately led to the evolution of complex animals. The study provides insight into how the Earth came to support the wide diversity of life we see today.

NASA, ATK Successfully Test Ares First Stage Motor
September 11, 2009
News and Features

NASA and industry engineers lit up the Utah sky Thursday with the initial full-scale, full-duration test firing of the first stage motor for the Ares I rocket.

Catastrophic Darkness
September 10, 2009
News and Features

New studies of mixotrophic algae have shown how such organisms could survive the darkened skies that follow a major asteroid impact. Such studies indicate how life manages to survive after a mass extinction event.

Spacecraft Talk Continued During JPL Wildfire Threat
September 10, 2009
News and Features

As the flames of the raging brush fire dubbed the Station Fire threatened the northern edge of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Saturday, Aug. 29, the managers of NASA's Deep Space Network prepared for the worst.

NASA Releases Images From Refurbished Hubble
September 10, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers declared NASA's Hubble Space Telescope a fully rejuvenated observatory with the release Wednesday of observations from four of its six operating science instruments.

New NASA Image Shows Extent of California Fire
September 09, 2009
News and Features

On September 6, 2009, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite captured this simulated natural color image of the Station fire, burning in the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles.

Perspectives: Why EOS Matters, 10 years later
September 09, 2009
News and Features

Nearly a decade ago, ecologist Steve Running described how NASA’s Earth Observing System missions were going to help us answer this crucial question: Is the current human occupancy and activity of planet Earth sustainable?

North by Northwest – S'COOL on First Leg of Ocean Passage
September 09, 2009
News and Features

NASA's S'COOL project is now underway in a part of the world where few have sailed before: the open waters of the Northwest Passage.

Barbecue Moon
September 08, 2009
News and Features

The latest findings concerning Titan indicate that the Saturnian moon could contain valuable in situ resources for future explorers, including fuels like propane. The discovery of propane could help scientists further understand the chemistry of Titan's atmosphere, and the potential for life's building blocks to form on the distant moon.

Catalog of Earth Satellite Orbits
September 08, 2009
News and Features

Just as different seats in a theater provide different perspectives on a performance, different Earth orbits give satellites varying perspectives, each valuable for different reasons.

Are Sunspots Disappearing?
September 08, 2009
News and Features

The sun is in the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century. Some observers are starting to wonder, are sunspots disappearing? Sunspots can have profound effects on the Earth's climate as well as human and satellite missions in orbit.

Saturn Moon Could Power 150 Billion Labor Day Barbecues
September 08, 2009
News and Features

Since its discovery by Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens in 1655, Saturn's most massive moon, Titan, has been known as a place of mystery and intrigue.

Pollution from California Wildfires Spreads Across the United States
September 04, 2009
News and Features

Beginning August 26, 2009, and continuing into September 2009, a large wildfire in the Angeles National Forest north of Los Angeles known as the Station Fire burned more than 140,000 acres through September 3.

Early End to India's Moon Mission
September 04, 2009
News and Features

India has lost contact with the lunar orbiter Chandrayaan-1. The loss came less than a week after the spacecraft teamed up with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter for an experiment to test for water ice on the Moon. Water ice could prove to be a vital resource for lunar explorers.

LRO Takes a First Look at the Apollo 12 Landing Site
September 04, 2009
News and Features

Four months after the success of Apollo 11, NASA launched Apollo 12 in November 1969. Almost exactly 40 years later, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has seen the landing site.

7.0 Quake off Java
September 04, 2009
News and Features

At 2:55 p.m. local time (7:55 UTC) on September 2, 2009, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the southern shore of western Java (Jawa).

Northwest Passage, Late August 2009
September 03, 2009
News and Features

In late August 2009, ice clogged some but not all of the Northwest Passage, and snow had retreated from most of the islands in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

Zinc and UV Zapped Life into Being?
September 03, 2009
News and Features

A new model for the origin of life says zinc may have played a vital role. If true, then the Sun’s UV radiation may have provided the energy necessary for life to arise.

What's Holding Antarctic Sea Ice Back From Melting?
September 03, 2009
News and Features

Global temperatures are increasing. Sea levels are rising. Ice sheets in many areas of the world are retreating. Yet there’s something peculiar going on in the oceans around Antarctica...

Thousands of New Images Show Mars in High Resolution
September 03, 2009
News and Features

Newly released images from more than 1,500 telescopic observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show a wide range of gullies, dunes, craters, geological layering and other features on the Red Planet.

What’s Going On with Earth’s Ice & Snow Cover?
September 02, 2009
News and Features

Take a tour of some the coldest places on the planet – courtesy NASA’s fleet of Earth-observing spacecraft – and chat with a NASA scientist about changes to ice sheets and sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic.

More Los Angeles Fire Images
September 02, 2009
News and Features

Triple-digit temperatures, extremely low relative humidities, dense vegetation that has not burned in decades, and years of extended drought are all contributing to the explosive growth of wildfires throughout Southern California.

NASA Takes You on a New Tour of the Cryosphere
September 02, 2009
News and Features

In 2002, NASA created a video tour of Earth's frozen regions using satellite data. This year, NASA visualizers are taking viewers on a return trip to see what's changed over the years.

Satellites and Submarines Give the Skinny on Sea Ice Thickness
September 02, 2009
News and Features

This summer, a group of scientists and students — as well as a Canadian senator, a writer, and a filmmaker — set out from Resolute Bay, Canada, on the icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent.

The Fate of the Milky Way
September 02, 2009
News and Features

New simulations show that a collision between small, satellite galaxies and our own Milky Way will not tear apart the disk of our home galaxy. Our largest satellite galaxies are the Large and Small Megellanic Clouds, and astronomers once thought a collision with them would lead to disaster. But for now, it looks as though our future in the Milky Way is safe.

Smoke From Station Fire Blankets Southern California
September 01, 2009
News and Features

Triple-digit temperatures, extremely low relative humidities, dense vegetation that has not burned in decades, and years of extended drought are all contributing to the explosive growth of wildfires throughout Southern California.

Severe Storms
September 01, 2009
News and Features

This collection of images featuring the strongest hurricane, cyclone, or typhoon from any ocean during each year of the past decade includes storms both famous—or infamous—and obscure.

A Carbonyl Sulphide Blanket
September 01, 2009
News and Features

In the early days of the solar system, our sun would not have been hot enough to keep the Earth from freezing. However, liquid water was present on the early Earth. Now, scientists believe that greenhouse gasses may have played a role in keeping Earth's oceans from freezing over completely.

Amase-ing Life on the Ice
August 31, 2009
News and Features

Far north in the arctic, the AMASE 2009 expedition team is collecting samples of unique life that inhabits the glacial ice of Svalbard, Norway. The expedition is a test for technology that could one day be used in the search for life on Mars.

JPL Wildfires Update
August 31, 2009
News and Features

Fire conditions around JPL have continued to improve throughout the day, and the Lab is no longer threatened by the Station Fire.

Warped Debris Disks Around Stars Are Blowin’ in the Wind
August 31, 2009
News and Features

The dust-filled disks where new planets may be forming around other stars occasionally take on some difficult-to-understand shapes.

Orbiter in Safe Mode Increases Communication Rate
August 31, 2009
News and Features

Engineers for NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter project have stepped up the communication rate being received from the orbiter as an early step in the process of determining why the spacecraft spontaneously rebooted its computer on Aug. 26.

The Case of the Missing Ice
August 28, 2009
News and Features

By modeling ice sheets in Antarctica, scientists have changed the way we think about Earth's transition 34 million years ago from warm 'greenhouse' to the current, cool 'icehouse'. The new study has important implications for how we understand climate change and its affects on the biosphere.

From the Moon to Marine Measurements
August 28, 2009
News and Features

A discovery about the moon made in the 1960s is helping researchers with NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment unlock secrets about Earth's ocean today.

Science Instruments Ready for SOFIA Airborne Telescope
August 28, 2009
News and Features

Scientists are busy preparing for the "First Light" flight of NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, a highly modified Boeing 747SP.

Cygnus X-1: Still a "Star" After All Those Years
August 28, 2009
News and Features

Chandra Studies Mysterious X-Ray Source

How Close Was That Lightning to the Shuttle?
August 27, 2009
News and Features

If you're wondering why the first launch attempt for space shuttle Discovery was scrubbed early Tuesday morning, here's your answer.

Notes from the field: ‘North Woods, Maine 2009’
August 27, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Dr. Jon Ranson is on an expedition in the forests of central Maine to validate recent radar and lidar measurements which will help create more accurate and sensitive sensors to better understand the vegetation of the Earth and to balance the carbon budget.

Death Rays from Space
August 27, 2009
News and Features

Life may have been significantly affected in the past by a cosmic ray blast, but researchers are still looking for the smoking gun.

Mars Reconnissance Orbiter Goes Into Safe Mode Again
August 27, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter put itself into a safe mode Wednesday morning, Aug. 26, for the fourth time this year.

Climate Simulation Computer Becomes More Powerful
August 26, 2009
News and Features

More powerful computers needed to process the sophisticated computer models used in climate forecasts are now being developed at Goddard.

Honey Bees Turned Data Collectors Help Scientists Understand Climate Change
August 26, 2009
News and Features

Estimates are that there are somewhere between six and ten million species of insects on the planet, yet few are as charismatic as the honey bee.

Map Characterizes Active Lakes Below Antarctic Ice
August 26, 2009
News and Features

Lakes in Antarctica, concealed under miles of ice, require scientists to come up with creative ways to identify and analyze these hidden features.

Ice Ages Follow the Sun
August 26, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have shed new light on the processes behind the Ice Ages experienced by Earth over the past 2.5 million years. Research indicates that they are ultimately linked to shifts in solar radiation caused by changes in the Earth's rotation and axis.

The 40-Year-Old Dream
August 25, 2009
News and Features

Mark Sykes, CEO and director of the Planetary Science Institute, believes that it's time to find out if humans can permanently live and work in space. In a recent article for the Arizona Daily Star, he discussed what needs to be done to ensure that Earth-life has a future beyond its home planet.

The AMASEing Adventure Continues
August 25, 2009
News and Features

Coverage of the 2009 AMASE Expedition to Norway's Svalbard island continues. In this installment, Adrienne Kish discusses the steps that were taken to prepare the FIDO rover for its first appearance on Svalbard, where it is collecting samples and looking for signs of life in preparation for Mars.

How Close Did Hurricane Bill Come to the US East Coast?
August 25, 2009
News and Features

Hurricane Bill kept its distance from the US mainland, seemingly skirting along the eastern seaboard and fitting perfectly within the coastline curves on this NASA satellite image.

Flying Steady: Mission Control Tunes Up Aqua’s Orbit
August 25, 2009
News and Features

It takes work to maintain a satellite’s orbit. In the spring of 2009, mission controllers pilot NASA's Aqua satellite through a series of orbital maneuvers to correct the angle of the satellite’s flight path.

Podcast: Astronomy and New Media
August 24, 2009
News and Features

Astronomy is one of the scientific fields that have been completely shaken up by new media.

Ancient Booms and Busts
August 24, 2009
News and Features

Research suggests that a period of global warming strongly influenced plants and animals some 53 million to 47 million years ago during the Eocene epoch. The study could help scientists understand the effects that climate change will have in Earth's future.

NASA Heads Out to Sea
August 24, 2009
News and Features

Scientists combine satellite data with local water samples to help the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program.

Free Spirit: Second Test Rover Added to Driving Experiment
August 24, 2009
News and Features

A second, lighter-weight test rover has entered the testing setup at JPL where rover team members are assessing strategy for getting Spirit out of soft soil where it is embedded on Mars.

First Measure of Africa's Coastal Forests
August 21, 2009
News and Features

NASA researchers finds that African mangrove forests are being destroyed by worsening pollution, encroaching real estate development, and deforestation.

Chandra's Top 10 Scientific Contributions
August 21, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is celebrating 10 years of exploring the invisible universe.

Hurricanes and Tropical Cyclones
August 21, 2009
News and Features

Latest Storm Images and Data From NASA

Latest LRO Image Solves Apollo 14 Mystery
August 21, 2009
News and Features

During the second EVA of the Apollo 14 mission on the moon, astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell had a goal of hiking to the rim of nearby Cone Crater in the Fra Maura highlands.

Galaxies Demand a Stellar Recount
August 20, 2009
News and Features

Research finds proof that small stars come in bigger bundles than previously believed.

NASA Research Reveals Major Insight Into Evolution of Life on Earth
August 20, 2009
News and Features

Humans might not be walking on Earth today if not for the ancient fusing of two microscopic, single-celled organisms called prokaryotes, NASA-funded research has found.

LRO, Chandrayaan-1 Team Up For Unique Search for Water Ice
August 20, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and India's Chandrayaan-1 will team up on August 20 to perform a Bi-Static radar experiment to search for water ice in a crater on the Moon's north pole

The Origin of Solar Systems
August 20, 2009
News and Features

A cosmic cloud that is crowded with budding stars and planetary systems is teaching scientists about the environment that our own solar system may have emerged from.

Glycine in the Grid
August 19, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have discovered a fundamental building block of life in samples of a comet that were returned to Earth by NASA's Stardust spacecraft. The research supports the theory that some of the ingredients for life were delivered to the Earth by comet and meteorite impacts.

Cassini's Last Earthly Date Was 10 Years Ago Today
August 19, 2009
News and Features

A decade ago today, NASA's Cassini spacecraft flew past Earth at a distance of 1,171 kilometers (727 miles) on its way to an appointment with the solar system's second largest occupant - Saturn.

The Ultimate Long Distance Communication
August 19, 2009
News and Features

Over the next year, the LRO will collect more information about the moon's surface and environment than any previous mission. It takes a powerful system to send all of this information more than 238,800 miles back to Earth.

First IR Image from Newest Weather Satellite Captures Hurricane Bill
August 19, 2009
News and Features

Remote-sensing scientists call a satellite image that captures an entire hemisphere of the Earth in one view a “full-disk” image.

Weather Report for Titan
August 18, 2009
News and Features

New evidence suggests that the parched, dry deserts of Saturn's moon, Titan, can support large-scale storms. Significant cloud formation has been witnessed over Titan's tropical zone near the moon's equator.

Watch Satellite Data In Action
August 18, 2009
News and Features

Ever wonder about all the different data that satellites are collecting as they orbit Earth?

NASA's WISE Mission Arrives at Launch Site
August 18, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, has arrived at its last stop on Earth -- Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

NASA Researchers Make First Discovery of Life's Building Block in Comet
August 18, 2009
News and Features

NASA scientists have discovered glycine, a fundamental building block of life, in samples of comet Wild 2 returned by NASA's Stardust spacecraft.

Tiny Flares Responsible for Outsized Heat of Sun's Atmosphere
August 17, 2009
News and Features

New observations made with instruments aboard Japan's Hinode satellite reveal the answer to why the Sun's corona is so darned hot.

Planck Sees Light Billions of Years Old
August 17, 2009
News and Features

The Planck space telescope has begun to collect light left over from the Big Bang explosion that created our universe.

Roving the AMASEing Arctic
August 17, 2009
News and Features

On a remote arctic island, scientists are assembling a rover to test technologies that will one day be used to search for life on Mars. The 2009 AMASE expedition to Norway's Svalbard island is now underway.

New Planet Orbits Backwards
August 17, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have discovered a new planet that orbits its host star backwards. The finding casts new light on how planetary systems form and evolve.

Mars Meteorite Points to Thicker Atmosphere
August 14, 2009
News and Features

The Mars Rover Opportunity has discovered a metallic meteorite on the surface of Mars that is providing important information about Mars' environmental history. The information could help astrobiologists understand whether or not the planet supported habitable environments in its past.

Naked Saturn
August 14, 2009
News and Features

Here's one of the first raw images of Saturn taken by the Cassini spacecraft just after equinox, on August 12, 2009.

Tropics of Saturn's Moon No Tropical Paradise On Some Days
August 14, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers have identified a storm cell on Titan the size of the country of India. The storm system appeared in April 2008 in the moon's tropical region, an area not known for its cloudiness.

Charcot Island, Antarctica
August 14, 2009
News and Features

The Wilkins Ice Shelf on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula used to connect to two small islands off the Antarctic coast, Latady and Charcot.

Fresh Craters on the Moon and Earth
August 13, 2009
News and Features

Impacts have shaped the Earth and Moon since early in the history of the solar system. In fact, the Moon was likely formed when a planetoid the size of Mars crashed into the Earth over 4.5 billion years ago.

NASA Satellites Unlock Secret to Northern India's Vanishing Water
August 13, 2009
News and Features

Groundwater beneath northern India’s farms and cities has been disappearing. Hydrologists, like NASA's Matt Rodell, have been hunting for it.

Variability in Type 1A Supernovae Has Implications for Studying Dark Energy
August 13, 2009
News and Features

The discovery of dark energy, a mysterious force that is accelerating the expansion of the universe, was based on observations of type 1a supernovae, and these stellar explosions have long been used as "standard candles" for measuring the expansion.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Gets New View of Victoria Crater
August 13, 2009
News and Features

The oblique view highlights interesting exposures of geological strata in the steep walls of the crater, difficult to see from straight overhead.

First Black Holes Kept to a Strict Diet, Study Shows
August 12, 2009
News and Features

A new supercomputer simulation designed to track the fate of the universe's first black holes finds that, counter to expectations, they couldn't efficiently gorge themselves on nearby gas.

Stars Choose the Life Around Them
August 12, 2009
News and Features

New research shows that stars of varying ages could have profound consequences for the development of emerging life forms. Newly formed stars spin faster than midde-aged stars, generating strong magnetic fields and emitting more intense radiation. This could have a dramatic effect on any life developing is such systems.

Biggest Exoplanet Yet Orbits the Wrong Way
August 12, 2009
News and Features

Planet hunters from the UK have discovered the largest exoplanet yet, and its uniqueness doesn't end there. Dubbed WASP-17, this extra large world is twice the size of Jupiter but is super-lightweight, "as dense as expanded polystyrene" one astronomer said.

Meteorite Found on Mars Yields Clues About Planet's Past
August 12, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity is investigating a metallic meteorite the size of a large watermelon that is providing researchers more details about the Red Planet's environmental history.

Slow-Moving Typhoon Morakot Inundates Taiwan
August 11, 2009
News and Features

Though its winds were not particularly powerful when it made landfall in Tawian, slow-moving Typhoon Morakot soaked the southern part of the island with heavy rain between August 3 and 9, 2009.

Stream of Craters
August 11, 2009
News and Features

String of secondary craters formed by debris thrown out from a larger impact, most likely Giordano Bruno.

Into the Mouth of a Volcano
August 11, 2009
News and Features

NASA scientists are using high-tech 'spider' robots to monitor volcanoes on Earth. The low-cost sensors provide real-time monitoring of one of Earth's most challenging environments. The technology will help scientists studying processes on Earth - and could be used in locations beyond our own planet.

Planet Smash-Up Sends Vaporized Rock, Hot Lava Flying
August 11, 2009
News and Features

Spitzer has found evidence of a high-speed collision between two burgeoning planets -- one as least as big as our moon and the other at least as big as Mercury -- slammed into each other within the last few thousand years or so.

2009 Perseid Meteor Shower – Double Peaks This Year!
August 10, 2009
News and Features

Are you ready for this year's Perseid Meteor Shower? What will be the best place to watch and when will be the best date to see the most "shooting stars"?

NASA Goes Inside a Volcano, Monitors Activity
August 10, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have placed high-tech "spiders" inside and around the mouth of Mount St. Helens, one of the most active volcanoes in the United States. Networks such as these could one day be used to respond rapidly to an impending eruption.

Saturn to Pull Celestial Houdini on August 11
August 10, 2009
News and Features

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, the planet Saturn, with no help from either Jupiter or Uranus, will make its 170,000-mile-wide ring system disappear.

GeoEngineering
August 10, 2009
News and Features

'Geoengineering' refers to human-made changes to the Earth's land, seas or atmosphere that are intended to help slow climate change. However, some scientists are worried that geoengineering techniques may cause more harm than good.

Relative Amounts of Bad Ozone Ingredients Across the U.S.
August 07, 2009
News and Features

When ozone forms at ground level, it can cause respiratory illness and damage crops and other plants. At the Earth’s surface, the ingredients for making ozone are nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (organic chemicals that vaporize easily).

Earth, With a Frigid Twist
August 07, 2009
News and Features

The surface of Saturn's moon Titan has many features that appear similar to Earth, such as lakes, weather and mountains. Scientists even wonder if Titan could harbor a prebiotic chemistry that is similar to the early Earth when life first arose.

Avalanche! The Incredible Data Stream of SDO
August 07, 2009
News and Features

When NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) leaves Earth in November 2009 onboard an Atlas V rocket, the thunderous launch will trigger an avalanche...of data.

Kepler Spies Changing Phases on a Distant World
August 07, 2009
News and Features

NASA's new exoplanet-hunting Kepler space telescope has detected the atmosphere of a known giant gas planet, demonstrating the telescope's extraordinary scientific capabilities.

NASA'S Kepler Mission Spies Changing Phases in a Distant World
August 06, 2009
NASA Breaking News

NASA's new exoplanet-hunting Kepler space telescope has detected the atmosphere of a known giant gas planet, demonstrating the telescope's extraordinary scientific capabilities. The discovery will be published Friday in the journal Science.

Half Comet-Half Asteroid a Fluke? Nope
August 06, 2009
News and Features

Back in 1996, astronomers discovered a strange object in the asteroid belt. They decided it was either a "lost" comet or an icy asteroid, as it ejected dust like a comet but had an orbit like an asteroid.

NASA's Spitzer Sees the Cosmos Through 'Warm' Infrared Eyes
August 06, 2009
News and Features

New images taken with two of Spitzer's infrared detector channels -- two that work at the new, warmer temperature -- demonstrate the observatory remains a powerful tool for probing the dusty universe.

Sharpest views of Betelgeuse reveal how supergiant stars lose mass
August 06, 2009
News and Features

Using different state-of-the-art techniques on ESO's Very Large Telescope, two independent teams of astronomers have obtained the sharpest ever views of the supergiant star Betelgeuse.

Astronomers Find Hyperactive Galaxies in the Early Universe
August 06, 2009
News and Features

Looking almost 11 billion years into the past, astronomers have clocked stars in a very distant galaxy at speeds upwards of one million miles per hour, about twice the speed of our Sun through the Milky Way.

Plains of Titan to be Named for "Dune" Novels
August 05, 2009
News and Features

Titan's mysterious dark plains will be named after planets in the series of "Dune" science fiction novels by author Frank Herbert.

The Rise and Fall of Species
August 05, 2009
News and Features

A new study shows that new species of life on Earth emerge just as often as they die out, and that most evolution occurs in small bursts. The research has implications in understanding the history of life on our planet and the evolutionary processes that will shape the biosphere's future on Earth.

Ares I-X Comes Together (and it is BIG)
August 05, 2009
News and Features

The Ares I-X rocket is being stacked on the Mobile Launch Platform in NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building in preparation for the rocket's first test flight, scheduled for October 31, 2009.

New View Toward Carina Reveals Star Fest, Exploding "Engine"
August 05, 2009
News and Features

A remarkable new view of the Milky Way toward the constellation Carina is alive with a flurry of stars — and the pièce de résistance is a binary star that's all dressed up in a nebula of its own making.

How Many Galaxies Have We Discovered?
August 04, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers think that there are hundreds of billions galaxies in the universe, however the exact number is not known.

Hundreds of Thousands of Acres Burning in Interior Alaska
August 04, 2009
News and Features

Large wildfires that began in July continued to burn in interior Alaska in the first week of August 2009.

Acquitting Comets of Catastrophes
August 04, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have long debated the role of asteroid and comet impacts in mass extinctions on Earth. New research may indicate that it is highly unlikely that comets caused any mass extinctions. The findings could have implications in determining the likelihood of globally-damaging impacts in our planet's future.

NASA's Moon Mapper Sees Home Planet
August 04, 2009
News and Features

This image of Earth taken from 124 miles above the lunar surface was taken by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, one of two NASA instruments onboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.

Opportunity Spies Unusual Rock — Large Meteorite?
August 03, 2009
News and Features

The Opportunity rover has come across an odd-shaped, large, dark rock, about 0.6 meters (2 feet) across on the surface of Mars, which may be a meteorite.

Objects Approaching Earth
August 03, 2009
News and Features

NASA is introducing a new web site that provides information on near-Earth objects, such as asteroids and comets. Impact events have played an important role in shaping the habitability of Earth, and future impacts could have a profound effect on our planet's biosphere.

The 2009 Perseid Meteor Shower
August 03, 2009
News and Features

Earth is entering a stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, setting the stage for the 2009 Perseid meteor shower.

What Hit Jupiter?
August 03, 2009
News and Features

Two weeks after something slammed into Jupiter, creating a cloud of debris that is still easy to see through backyard telescopes, researchers are wondering ... what was the impactor?

NASA And JAXA Sign Agreement
July 31, 2009
News and Features

NASA And Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Sign Agreement For Future Earth Science Cooperation

Our Smashing Solar System
July 30, 2009
News and Features

Grains inside meteorites carry clues to the history of our solar system.

Past and Present: Field Testing For the Moon
July 29, 2009
News and Features

When President Kennedy announced on Sept. 12, 1962, that the United States would go to the moon before the end of the decade, life and work at NASA changed in monumental ways.

Closest-Ever Look At Betelgeuse Reveals its Fiery Secret
July 29, 2009
News and Features

The giant star Betelgeuse churns out gas bubbles that match its own size — and that's how it can shed an entire solar mass in 10,000 years.

Spinning Now Helps Standing Later
July 29, 2009
News and Features

Long-duration travel in space has many ill-effects for humans, including muscle and bone loss. Some scientists believe that astronauts on a mission to Mars could suffer loss of muscle so severe that they would be unable to walk upon their return to Earth. However, new research may provide a solution that will keep future explorers safe and healthy.

First Image From GOES-14
July 29, 2009
News and Features

The latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite provided its first full disk image of Earth on July 27.

Putting Plankton in Perspective, From Sea to Sky
July 28, 2009
News and Features

From the time he was 21 and working toward his Ph.D., Mike Behrenfeld has been observing phytoplankton -- floating ocean plants that have a global impact.

Stunning Image of ISS and Endeavour Transitting Sun
July 28, 2009
News and Features

The visible detail of the shuttle and parts of the International Space Stations is absolutely amazing!

Living in a Dying Solar System, Part 1
July 28, 2009
News and Features

Observations of distant stars tell us about our own future. Roughly 5 billion years from now, the Sun will begin to swell as a red giant, and the solar system will be transformed into a very different place.

Warmed Up and Ready to Go
July 28, 2009
News and Features

Spitzer has its infrared eyes back on the sky to observe the cold and dusty universe.

Planetary Motion: The History of an Idea That Launched the Scientific Revolution
July 27, 2009
News and Features

In the black dome of night, the stars seem fixed in their patterns. They rotate through the sky over the seasons so unchangingly that most cultures have used the presence of one or another constellation to tell time.

Evidence of Earth's Earliest Life
July 27, 2009
News and Features

Researchers have shown that some of the most ancient stromatolites on Earth contain evidence that they were built with the help of microorganisms. The findings add complexity to our understanding of early life on Earth and could even help in the search for signs of life on Mars.

From a Star's Death, Our Birth
July 27, 2009
News and Features

New research may alter current ideas about how our solar system originated, and the connections between the solar system's early composition and the origin of life. Scientists have found radioactive nuclei in some of the earliest meteorites known that may have been delivered by a nearby dying star.

Hubble Space Telescope Captures Rare Jupiter Collision
July 27, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken the sharpest visible-light picture yet of atmospheric debris from an object that collided with Jupiter on July 19.

Apollo Landing Sites Pose a Threat to LRO Instrument
July 24, 2009
News and Features

The Lunar Orbiting Laser Altimeter (LOLA) pulses a single laser beam down to the surface to create a high-resolution global topographic map of the Moon. However, LOLA is turned off when it passes over the Apollo sites because bouncing the laser off any of the retro-reflective mirrors on experiments left by the astronauts might damage the instrument.

Finding Refuge on the Seafloor
July 24, 2009
News and Features

Scientists studying plankton fossils from the sea floor have determined that plankton in Earth's oceans may have survived the mass-extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous. The study provides insight into how Earth's biosphere has dealt with dramatic climate change in Earth's past.

NASA Celebrates Chandra’s 10th Anniversary
July 24, 2009
News and Features

Ten years ago this week, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia and successfully deployed into orbit.

Northern & Southern Aurorae Are Siblings, But Not Twins
July 23, 2009
News and Features

Asymmetrical aurorae, courtesy of Karl Magnus Laundal and Nature Seen the Northern Lights and you've seen them all, hm? Not so. It is commonly assumed that the aurora borealis in the Northern Hemisphere and the aurora australis in the Southern Hemisphere are mirror images of each other — but new research has revealed differences between the events.

Eclipse Shadows Southeastern China
July 23, 2009
News and Features

The Moon’s shadow engulfed Taiwan and a large swath of southeastern China and the Pacific Ocean on the morning of July 22, 2009, during an unusually long total eclipse of the Sun.

Heat-Shocked Diamonds Provide New Clue of Horse-Killing Impact
July 22, 2009
News and Features

Archeologists have been divided about whether an extraterrestiral impact blasted North America about 12,900 years ago, wreaking havoc on Earth's surface and sending scores of species — including a pygmy mammoth and the horse — into oblivion.

A Table-Top Test of General Relativity?
July 22, 2009
News and Features

New research shows it may soon be possible to study the effects of general relativity in bench-top laboratory experiments.

Solar System Spasm
July 22, 2009
News and Features

New research shows that many of the objects in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter were actually formed in the far reaches of the solar system. The study sheds new light on the processes behind the evolution of the planets.

Oceanographer Gene Feldman Heads Home The First Time
July 22, 2009
News and Features

Oceanographer Gene Feldman has studied the Galapagos Islands for 25 years. This summer, he visits them for the first time.

Hubble Astronauts Connect at Tweetup
July 22, 2009
News and Features

Nearly 200 of NASA's Twitter followers attended the event at NASA Headquarters with astronaut Mike Massimino (@Astro_Mike, above) and his crewmates from the Hubble repair mission.

Saturnian Moon Shows Evidence of Ammonia
July 21, 2009
News and Features

Data collected during two close flybys of Saturn's moon Enceladus by NASA's Cassini spacecraft add more fuel to the fire about the Saturnian ice world containing sub-surface liquid water.

Is the Sun Missing Its Spots?
July 21, 2009
News and Features

ndeed, last year marked the blankest year of the Sun in the last half-century — 266 days with not a single sunspot visible from Earth. Then, in the first four months of 2009, the Sun became even more blank, the pace of sunspots slowing more.

How Enceladus Got Its Stripes
July 21, 2009
News and Features

A new study has revealed the origin of Enceladus' tiger stripes and subsurface ocean. These features are not the result of the moon having a hot core, and are instead caused by Enceladus' unusual chemical composition.

NASA’s Magnetospheric MultiScale Mission Takes a Step Closer to Solving the Mystery Behind Magnetic Reconnection
July 21, 2009
News and Features

NASA is designing a mission to investigate one of the most fundamental and explosive physical processes in the universe - magnetic reconnection.

Longest Solar Eclipse of the 21st Century
July 21, 2009
News and Features

The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century takes place this Wednesday, July 22nd. The path of totality crosses many major cities, setting the stage for possibly the best-observed eclipse in human history.

New NASA Images Indicate Object Hits Jupiter
July 21, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have found evidence that another object has bombarded Jupiter, exactly 15 years after the first impacts by the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.

Taking Flight To Understand Aerosols
July 20, 2009
News and Features

Tiny suspended particles are nearly everywhere in the atmosphere.

Exploring the Moon, Discovering Earth
July 20, 2009
News and Features

Forty years ago, Apollo astronauts set out on a daring adventure to explore the Moon. They ended up discovering their own planet.

New life-related geology beckons Opportunity rover
July 20, 2009
News and Features

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has found clay-bearing rocks lying directly in the path ahead for the Mars rover Opportunity.

Astronauts May Get Their Wheaties
July 17, 2009
News and Features

Long-term spaceflight exposure doesn't change later generations of wheat seeds, new research found.

2009 Total Solar Eclipse: The Longest of the 21st Century
July 17, 2009
News and Features

On Wed., July 22, 2009, a total eclipse of the sun will be visible from within a narrow corridor that traverses half of Earth.

Spy Satellite Sea Ice Images Finally Made Public
July 17, 2009
News and Features

Super high-resolution spy satellites have been imaging sea ice at the poles for the last decade on behalf of earth scientists. But the images has been kept from the public and nearly all scientists, too.

Wide Awake in the Sea of Tranquillity
July 17, 2009
News and Features

Why couldn't Neil Armstrong fall asleep on the Moon? The answer is revealed in today's suspenseful story from Science@NASA.

Engineers Learn How to Assemble 'Eye' of Telescope
July 17, 2009
News and Features

NASA and Northrop Grumman are training their engineers on how to handle and assemble the telescope's Optical Telescope Element, also known as the 'eye' of the telescope.

Arctic glacier to lose Manhattan-sized 'tongue'
July 15, 2009
News and Features

The biggest glacier in the Arctic is on the verge of losing a chunk of ice the size of Manhattan.

Gravity wells could provide 'parking lots' for spaceships
July 15, 2009
News and Features

Nature has provided five huge rest stops far out in space for the convenience of spacecraft traveling from Earth. Some NASA folks call them "parking lots" in space.

Earth-like Venus
July 15, 2009
News and Features

The European Space Agency's Venus Express mission has charted the first infrared map of Venus' southern hemisphere. The maps indicate that Venus may once have been more Earth-like, with plate tectonics and oceans of water.

Mars Dust Devil Has Colorful Effect in Image Series
July 15, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have combined a trio of shots taken seconds apart through different colored filters to create a special-effects portrait of a moving dust devil on Mars.

One Hubble Glitch Fixed, One Remains
July 14, 2009
News and Features

A glitch with one of the key instruments — an imaging spectrograph — aboard the Hubble Space Telescope continues to plague the 19-year-old spacecraft after attempts last week to fix the problem, NASA said.

Martian 'egg cups' could trace past climate
July 14, 2009
News and Features

Craters embedded on pedestals that tower above the Martian landscape like giant egg cups could be used to trace the planet's climate history, a new study suggests.

Subtracting Sulfur
July 14, 2009
News and Features

Microbes from ocean have been shown to process methane in ways that were previously unknown. The discovery could help astrobiologists understanding how the early biosphere of Earth interacted with our planet's atmosphere.

Free Spirit: Rover Engineers Test More Maneuvers
July 14, 2009
News and Features

ngineers checking possible rover movements to get Spirit out of the "Troy" sand trap on Mars are evaluating how a comparable rover at JPL fares in a crablike backward drive, with all four corner wheels turned 60 degrees toward the right.

When Earth Turned Green
July 13, 2009
News and Features

One of the most pivotal moments in the history of Earth's biosphere occurred 540 million years ago when the diversity of complex, multi-cellular life exploded all over the globe. Now, researchers believe they have discovered the trigger for the Cambrian Explosion.

Featured images for July 2009: Ventifacts on Earth and Mars
July 13, 2009
News and Features

Ventifacts are rocks abraded by windblown particles, generally or exclusively sand.

Millennium Island, Kiribati
July 13, 2009
News and Features

Millennium Island—known as Caroline Island prior to 2000—is located at the southern end of the Line Islands in the South Pacific Ocean.

Moonship Photographed by Backyard Astronomers
July 13, 2009
News and Features

Amateur astronomers have photographed NASA's LCROSS spacecraft en route to an October crash landing on the Moon. Observers say the spacecraft is surprisingly easy to photograph, and NASA hopes more amateurs will give it a try.

Herschel Instruments Get First Peek at Cosmos
July 13, 2009
News and Features

All three of Herschel's instruments have now opened their eyes and collected their first astronomy data.

NASA Selects Proposals to Enhance Science Education and Outreach
July 10, 2009
News and Features

NASA has selected four organizations to share approximately $18 million over five years for education and public outreach activities to help inspire the next generation of science leaders and explorers.

Fires in Interior Alaska
July 09, 2009
News and Features

MODIS, on NASA’s Aqua satellite, shows several lightning-triggered fires in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Plants Limit Ice Ages
July 08, 2009
News and Features

New research shows that Earth may have been saved from a runaway 'icehouse' by plants.

Satellite Reveals Dramatic Arctic Thinning
July 07, 2009
News and Features

New NASA Satellite Survey Reveals Dramatic Arctic Sea Ice Thinning

LRO Sends Back First Moon Images
July 06, 2009
News and Features

Two cameras collectively known as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera were activated June 30 and have returned images of a region in the lunar highlands south of Mare Nubium.

Let's Talk About: Exploring our Home Planet
July 02, 2009
News and Features

We are all familiar with NASA's long string of triumphs in spaceflight and the exploration of distant worlds and the cosmos. No less impressive is NASA's record of achievements in helping us understand our home planet.

Gravity's Imprint Sought in Big Bang Glow
July 02, 2009
News and Features

A search for gravitational waves stemming from the creation of the universe commences this week with an array of new detectors sensitive enough to measure signals as faint as a billionth of a volt.

Free Spirit: Rock Under the Belly
July 02, 2009
News and Features

JPL engineers work to simulate Spirit's predicament on Mars.

Cooking Up Creation in a Computer
July 02, 2009
News and Features

The Evogrid is a proposed computerized version of the primordial soup. Digitally simulating virtual particles could help answer the question of how life originated on Earth, and perhaps even spread life to other worlds.

Nobel Prize Winner and NASA's Blueshift Podcast Take You on a Data Journey
July 02, 2009
News and Features

Dr. John Mather, a Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. joined the Blueshift podcast on June 18th to share his sense of what makes scientific data beautiful.

Life Likes Nickel
July 01, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have determined that nickel could be used to identify the presence of methane-producing microbes on the early Earth.

Hand-held devices that can detect presence of aerosols in air above oceans
July 01, 2009
News and Features

A team of scientists is developing hand-held devices that can detect the presence of aerosols in air above oceans by measuring how light scatters as it strikes the particles.

Yellowstone Recovers from 1988 Fires
July 01, 2009
News and Features

The summer of 1988 was apocalyptic in Yellowstone National Park. For hundreds of miles, a blood-red Sun shone through choking, brown skies as flames consumed vast tracts of forest.

Test Rover in Place, NASA Prepares to Free Spirit
July 01, 2009
News and Features

Yesterday, the test rover that is an exact twin of NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers was set up in a plywood test rig in a dirt pit at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Study: More carbon in Arctic than in atmosphere
July 01, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have determined there's more than twice as much carbon stored in the Arctic regions as previously estimated and more than double the amount in the Earth's atmosphere.

NASA Debuts the 2008 Hurricane Season in On-line Video
June 30, 2009
News and Features

See the tracks of 2008 storms from Arthur to Paloma from birth to death.

Landforms on Mars Add to Evidence for Recent Water
June 30, 2009
News and Features

The weather on Mars was much balmier in the recent past than scientists have previously thought, according to a new interpretation of the formation of certain landforms on the surface.

Increasing dust speeds melting of mountain snow
June 30, 2009
News and Features

Dust in the wind is rewriting the cycle of life in the mountains. Throughout memory the warmth of spring has begun the mountain snowmelt, bringing life-giving water to greening plants so they can blossom and renew their species.

Herschel Opens Its Infrared Eyes
June 30, 2009
News and Features

The Herschel Space Observatory has snapped its first picture since blasting into space on May 14, 2009.

First Conclusive Signature for Lunar Uranium
June 30, 2009
News and Features

Using data obtained from the gamma ray spectrometer on the Kaguya spacecraft scientists have found signatures of uranium, an element not seen in previous moon-mapping efforts.

NASA, Japan Release Most Complete Topographic Map of Earth
June 30, 2009
News and Features

A new global digital elevation model of Earth was created from nearly 1.3 million individual stereo-pair images collected by the Japanese Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, or ASTER.

Linking Climate and Habitability
June 29, 2009
News and Features

The change in Earth’s climate may help scientists better understand planetary habitability in general. Scientists are now learning how small shifts in climate can have dramatic consequences for the planet’s environment and the life that depends on it.

GOES-O Weather Satellite Launches
June 29, 2009
News and Features

The latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite will aid the nation's meteorologists and climate scientists, providing familiar weather pictures seen in daily newscasts in the U.S.

Ulysses Hears the Siren's Song
June 29, 2009
News and Features

Ulysses, a joint NASA and European Space Agency mission, will officially cease operations Monday, June 29, when the command to switch off the transmitter is uplinked to the spacecraft.

Satellites Guide Relief to Earthquake Victims
June 29, 2009
News and Features

A deadly earthquake rocked Honduras, but SERVIR helped disaster officials know exactly where to send help.

Ozone hole has unforeseen effect on ocean carbon sink
June 29, 2009
News and Features

The Southern Ocean has lost its appetite for carbon dioxide, and now it appears that the ozone hole could be to blame.

Mars Rover Yielding New Clues While Lodged in Martian Soil
June 26, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Mars Rover Spirit, lodged in Martian soil that is causing traction trouble, is taking advantage of the situation by learning more about the Red Planet's environmental history.

GOES-O Weather Satellite to Launch Today
June 26, 2009
News and Features

The latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite is designed to aid the nation's meteorologists and climate scientists. GOES satellites provide the familiar weather pictures seen in daily newscasts in the U.S.

Galactic link to climate change in doubt
June 26, 2009
News and Features

Some physicists believe that changes to the Earth’s climate can be explained in large part by variations in the flux of cosmic rays reaching the Earth.

Coaxing Cold Colonies Back to Life
June 26, 2009
News and Features

A bacterium recovered from beneath three kilometers of glacial ice in Greenland may hold clues as to how life could exist on other planets. Astrobiologists are now studying the unique organism, which has been isolated under ice for over 120,000 years.

QuikScat Satellite Detects Extratropical Cyclones
June 26, 2009
News and Features

Due to QuikScat scientists know that such storms occur more often than previously thought.

Galaxies Coming of Age in Cosmic Blobs
June 25, 2009
News and Features

The "coming of age" of galaxies and black holes has been pinpointed thanks to new data from Chandra.

Exotic Life Could Sprout From Chemistry on Titan
June 25, 2009
News and Features

A new study has found that hydrocarbon lakes on Titan could be good hosts for a certain type of chemistry that could lead to life.

1908 Tunguska Event Caused by Comet, New Research Reveals
June 25, 2009
News and Features

The 1908 Tunguska event has always been mysterious and intriguing because no one has been able to fully explain the explosion that leveled 830 square miles of Siberian forest.

NASA Earth System Science Meeting Celebrates 20 Years of Discovery
June 24, 2009
News and Features

Twenty years ago NASA embarked on a revolutionary new mission for its Earth science program: to study our home planet from space as an inter-related whole, rather than as individual parts. To acknowledge this milestone, NASA is holding a symposium June 22-24 to examine the accomplishments of 20 years of NASA's Earth system science program and discuss what discoveries and opportunities lay ahead.

Iron-ic twist deepens cosmic ray puzzle
June 24, 2009
News and Features

Researchers present new findings about the most energetic charged particles in the universe.

Heat of the Moment
June 24, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have developed a way of studying ancient temperatures on Earth - from the body temperature of dinosaurs to the planet's surface temperature during the ice ages. The method could help scientists understand the connections between the biosphere and the early environment of Earth.

GOES-O Weather Satellite to Launch Friday
June 24, 2009
News and Features

The latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite is designed to aid the nation's meteorologists and climate scientists. GOES satellites provide the familiar weather pictures seen in daily newscasts in the U.S.

Salt Finding From NASA's Cassini Hints at Ocean Within Saturn Moon
June 24, 2009
News and Features

For the first time, scientists working on NASA's Cassini mission have detected sodium salts in ice grains of Saturn's outermost ring.

Ozone-friendly HFCs still pose threat
June 24, 2009
News and Features

Chemicals used in cooling – known as hydroflourocarbons (HFCs) – will be a far more dangerous threat to global warming in upcoming decades than previously thought, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

LRO in Lunar Orbit, LCROSS Swings By Moon
June 23, 2009
News and Features

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has successfully entered orbit around the moon following a nearly five-day journey.

Thermal Imaging Camera of Mars Spacecraft Expected to Detect More Energy
June 23, 2009
News and Features

The Mars Odyssey orbiter is now overhead at about 3:45 in the afternoon instead of 5 p.m., so the ground is warmer and there is more thermal energy for the camera's infrared sensors to detect

The Weirdest Object in the Solar System?
June 23, 2009
News and Features

The dwarf planets and other objects that litter the Kuiper belt in the far reaches of our solar system are a strange bunch, but astronomers have found what they think might be the weirdest one.

NASA Radar Provides 3-D View of San Andreas Fault
June 23, 2009
News and Features

Earth’s crust is a collection of fractured plates that shift across the planet’s surface over millions of years.

NASA Earth System Science Meeting Celebrates 20 Years of Discovery
June 22, 2009
News and Features

Twenty years ago NASA embarked on a revolutionary new mission for its Earth science program: to study our home planet from space as an inter-related whole, rather than as individual parts. To acknowledge this milestone, NASA is holding a symposium June 22-24 to examine the accomplishments of 20 years of NASA's Earth system science program and discuss what discoveries and opportunities lay ahead.

JPL Wind Watcher Blows Into its Second Decade
June 22, 2009
News and Features

NASA's QuikScat satellite has reached a milestone--10 years of tracking wind speed and direction, and revolutionizing marine weather forecasts.

Follow Ocean Trends From With NASA’s 'Sea Level Viewer'
June 22, 2009
News and Features

Internet users can access ocean heat data by using the Sea Level Viewer, an interactive visualization tool developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The Trouble With Trifids
June 22, 2009
News and Features

Almost everyone who is familiar with space images has seen this beautiful and color emission and reflection nebula – but take a really close look.

Rock Bands Spin an Oxygen Record
June 22, 2009
News and Features

The rise of oxygen on early Earth may have been caused by a microbial changing of the guard between methane-producers and oxygen-producers. This swap may have been initiated by a drop in the ocean's nickel abundance. Continuing studies of the world's largest iron ore deposits could cement the case.

LRO, LCROSS Headed For The Moon
June 19, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is set to enter the moon's orbit early Tuesday. The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite will perform a flyby, and is set to impact the moon in October.

Jet Streams Suspected of Triggering Sunspots
June 19, 2009
News and Features

The sun is in the pits of a century-class solar minimum, and sunspots have been puzzlingly scarce for more than two years. Now, for the first time, solar physicists might understand why.

GOES-O Weather Satellite to Launch June 26
June 19, 2009
News and Features

The latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite is designed to aid the nation's meteorologists and climate scientists. GOES satellites provide the familiar weather pictures seen in daily newscasts in the U.S.

Stellar Shrapnel Cuts Life Short
June 19, 2009
News and Features

If a star located light-years away explodes, it could take out life on Earth. A group of researchers previously proposed that this might explain a mass extinction event millions of years ago. A follow-up project is now trying to beef up the case.

NASA Scientists Bring Light to Moon's Permanently Dark Craters
June 19, 2009
News and Features

A new lunar topography map with the highest resolution of the moon's rugged south polar region provides new information on some of our natural satellite's darkest inhabitants – permanently shadowed craters.

Exoplanet Has Oddball Orbit
June 18, 2009
News and Features

In what might be a evidence of planetary billiards, astronomers have found an exoplanet with an extremely odd orbit.

Evidence Found for Ancient Mars Lake
June 18, 2009
News and Features

Several studies in recent years have claimed evidence for shorelines and other features that suggest ancient lakes on Mars. Firm evidence has remained elusive.

S'COOL Sets Sail To Promote Ocean Health
June 18, 2009
News and Features

A NASA student weather monitoring program joins adventuring scientists on a voyage to raise awareness of ocean health.

NASA Kepler to return data
June 18, 2009
News and Features

If all goes as planned, NASA’s most ambitious unmanned mission to detect terrestrial planets orbiting distant stars will deliver its first operational results today.

NASA Earth System Science Meeting Celebrates 20 Years of Discovery
June 17, 2009
News and Features

Twenty years ago NASA embarked on a revolutionary new mission for its Earth science program: to study our home planet from space as an inter-related whole, rather than as individual parts. To acknowledge this milestone, NASA is holding a symposium June 22-24 to examine the accomplishments of 20 years of NASA's Earth system science program and discuss what discoveries and opportunities lay ahead.

European Satellites Probe a New Magnetar
June 17, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Swift satellite reported multiple blasts of radiation from a rare object known as a soft gamma repeater, or SGR. Now, astronomers report an in-depth study of these eruptions using the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton and International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) satellites.

Endeavour Launch Scrubbed
June 17, 2009
News and Features

Endeavour's STS-127 launch today was officially scrubbed at 1:55 a.m. EDT when the same type of gaseous hydrogen leak occurred.

Tidal Habitable Zone
June 17, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers searching for habitable planets beyond our solar system often focus on the 'habitable zone' around stars – where the heat from the star is at the perfect level for liquid water to exist.

The Case of the Missing Sunspots: Solved?
June 17, 2009
News and Features

The Sun has seen precious few sunspots (as shown in this NASA closeup) in the past year, and solar physicists have been working to understand why the Sun has seen so few in the past year. Now, some think they have an answer.

Scientists Search for a Pulse in Skies Above Earthquake Country
June 17, 2009
News and Features

NASA Gives California's San Andreas, Other Faults a 3-D Close-up

NASA Earth System Science Meeting Celebrates 20 Years of Discovery
June 16, 2009
News and Features

Twenty years ago NASA embarked on a revolutionary new mission for its Earth science program: to study our home planet from space as an inter-related whole, rather than as individual parts. To acknowledge this milestone, NASA is holding a symposium June 22-24 to examine the accomplishments of 20 years of NASA's Earth system science program and discuss what discoveries and opportunities lay ahead.

Meteorite May Hold Clues to Solar System Formation
June 16, 2009
News and Features

Maybe we’re not as old as we think (or feel?). The interstellar stuff that was integrated into the planets and life on Earth has younger cosmic roots than theories predict, according to the University of Chicago scholar Philipp Heck and his international team of colleagues.

LRO, LCROSS Set to Launch Thursday
June 16, 2009
News and Features

As a result of the rescheduling of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission for June 17, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite are now set to lift off together aboard an Atlas V rocket on Thursday, June 18.

Endeavour 'in Good Shape' for Wednesday Launch
June 16, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite are set to kick off their missions to the moon.

Eclipsing Earth
June 16, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers have captured a snapshot of Earth's chemical fingerprint by viewing light reflected back to Earth from the moon during a lunar eclipse. The information could be used to help identify habitable planets beyond our solar system.

Running Out of This World
June 16, 2009
News and Features

With NASA poised to launch the world's most famous treadmill (COLBERT) to the International Space Station, an astronaut describes what it's like to run in space where sweat floats and there is no gravity to hold your feet to the ground.

Even brown dwarfs have grey days
June 15, 2009
News and Features

ODD cosmic objects halfway between a planet and a star may feature their own weather, enhancing their identity as the universe's mongrels.

Tiny, Deep-Frozen Greenland Bacterium May Hold Extra-Terrestrial Clues
June 15, 2009
News and Features

Researchers have breathed new life into a bacterium trapped deep under glacial ice in Greenland — for over 120,000 years.

Sphere
June 15, 2009
News and Features

A team of researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute conducted the first field test earlier this year of a new configuration of Deep-ESP. The device is designed to perform long-term studies of how deep-sea ecosystems respond to environmental changes.

Shaken and Stirred: Lab Studies Ice From Frigid Worlds
June 15, 2009
News and Features

The most exotic frozen cocktails on Earth won’t be found in a chic restaurant or trendy bar. Scientists are mixing up these icy concoctions in a rather nondescript laboratory not much bigger than a janitor’s closet.

Revealing Jamestown Settlers' Sketches of The New World
June 15, 2009
News and Features

NASA researchers who normally study futuristic materials are using their high tech scanners to reveal the past.

Planck Chills Out
June 15, 2009
News and Features

A JPL-developed and -built cooler on the Planck spacecraft has chilled the mission's low-frequency instrument down to its operating temperature of a frosty 20 Kelvin (minus 424 degrees Fahrenheit).

Kid’s Astronomy - The Crow’s Nest
June 12, 2009
News and Features

With the Moon now gone from the early evening sky and the lightning bugs beginning to twinkle in the summer fields, isn’t it time you stopped to do a little stargazing?

GOES-O Moves Ever Closer to Launch with Transport to the Delta IV Launch Pad
June 12, 2009
News and Features

The weather satellite, GOES-O, prepared for a June 26 launch as it moved this week from Titusville Fla. to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Doing the Math on Life
June 12, 2009
News and Features

By studying theories about why the universe is the way it is, mathematicians are hoping to uncover what these theories mean for the origin and future of life. Mathematics could be the key to answering some of life's biggest questions, and could help astrobiologists understand life's place in the universe.

Czech scientists take photos of solar corona
June 12, 2009
News and Features

Czech scientists have taken the pictures of the solar corona which were carried on the cover of the latest issue of the prestigious international journal of Nature this week.

Add Heat, Then Tectonics: Narrowing the Hunt for Life in Space
June 12, 2009
News and Features

New research is suggesting that in order to support life, such a planet might also need plate tectonics, and those are triggered in a narrower band of distance from the parent star.

Glimpse of Earth as seen from afar
June 11, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers have seen what the Earth's atmosphere might look like from outer space by using the Moon as a giant mirror. Sunlight that bounced back from the Moon carried a fingerprint of the Earth's atmosphere that could help astronomers determine if the extrasolar planets they're finding harbour life.

Wild Little Mercury to Cause Interplanetary Smashup? Maybe.
June 11, 2009
News and Features

The chaotic evolution of the planetary orbits in the Solar System could cause a close approach or even a collision within the next 5 billion years, according to a paper in this week’s issue of Nature.

Spring Bloom Colors the Pacific Near Hokkaido
June 11, 2009
News and Features

In the northwest Pacific Ocean, the Oyashio Current flows down out of the Arctic, past Siberia and the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Not so windy: Research suggests winds dying down
June 11, 2009
News and Features

The wind, a favorite power source of the green energy movement, seems to be dying down across the United States. And the cause, ironically, may be global warming - the very problem wind power seeks to address.

Baby Stars Finally Found in Jumbled Galactic Center
June 11, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers have at last uncovered newborn stars at the frenzied center of our Milky Way galaxy, using the infrared vision of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

Keck Study Sheds New Light on 'Dark' Gamma-ray Bursts
June 10, 2009
News and Features

Gamma-ray bursts are the universe's biggest explosions, capable of producing so much light that ground-based telescopes easily detect it billions of light-years away.

Doubting the Dinosaur-Bird Connection
June 10, 2009
News and Features

New research is casting doubts about the connections between dinosaurs and birds. The results indicate that although birds and dinosaurs may have shared a common ancestor, birds did not directly descend from dinosaurs. The study sheds new light on the processes behind the evolution of life on Earth.

Stretched neutrinos could span the universe
June 10, 2009
News and Features

TALK about misnomers. It seems the particles that Enrico Fermi dubbed neutrinos, meaning "little neutral ones", might stretch across billions of light years.

Powerful Mars Orbiter Recovers From Glitch
June 10, 2009
News and Features

NASA has successfully revived its powerful Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter from a protective slumber following a glitch that silenced its science observations last week.

NASA Study Acknowledges Solar Cycle, Not Man, Responsible for Past Warming
June 10, 2009
News and Features

Report indicates solar cycle has been impacting Earth since the Industrial Revolution

M87's Super-Size Me: Black Hole Bigger Than Previously Thought
June 09, 2009
News and Features

Using a new computer model, astronomers have determined that the black hole in the center of the M87 galaxy is at least twice as big as previously thought.

Huge Cosmic Explosions Are Dark and Mysterious
June 09, 2009
News and Features

Some of the most powerful explosions in the universe are invisible. But astronomers are a sneaky bunch. By monitoring X-rays and gamma rays, they're able to see what's going on.

Five Things About LRO
June 09, 2009
News and Features

If you have never heard of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), here are five quick things you should know.

STS-127 Astronauts, Endeavour Set For Saturday Launch
June 09, 2009
News and Features

The STS-127 mission is officially set to launch at 7:17 a.m. EDT on June 13. The crew will install Japanese elements on the space station.

A New Way to Keep Clean
June 09, 2009
News and Features

It is almost impossible to get a spacecraft completely clean before launch. Because of this, one of the biggest difficulties in searching for life on planets like Mars is not contaminating the research site with microbes from Earth. Now, scientists have developed a new cleaning protocol that could help alleviate the problem.

Inflatable tower could climb to the edge of space
June 08, 2009
News and Features

A GIANT inflatable tower could carry people to the edge of space without the need for a rocket, and could be completed much sooner than a cable-based space elevator, its proponents claim.

Free-floating black hole may solve space 'firefly' mystery
June 08, 2009
News and Features

A wandering black hole may have torn apart a star to create a strange object that brightened mysteriously and then faded from view in 2006, a new study suggests. But more than three years later, astronomers are still at a loss to explain all the features of the strange event.

Endeavour's Payload Bay Closed for Flight
June 08, 2009
News and Features

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Endeavour is in the final week of prelaunch preparations for its upcoming STS-127 mission.

Titan's Clouds Linger Longer
June 08, 2009
News and Features

Clouds on Saturn's moon Titan form and move much like those on Earth, only much slower. Contrary to what was expected, scientists have found that Titan's clouds don't move with the seasons. Studying Titan's weather is allowing astrobiologists to draw some unique comparisons between the tiny moon and our home planet.

The Search for Life on Earth
June 08, 2009
News and Features

A great deal of money and effort have gone into searching for life on other worlds. But what a second genesis of life, a type of life unrelated to DNA-based life, is here on Earth? Paul Davies urges the scientific community to take a look.

OSU scientist hopes rover can be a free Spirit
June 08, 2009
News and Features

Spirit is not stuck. The Mars rover is simply "mobility-impeded," according to NASA.

NASA Develops Rehydration Beverage
June 05, 2009
News and Features

To help keep astronauts at peak performance during missions, NASA researched, qualified and patented a highly effective electrolyte concentrate formula.

LRO, LCROSS Set For Lunar Journey
June 05, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite are set to launch on June 17, kicking off their missions to the moon.

How Magnetic Tornadoes Might Regenerate Mercury’s Atmosphere
June 05, 2009
News and Features

Compared to Earth, Mercury doesn’t have much of an atmosphere. The smallest rocky planet has weak surface gravity, only 38% that of Earth.

What If There Is Only One Universe?
June 05, 2009
News and Features

When it comes to universes, perhaps one is enough after all.

Rocking the Atmosphere
June 05, 2009
News and Features

A new study shows that frequent meteorite impacts during an early period of the solar system known as the 'Late Heavy Bombardment' may have furnished the Earth and other planets like Mars with liquid water. By providing a source of water for the Earth's oceans, these impacts could have helped to make the early earth habitable.

Fake Astronaut Gets Hit by Artificial Solar Flare
June 04, 2009
News and Features

Researchers are about to subject a fake astronaut complete with blood cells and simulated human tissue to an artificial solar flare. How the unlucky volunteer emerges from the radiation storm will reveal for the first time how much of a threat severe solar flares pose to astronauts en route to the Moon and Mars.

Endeavour and Crew 'Go' For June 13 Launch
June 04, 2009
News and Features

The STS-127 mission is officially set to launch at 7:17 a.m. EDT on June 13. The crew will install Japanese elements on the space station.

Students Learn Physics of Spaceflight on Roller Coaster Ride
June 04, 2009
News and Features

As Millennium Force crested the peak of its first hill, 20 students took a deep breath and braced for a high-speed plunge toward the earth. The ride plummeted 310 feet at 93 miles per hour, and their bodies rose unwillingly from their seats. Thank heaven for the lap bar!

Scarce Shelter on Mars
June 04, 2009
News and Features

Microbes that hitch a ride on a spacecraft might make it all the way to Mars, but a recent study finds they probably won’t survive for very long there.

No Nature VS. Nurture for Stars
June 04, 2009
News and Features

Stars don’t seem to mind where they grow up. Either in a nice quiet neighborhood or in the hellish environment near a supermassive black hole, astronomers were surprised to find the same proportions of low- and high-mass young stars in different types of star forming regions.

Mysterious night-shining clouds may peak this year
June 03, 2009
News and Features

Sky watchers in the northern hemisphere have snapped the first images of this year's noctilucent clouds – silvery blue structures that are the highest clouds to form in Earth's atmosphere.

Democracy Bridge Damaged by Earthquake
June 03, 2009
News and Features

The Honduran city of El Progreso was among the cities most affected when a magnitude 7.3 earthquake rattled Central America on May 28, 2009. The powerful earthquake killed at least 6, injured 25, and destroyed houses and public buildings throughout Honduras, said the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Space rocks turned tide for Earth
June 03, 2009
News and Features

A storm of meteorites that pounded Earth and Mars four billion years ago may have made the planets warmer and wetter.

Book Your Tours of Titan and Enceladus Today!
June 03, 2009
News and Features

Looking to go somewhere far-flung and exotic? Now is the time to book your excursion, and the Cassini spacecraft has several flyby tours of the moons Titan and Enceladus scheduled for the next few months.

Applied Sciences Projects Improve Famine Predictions
June 03, 2009
News and Features

Two new projects are using satellites and computer models to better anticipate famine and speed up the delivery of aid to populations in critical need.

Long odds on space viruses seeding life
June 02, 2009
News and Features

LIFE on Earth is unlikely to have come from space, says a new study on viruses. If life is ever found on another planet, however, the findings could help us judge whether it arrived from space or not.

Ice on the Moon? NASA, ISRO May Collaborate to Find Out
June 02, 2009
News and Features

The debate has endured since the early 1960’s: could there be water ice hiding in deep, dark craters near the Moon’s poles, left untouched by sunlight? Several spacecraft orbiting the moon have tried to peer into these craters to find out, but so far no definitive data has been obtained either way.

Have Astronomers Discovered A New Type of Supernova?
June 02, 2009
News and Features

A team of astronomers at the University of Warwick think they’ve finally explained what caused the bizarre transient object SCP 06F6. By comparing the optical spectrum of SCP 06F6 to that of carbon-rich stars in our own galaxy, the team concludes the sudden outburst was not a low-energy local event but a supernova-like explosion within a cool carbon-rich atmosphere some 2 billion light years away.

The Greening of Kennedy
June 02, 2009
News and Features

America's Space Program and Florida get new green power source.

Penguin poo seen from space
June 02, 2009
News and Features

If you want to know where penguins go, then study their poo. Emperor penguins sully the ice with so much guano that scientists are able to use these poo stains to locate new breeding colonies.

Astrometry Finally Finds a Planet
June 02, 2009
News and Features

Astrometry is a method of detecting planets by precisely measuring the motion of a star as planets tug it back and forth ever so slightly. The technique was first attempted 50 years ago, but has failed to turn up any extrasolar planets until now.

Galaxy Cluster X-ray Revealed
June 01, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers took a peek at the first X-ray image of an entire galaxy cluster, courtesy of a Japan-U.S. space observatory.

Solar Evaporation Ponds, Atacama Desert
June 01, 2009
News and Features

Brightly colored solar evaporation (salt) ponds in a desert landscape give this astronaut photo an unreal quality. The ponds sit near the foot of a long alluvial fan in the Pampa del Tamarugal, the great hyper-arid inner valley of Chile’s Atacama Desert.

New Solar Cycle Prediction
June 01, 2009
News and Features

An international panel of experts has issued a new prediction for the solar cycle which takes into account the surprisingly deep solar minimum of 2008-2009. Read today's story to find out when they think solar maximum will return.

NASA Supercomputing Goes Green: Modeling Ocean Climate
June 01, 2009
News and Features

Earth scientists are reaping huge benefits from research performed on NASA's advanced supercomputers.

Atlantic and East Pacific Ocean Hurricane Seasons Begin for 2009
June 01, 2009
News and Features

Summer soon begins in the Northern Hemisphere and, on June 1st, the Atlantic hurricane season kicks off. What do Atlantic and Pacific Ocean surface temperatures and heights tell forecasters about what they can expect this season?

Astronomers Seek New Home Closer to Home
June 01, 2009
News and Features

The nearest Earth out there in space? It might be right next door, galactically speaking.

Alluvial Fans on Mars
June 01, 2009
News and Features

Alluvial fans are sedimentary deposits that accumulate where streams emerge from steep mountain watersheds onto low-gradient plains.

Magnetic Tremors Pinpoint Epicenter of Space Storms
May 29, 2009
News and Features

Using data from NASA's THEMIS mission, a team of University of Alberta researchers has pinpointed the impact epicenter of an earthbound space storm as it crashes into the atmosphere.

Could Ghost-Like Object Found by Chandra Be Another ‘Voorwerp’?
May 29, 2009
News and Features

The Chandra X-ray Observatory has found a cosmic “ghost” lurking around a distant supermassive black hole.

Tossing the Snowball
May 29, 2009
News and Features

New fossil studies indicate that the 'Snowball Earth' glaciations may not have been responsible for a massive die-off of early life on our planet. The real culprit could be bacterial blooms similar to those seen today in coastal areas and lakes that experience high run-off from fertilizers used in farming.

Researchers Map Ocean Plant Health from Fluorescent Light Signals
May 29, 2009
News and Features

Ocean scientists can now remotely measure the amount of fluorescent red light emitted by ocean phytoplankton and assess how efficiently the microscopic plants are turning sunlight and nutrients into food through photosynthesis.

Planet-Hunting Method Succeeds at Last
May 29, 2009
News and Features

A long-proposed tool for hunting planets has netted its first catch -- a Jupiter-like planet orbiting one of the smallest stars known.

NASA Studies Ozone Damage to Important Crops
May 29, 2009
News and Features

The U.S. soybean crop is suffering nearly $2 billion in damage a year due to rising surface ozone concentrations, a NASA-led study has concluded.

Magnetic Tremors Pinpoint the Impact Epicenter of Earthbound Space Storms
May 28, 2009
News and Features

Using data from NASA's THEMIS mission, a team of University of Alberta researchers has pinpointed the impact epicenter of an earthbound space storm as it crashes into the atmosphere, and given an advance warning of its arrival.

Looking for the Light of Life
May 28, 2009
News and Features

With hundreds of extrasolar planets now discovered, one pressing question is how to tell if life resides on any of this galactic real estate. Researchers have found that a possible biosignature could come from life's preference for molecules of a particular handedness.

Giant Balloon to Launch Sun-Watching Telescope
May 28, 2009
News and Features

A telescope lashed to a giant balloon is poised to lift off from Sweden as early as Monday to study the surface of the sun.

The Phantom Torso Returns
May 28, 2009
News and Features

The Phantom Torso is back on Earth and he has quite a story to tell about the perils of space radiation.

Study cites 'slow-motion' threat from permafrost
May 28, 2009
News and Features

Global warming's "slow-motion time bomb" of trapped greenhouse gases in the Arctic's thawing tundra may not go off quite as fast as once feared, a new study found.

Northeast US cities at risk due to rising sea levels
May 28, 2009
News and Features

Drip, drip, drip come the studies one after another, reinforcing the threat to the Northeast from rising sea levels along the U.S. and Canadian east coast.

Mapping the Pale Blue Dot
May 27, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft completed its primary mission in 2005 when it released a projectile that collided with the comet Tempel 1. Now, the instruments onboard Deep Impact are helping astronomers develop new techniques to search for Earth-like worlds around distant stars.

Expedition 20 Lifts Off
May 27, 2009
News and Features

Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Bob Thirsk launched on a Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Volcanic Activity at Kilauea
May 27, 2009
News and Features

Plumes continued to rise from Kilauea Volcano on Hawaii’s big island in late May 2009. The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 satellite captured this true-color image on May 24, 2009.

Scientists Call Hubble a 'Whole New Telescope' After Repairs
May 27, 2009
News and Features

The Hubble Space Telescope appears better than new as NASA puts the 19-year-old observatory through a battery of tests after its final facelift by an astronaut repair crew.

NASA Selects Student's Entry as New Mars Rover Name
May 27, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover, scheduled for launch in 2011, has a new name thanks to a sixth-grade student from Kansas. Twelve-year-old Clara Ma from the Sunflower Elementary school in Lenexa submitted the winning entry, "Curiosity."

Expedition 20 to Launch Wednesday
May 26, 2009
News and Features

Expedition 20 will mark the start of six-person crew operations aboard the station. All five of the international partner agencies will be represented on orbit for the first time.

The Next Moon Missions
May 26, 2009
News and Features

NASA will launch two new satellites to the moon this June, returning a wealth of new information on our nearest celestial neighbor. The LRO and LCROSS missions will return data essential in preparing for future human exploration of the lunar surface.

Perchlorate Points to Possible Puddle
May 26, 2009
News and Features

New research shows that perchlorate salts at the Phoenix landing site could allow liquid to persist under the current temperatures and pressures found at the surface of Mars. The possibility of stable liquid at Mars' surface raises interesting questions about the potential for life on the red planet.

A Satellite Anniversary
May 26, 2009
News and Features

In Boulder, Colorado this week we had a NASA meeting and a celebration of the 10th year in space of Quikscat, a satellite for measuring ocean surface wind vectors, made by Ball Aerospace, who put on a nice meeting and party.

LRO, LCROSS Set For Lunar Journey
May 22, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite are set to launch on June 17, kicking off their missions to the moon.

Hawaiian Vog Photographed from Space Shuttle
May 22, 2009
News and Features

Kilauea Volcano, on the island of Hawaii, has been erupting continuously since 1983. This image, taken by the crew of Space Shuttle Atlantis (after completing the capture of the Hubble Space Telescope), shows volcanic plumes from Kilauea rising up from three locations.

Earth's 'hum' may reveal stormier climate
May 22, 2009
News and Features

The world is abuzz with climate change – in more ways than one. Swelling waves and rising sea levels can be detected in the way the planet "hums", says an oceanographer.

Where the Wild Things Are
May 22, 2009
News and Features

We’re about to get a peek at the solar system’s final frontier.

Weather Postpones Atlantis Landing
May 22, 2009
News and Features

Mission controllers have waved off landing today due to bad weather at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Opportunity Reveals Long-time Water, Winds at Victoria
May 22, 2009
News and Features

A sizable collaboration of researchers has unveiled an enormous set of data from NASA’s Opportunity rover today — data that testify to the rover’s lucky longevity, and paint a picture of climate events that have shaped Victoria Crater.

Former Shuttle Astronaut Reaches Summit of Everest With Moon Rock
May 21, 2009
News and Features

Parazynski reaches the peak on his second try.

Probing Antarctica’s Lake Bonney
May 21, 2009
News and Features

In a project designed to help NASA plan for a future mission to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa, researchers have begun testing an autonomous underwater vehicle, known as ENDURANCE, in the ice-covered waters of Antarctica’s Lake Bonney. The biggest problem they’ve run into so far? Bubbles.

Asteroids May Have Accelerated Life on Earth
May 21, 2009
News and Features

A NASA-funded study indicates that an intense asteroid bombardment nearly 4 billion years ago may not have sterilized the early Earth as completely as previously thought.

A Brotherhood of Hubble Warriors: Jeff Hoffman Reflects on HST Repair Missions
May 21, 2009
News and Features

Not surprisingly, former astronaut Jeff Hoffman has been watching the current Hubble servicing mission with interest. After all, he was a member of the first repair crew that visited the telescope in December 1993, part of the team which essentially rescued the Hubble program from what could have been a disaster.

Mars and Earth Activities Aim to Get Spirit Rolling Again
May 20, 2009
News and Features

Mars Exploration Rover Mission Status Report

Hubble Upgraded, Atlantis Prepares For Landing
May 20, 2009
News and Features

The STS-127 crew is preparing to return to Earth on Friday after performing five spacewalks to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.

Cosmologists Improve on Standard Candles Measurement
May 20, 2009
News and Features

Cosmologists have found a new and quicker technique that establishes the intrinsic brightness of Type Ia supernovae more accurately than ever before.

Cooking Up Comet Crystals
May 20, 2009
News and Features

By studying sun-like stars, astronomers may have solved a mystery about the composition of comets. The study provides new insight into the processes behind planet and comet formation.

Stealth storm erupts from the sun
May 20, 2009
News and Features

The twin STEREO probes that image the sun's activityMovie Camera have caught sight of a burp of ionised gas that blasted into space from our star's surface without warning.

More 'Star Trek' Than 'Snuggie'
May 19, 2009
News and Features

In order for NASA to send astronauts to the moon on long duration missions, new technologies are needed to protect human explorers from the harsh environment of space. One of the most dangerous aspects of the trip will be exposure to DNA-damaging radiation.

Former Shuttle Astronaut Scales Everest With Sample of Moon in Tow
May 19, 2009
News and Features

Astronaut Parazynski scales Everest with moon rock.

First Observations of Biological Particles in High-Altitude Clouds
May 19, 2009
News and Features

A team of atmospheric chemists has moved closer to what’s considered the “holy grail” of climate change science: the first-ever direct detections of biological particles within ice clouds.

STEREO Spies First Major Activity of Solar Cycle 24
May 19, 2009
News and Features

NASA′s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft has spotted the first major activity of the new solar cycle.

New sensors monitor Mount St. Helens
May 19, 2009
News and Features

Humans aren't the only ones pondering Mount St. Helens these days. A new "smart" monitoring machine can not only record second-by-second data on the currently slumbering volcano, it can also analyze the information and decide what to send to scientists first.

Atlantis Releases Improved Hubble
May 19, 2009
News and Features

After five successful spacewalks, astronauts unberthed and released the Hubble Space Telescope Tuesday morning.

Life's Cometary Payload
May 18, 2009
News and Features

Scientists studying the chemical composition of comets have determined that they contain missing ingredients needed for life on the primordial Earth. The study lends weight to the idea that cometary impacts played an important role in the origin of life.

Fifth and Final Spacewalk in Progress
May 18, 2009
News and Features

We now are 1 hours, 27 minutes into today's spacewalk. Grunsfeld and Feustel have successfully completed the battery installation task. They next will remove and replace one of Hubble's three Fine Guidance Sensors, FGS-2.

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee--on the Moon!
May 18, 2009
News and Features

Have you ever wondered how you'd make your morning coffee if you were living on another planet? NASA engineers have power systems on the drawing board that could run coffee makers--and so much more--on the Moon, Mars and beyond.

The World We Avoided by Protecting the Ozone Layer
May 18, 2009
News and Features

The year is 2065. Nearly two-thirds of Earth’s ozone is gone—not just over the poles, but everywhere. The infamous ozone hole over Antarctica, first discovered in the 1980s, is a year-round fixture, with a twin over the North Pole.

NASA's Spitzer Begins Warm Mission
May 18, 2009
News and Features

Spitzer has run out of the coolant that kept its infrared instruments chilled.

NASA Cartoon Talks to GOES-O Weather Satellite Engineer
May 15, 2009
News and Features

Space Place Live! features a scientist from the weather satellite launching in 2009 called "GOES-O."

World of Change
May 15, 2009
News and Features

Inspired by our 10th anniversary, the Earth Observatory has pulled together a special series of NASA satellite images documenting how our world has changed during the previous decade. The latest installment is a series highlighting water level changes in Lake Powell.

Spirit on Soft Ground
May 15, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Spirit rover is on slippery ground. The rover's five working wheels have been slipping in soft soil, causing them to sink into the ground. It may be weeks before Spirit attempts to drive again, but in the meantime the rover will use its scientific instruments to study the properties of the troublesome soil.

Second of Five Spacewalks in Progress
May 15, 2009
News and Features

Astronauts Mike Good and Mike Massimino will make the second of the mission's five spacewalks to replace three rate sensor units.

British explorers cut short trek to North Pole
May 15, 2009
News and Features

British explorers in northern Canada to measure the thickness of floating Arctic sea ice ended their expedition short of reaching the North Pole due to an early summer ice melt, the team said Thursday.

Let the Planet Hunt Begin
May 14, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Kepler spacecraft has begun its search for other Earth-like worlds.

Herschel and Planck En Route to Study Our Cosmic Roots
May 14, 2009
News and Features

The Herschel and Planck spacecraft blasted into space at 9:12 a.m. EDT. The ESA missions, with significant NASA participation, hitched a ride together on an Ariane 5 rocket, but now have different journeys before them.

First of Five Spacewalks in Progress
May 14, 2009
News and Features

Astronauts John Grunsfeld and Andrew Feustel began the first of five spacewalks today at 8:52 a.m. EDT.

Experts urge caution in bringing Mars samples to Earth
May 14, 2009
News and Features

If NASA aims to bring Mars samples back to Earth, it should prepare for the possibility that the samples could include organisms that might endanger humans and other terrestrial life, a new report by the US National Research Council says.

Spitzer Catches Star Cooking up Comet Crystals
May 14, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have long wondered how tiny silicate crystals, which need sizzling high temperatures to form, have found their way into frozen comets, born in the deep freeze of the solar system's outer edges.

NASA Earth System Science Meeting Celebrates 20 Years of Discovery
May 13, 2009
NASA Breaking News

Twenty years ago NASA embarked on a revolutionary new mission for its Earth science program: to study our home planet from space as an inter-related whole, rather than as individual parts.

Hubble Rendezvous Operations Under Way
May 13, 2009
News and Features

Atlantis is set to grapple the Hubble Space Telescope with the shuttle's robotic arm at 12:54 p.m. EDT.

The Chemistry of Space
May 13, 2009
News and Features

Many of the organic molecules essential for life have been identified in space. Set to launch this month, the Herschel Space Observatory could help astronomers better characterize these molecules and determine whether or not these materials from space played a role in the origin of life on our planet.

Progress Resupply Craft Docks to Space Station
May 13, 2009
News and Features

A new Progress cargo carrier docked to the Pirs docking compartment of the International Space Station at 3:24 p.m. EDT Tuesday with more than 2 ½ tons of food, fuel and supplies.

Astronaut Mike Massimino Breaks New Ground by Tweeting From Space
May 13, 2009
News and Features

STS-125 Mission Specialist Mike Massimino becomes the first to Tweet from space.

Jesusita Fire Burn Scar
May 12, 2009
News and Features

On Sunday, May 10, 2009, California firefighters got a break from the weather when a marine inversion layer calmed activity at the Jesusita Fire, north of Santa Barbara.

What's the Chance That Falling Space Debris Will Hit Me?
May 12, 2009
News and Features

No need to don a hard hat just yet. The odds that one of the millions of pieces of trash orbiting Earth will fall and hit you are about one in a trillion, says Bill Ailor, director of the Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies.

Tracking South Carolina Wildfires
May 12, 2009
News and Features

Researchers from NASA Langley's Science Directorate jumped into action recently, studying wildfire smoke with EPA partners.

The Camera That Saved Hubble
May 12, 2009
News and Features

The story and the people behind Hubble's imaging workhorse.

Soft Ground Endangers Spirit Despite Gain in Energy
May 12, 2009
News and Features

The five wheels that still rotate on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit have been slipping severely in soft soil during recent attempts to drive, sinking the wheels about halfway into the ground.

Astronauts Inspect Atlantis, Set to Reach Hubble Wednesday
May 12, 2009
News and Features

The STS-125 crew is surveying the orbiter's heat shield ahead of tomorrow's rendezvous with the Hubble Space Telescope.

Milky Way Dwarf Galaxies Thwart Newtonian Gravity?
May 11, 2009
News and Features

Here at Universe Today, the subject of Newtonian gravity always seems to lead to vigorous debate. Now, there’s new research to stoke it.

Hubble Photographs Giant Eye in Space
May 11, 2009
News and Features

The Hubble Space Telescope's legendary Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 has produced one of its last images, a gorgeous shot of a planetary nebula.

The Crowded Universe
May 11, 2009
News and Features

After two decades of planet searching, Alan Boss has written a book about how far we have come and how close we are to answering the question of whether we are alone in the universe.

Atlantis and Crew Set for Launch to Hubble Today
May 11, 2009
News and Features

Atlantis is set to launch at 2:01 p.m. EDT on a mission to upgrade the world's most famous telescope.

Hubble to Receive James Webb Space Telescope Technology
May 08, 2009
News and Features

New technologies for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope can be used to enhance the Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in the upcoming servicing mission.

Erupting with Life
May 08, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have been studying a unique undersea volcano that appears to be continuously active and supports unique biological communities. The site, dubbed NW Rota-1, is located near the Island of Guam and is helping astrobiologist understand how life can thrive under extreme conditions in the depths of the oceans.

View of Earth from MESSENGER
May 08, 2009
News and Features

Launched on August 3, 2004, NASA’s Mercury MESSENGER spacecraft has been rocketing around the inner solar system for the past few years, doing flybys of Earth, Venus, and its primary target—Mercury—as it prepares for the final phase of its mission. If all goes as planned, MESSENGER will enter Mercury orbit in March 2011, and it will spend a year observing the planet’s composition, magnetic field, geology, and exosphere.

Saturn Probe Beams Home Stunning Views
May 08, 2009
News and Features

The Saturn probe Cassini has snapped a new set of haunting photographs of the ringed gas giant as it circles the planet from some 846,000 miles out.

SABER Offers a New Way to Study Earth’s Ionosphere and the Effect of Geomagnetic Storms
May 08, 2009
News and Features

Researchers have developed a new way to measure Earth’s aurora and are using the technique to learn more about a region of the ionosphere that plays a key role in satellite and radio communications during geomagnetic disturbances.

Salmonella Spills its Secrets on the Space Shuttle
May 07, 2009
News and Features

NASA-supported researchers have figured out why Salmonella bacteria become more virulent when they travel on board spaceships. They've also learned how to calm the bacteria down again--a trick that could come in handy for fighting diseases here on Earth.

Redoubt Volcano Stirs
May 07, 2009
News and Features

In early May 2009, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) warned that Mount Redoubt could erupt explosively at any time with little or no warning.

Outer Space Oreos
May 07, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have previously exposed organisms and biomolecules to the many rigors of space, but those experiments only managed to take "before" and "after" pictures of their samples. A planned small satellite will monitor on a continuous basis the negative effects of space on biology.

New 3-D Photosynth Views of Space Station, Mars Rover
May 07, 2009
News and Features

NASA and Microsoft have released an interactive, 3-D photographic collection of internal and external views of the International Space Station and a model of the next Mars rover using Microsoft's Photosynth technology.

NASA's Spitzer Telescope Warms Up To New Career
May 07, 2009
News and Features

Some of the science explored by Spitzer will be the same and some will be entirely new.

Mussels on Acid
May 06, 2009
News and Features

By studying how mussels adapt to acidic waters near underwater volcanoes, scientists are gaining a better understanding of how climate change could affect the ecology of Earth's oceans. Increasing carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere is leading to acidic water in the oceans, which could result in dramatic consequences for life as we know it.

Could flowers bloom on icy moon Europa?
May 06, 2009
News and Features

Physicist and futurist Freeman Dyson says we should search for extraterrestrial life where it is easiest to find, even if the conditions there are not ideal for life as we know it.

Top Five Breakthroughs From Hubble's Workhorse Camera
May 06, 2009
News and Features

Here are five things you should know about JPL's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, which is the oldest and longest working instrument aboard the Hubble Space Telescope.

NASA to Launch IMAX 3-D Camera to Film Hubble Servicing Mission
May 06, 2009
News and Features

NASA, the IMAX Corporation and Warner Bros. Pictures announced Monday that IMAX 3-D cameras will return to space to document one of NASA's most complex space shuttle operations -- the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

NASA.gov wins People's Voice Award
May 05, 2009
News and Features

NASA.gov takes the prize in the Government category with the People's Voice Award

NASA, ESA and a Trip to Mars
May 05, 2009
News and Features

NASA has selected two science investigations that will forge new alliances between NASA and the European Space Agency. The projects will also advance our knowledge of terrestrial planets in our solar system. Collaboration on the ExoMars mission in particular is set to help astrobiologists understand whether or not Mars was once habitable for life.

In Mercury Images, Remarkable Features in a Crater
May 05, 2009
News and Features

On its second flyby of the planet Mercury last October, NASA’s Messenger spacecraft beamed back 1,200 pictures, revealing 30 percent of the planet’s surface that had never been seen up close before.

NASA's Fermi Explores High-energy "Space Invaders"
May 05, 2009
News and Features

Fermi scientists revealed new details about high-energy particles implicated in a nearby cosmic mystery.

Cassini Web Site wins Webby Award
May 05, 2009
News and Features

JPL's Cassini Web Site wins the Webby Award in the Science category

Atlantis Set For May 11 Launch To Hubble
May 05, 2009
News and Features

Atlantis and the STS-125 crew are set to launch at 2:01 p.m. EDT on Monday, May 11, on a mission to upgrade the world's most famous observatory.

Mercury In Sharper Focus
May 04, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Messenger spacecraft has returned fascinated observations from the tiny planet next to the sun, including the discovery of magnesium in Mercury's atmosphere. The data also shows that Mercury's geological past was much more active than scientists previously believed. The findings could help astrobiologists understand the formation and evolution of rocky planets.

Goddard Marks 50th Anniversary
May 04, 2009
News and Features

NASA chartered the Goddard Space Flight Center on May 1, 1959, at the dawn of the space age. View video and images looking back on the center's 50 years at the links below.

Why Are Galaxies Smooth? Star Streams
May 04, 2009
News and Features

Look at the disk of any large spiral galaxy, and outwardly it appears smooth, with stars evenly distributed throughout.

Atlantis Launches in One Week
May 04, 2009
News and Features

With launch of space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-125 mission just one week away, preparations at NASA's Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A are in the final stages.

MESSENGER Reveals Mercury as Dynamic Planet
May 01, 2009
News and Features

Data from the MESSENGER spacecraft’s second flyby of Mercury shows that the planet is much more active than scientists first suspected.

Laboratory Ice Links Comets with Life On Earth
May 01, 2009
News and Features

It is an established theory that comets may have, in some way, seeded life on Earth. Some extreme ideas support the panspermia concept (where bacterial organisms hitched a ride on comets, asteroids or some other planetary debris, spreading life throughout the Solar System), while others suggest comets may have contributed the chemical building blocks essential for life to form 4 billion years ago.

Earth Observatory's 10th Anniversary Video
May 01, 2009
News and Features

On our 10th anniversary, some of the site’s founders and current staff talk about how the Earth Observatory got started and what the project is trying to achieve.

Darwin in a Test Tube
May 01, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have discovered a way to make molecules evolve and compete according to the laws of Darwinian evolution. The results of their research shed light on how life can evolve at the molecular level and may provide clues about how life on Earth originated from simple molecules.

Shuttle 'Go' to Launch May 11 on Final Mission to Hubble
May 01, 2009
News and Features

Atlantis and the STS-125 crew are set to launch at 2:01 p.m. EDT on Monday, May 11, on a mission to upgrade the world's most famous observatory.

Arctic Trek to 'Break the Ice' on New NASA Airborne Radars
May 01, 2009
News and Features

NASA will 'break the ice' on a pair of new airborne radars that can help monitor climate change when a team of scientists embarks this week on a two-month expedition to the vast, frigid terrain of Greenland and Iceland.

Focused on Phobos
April 30, 2009
News and Features

Mars has two tiny asteroid-like moons, Phobos and Deimos. The moons have not been the focus of Mars studies, but there are several missions in the planning stages that aim to change that.

Earth Observatory's Top 10 Images of the Day
April 30, 2009
News and Features

In the past decade, the Earth Observatory has published thousands of images. Those images are a history of Earth events, places, and discoveries that intrigued us—and that we thought might intrigue our readers. To commemorate the Earth Observatory's 10th anniversary in April 2009, we asked our readers to tell us which images were their favorites. Here are their top ten.

To keep warming low, deeper pollution cuts needed
April 30, 2009
News and Features

If the world is going to limit global warming to just a few degrees, it has to slash carbon dioxide pollution much more than now being discussed, two new science studies say.

Starbursts from Dwarf Galaxies Like Fireworks
April 30, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers are comparing “starbursts” from a galaxy that is in the throes of star formation to a Fourth of July fireworks display.

NASA sites nominated for Webby Awards!
April 30, 2009
News and Features

NASA.gov has been nominated for an award in the Government category and the Cassini Web Site has been nominated for an award in the Science category. Cast your vote today!

Latest from Saturn: Pastel Rings and Moons by the Bunch
April 29, 2009
News and Features

The latest images from the Cassini spacecraft include this gorgeous natural color view of Saturn’s inner rings.

Urbanization of Dubai
April 29, 2009
News and Features

April 29, 2009, marks the Earth Observatory’s tenth anniversary. In the past decade, NASA satellites have observed myriad changes in our planet, both natural and human-made.

SDO Spins Its Way Closer to Launch
April 29, 2009
News and Features

For three days, SDO sat on a slowly spinning "Miller Table" in the Spacecraft Checkout and Integration Area, a "clean room" at Goddard.

Rogue Black Holes May Wander the Galaxy
April 29, 2009
News and Features

Astrophysicists Ryan O’Leary and Avi Loeb say that rogue black holes originally lurked at the centers of tiny, low-mass galaxies. Over billions of years, those dwarf galaxies smashed together to form full-sized galaxies like the Milky Way.

NASA sites honored with Webby Awards!
April 29, 2009
News and Features

JPL's Global Climate Change: NASA's Eyes on the Earth and the NASA Astrobiology Institute were both honored with Webby Awards in the Science category.

Antarctic ice shelf crumbling into icebergs
April 29, 2009
News and Features

A massive Antarctic ice shelf is breaking up and pieces are expected to float away as icebergs over the course of the next few weeks.

The Case of the Missing Planets: Are Stars Eating Their Young?
April 28, 2009
News and Features

A new era on astronomy began in 1995 when the first extrasolar planet was detected. To date, 346 planets have been found orbiting stars other than our sun...

Swine flu and dirty air: how NASA satellites and health programs could help save your life
April 28, 2009
News and Features

As panic over a swine flu pandemic builds, silent sentries patrol overhead, a benefit of the space program that often isn't as well-known as the space station and space shuttle launches. NASA uses satellites to monitor not only the Earth's environment, but developing health crises as well.

New Gamma-Ray Burst Smashes Cosmic Distance Record
April 28, 2009
News and Features

A gamma-ray burst detected by NASA's Swift satellite has smashed the previous distance record for the most powerful explosions in the Universe. Researchers are calling it 'an incredible find' and a 'true blast from the past.'

New Blow for Asteroid-Extinction Theory
April 28, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have long believed that the Chicxulub crater in the northern Yucutan was evidence of a massive, extra-terrestrial impact that signaled the end of the dinosaurs. A new study indicates that this may not be the case. In fact, the dinosaurs may not have gone extinct until 300,000 years after the impact.

Mars Express Spies Rocky, Chaotic Terrain on Mars
April 27, 2009
News and Features

Mars has several regions of what is called ‘chaotic terrain’. These are areas with large accumulations of rocks of varying sizes, as well as flat-topped features.

Exoplanets Exposed to the Core
April 27, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers have determined that giant exoplanets orbiting close to their stars could lose so much of their mass that only their cores remain.

Differential elemental ablation of micrometeoroids
April 27, 2009
News and Features

Space is not empty. This close to a star like the Sun, even after billions of years, space is filled with junk. Tiny bits of rock, ice, and metal are everywhere, the leftover shrapnel from asteroid collisions, or detritus sloughed off of comets. Every day, the Earth plows through many tons of such material, which mostly burns up in our atmosphere.

Space missions to visit the sun
April 27, 2009
News and Features

Two space probes are to be sent to explore the Sun, in an attempt to get closer to the centre of the star than any previous mission.

Moon Dust Rises with the Sun
April 24, 2009
News and Features

By revisiting data from the Apollo missions, researchers have gained new insight into the behavior of lunar dust. The very fine and sticky nature of dust on the moon could cause problems for future human missions. Lunar dust can coat and damage equipment, and poses health risks for astronauts who breathe it in.

Hubble's Hottest Science Finds
April 24, 2009
News and Features

Whirling around Earth at 17,500 miles (28,163 kilometers) an hour, the Hubble Space Telescope has captured some of the most detailed pictures yet of space objects and activities.

Continent-sized Radio Telescope Takes Close-ups of Fermi Active Galaxies
April 24, 2009
News and Features

An international team of astronomers has used the world’s biggest radio telescope to look deep into the brightest galaxies that NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope can see.

The Blurry Summit of Mars’ Pavonis Mons
April 24, 2009
News and Features

This strange image was captured by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on board NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) on April 11th.

NASA Will Try to Launch Hubble Repair Mission Early
April 24, 2009
News and Features

Mission managers for the upcoming Hubble repair mission are considering moving the launch of space shuttle Atlantis up one day to May 11.

Double Discovery: Super-Earth and Ocean World
April 23, 2009
News and Features

Planet hunter Michel Mayor and his team have made two amazing discoveries regarding the Gliese 581 solar system. This star is orbited by the lightest exoplanet ever found, less than twice the mass of the Earth. One of the other planets in this system, a super-Earth, orbits within the star’s habitable zone. These new discoveries indicate astronomers may have found a solar system where alien life is possible.

'Dark Gulping' Could Explain Black Holes
April 23, 2009
News and Features

"Dark gulping" is a new hypothesis about how giant black holes might have formed from collapsing dark matter.

NASA Puts the Right Stuff in the Right Hands
April 23, 2009
News and Features

All research and no application makes data a dull toy. NASA's SPoRT program brings data to life by putting it in the hands of people who can use it best--the National Weather Service forecasters who send us scurrying for cover when severe weather looms.

Notes From the Field
April 23, 2009
RSS Feeds

Notes From the Field (http://www.nasascience.nasa.gov/earth-science/applied-sciences/notes-from-the-field/RSS) - The NASA Applied Sciences Program works with other government agencies, universities, and non-profit, international, and private sector organizations to extend the benefits of Earth Science research results. This blog serves as a venue to update the public on applied sciences projects and exciting outcomes!

Are imaged planets really failed stars?
April 23, 2009
News and Features

Most of the images of exoplanets released towards the end of 2008 may not be planets at all, according to new research presented at the National Astronomy Meeting being held during the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science at the University of Hertfordshire.

Celebrate Earth Day!
April 22, 2009
News and Features

Earth Day, April 22, is the annual celebration of the environment and a time to assess the work still needed to protect the natural gifts of our planet.

Do We Need a New Theory of Gravitation?
April 22, 2009
News and Features

A group of physicists say that the distribution of satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way, as well as the apparent dark matter within them, presents a direct challenge to Newton’s theory of gravitation, as the galaxies are not where they should be.

Despite Global Warming, Wildfire Frequency Does Not Increase
April 22, 2009
News and Features

As global average temperatures rise, it is widely believed the frequency of wildfires will increase. However, this may not be the case.

Without the Moon, Would There Be Life on Earth?
April 22, 2009
News and Features

By driving the tides, our lunar companion may have jump-started biology--or at least accelerated its progression.

NASA Earth Day Celebration, The Combining of Art and Science
April 21, 2009
News and Features

Bella Gaia, which means “beautiful Earth”, is a one-of-a-kind multimedia journey of Earth from space that has been developed by NASA's Digital Learning Network.

Life at Blood Falls
April 21, 2009
News and Features

Researchers have discovered unusual microorganisms living in ancient water buried beneath an Antarctic glacier. The microbes could help us understand how life adapts to survive in extreme conditions. They may also provide clues about how life could survive on other locations in our solar system, such as Europa.

Hubble Immortalizes Itself With New Image: “Fountain of Youth”
April 21, 2009
News and Features

To commemorate the Hubble Space Telescope’s 19 years in space, the ESA and NASA have released an image of a celestial celebration.

Could There Be a Planet Hidden on the Opposite Side of our Sun?
April 21, 2009
News and Features

The sun might seem like a pretty huge galactic blind spot, but we've already managed to glimpse behind it...

Why Antarctic ice is growing despite global warming
April 21, 2009
News and Features

It's the southern ozone hole whatdunit. That's why Antarctic sea ice is growing while at the other pole, Arctic ice is shrinking at record rates. It seems CFCs and other ozone-depleting chemicals have given the South Pole respite from global warming.

Sea Ice
April 21, 2009
News and Features

Sea ice is frozen seawater that floats on the ocean surface. It forms in both the Arctic and the Antarctic in each hemisphere’s winter, and it retreats, but does not completely disappear, in the summer.

Mars Spacecraft Teams on Alert for Dust-Storm Season
April 20, 2009
News and Features

Heading into a period of the Martian year prone to major dust storms, the team operating NASA's twin Mars rovers is taking advantage of eye-in-the-sky weather reports.

Earth Day 2009
April 20, 2009
News and Features

Join NASA as we celebrate Earth Day and share our unique perspective, observing the home planet from space.

Sedimentary Rocks Speak of Sulfur
April 20, 2009
News and Features

Sedimentary rocks that are 2.4 billion years old may indicate that the early atmosphere of Earth was oxygen-rich. The strongest evidence for an oxygen-poor atmosphere on the early Earth has now been brought into question.

Climate change could mean a walk in the Arctic woods
April 20, 2009
News and Features

While global warming is expected to endanger most of the globe's woodlands, trees may prosper in Canada's Far North, scientists say.

Ancient Solar Systems Found Around Dead Stars
April 20, 2009
News and Features

Were there once habitable planets long ago around stars that are now dead? A team of astronomers have found evidence that between 1-3 percent of white dwarf stars are orbited by rocky planets and asteroids, suggesting these objects once hosted solar systems similar to our own.

LRO to Help Astronauts Survive in Infinity
April 17, 2009
News and Features

On the moon we will develop technologies to survive in space, because the moon presents the same challenges we will encounter throughout the universe.

Weekend SkyWatcher’s Forecast - April 17-19, 2009
April 17, 2009
News and Features

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! Are you ready for a much darker weekend?

Venus Disappears During Meteor Shower
April 17, 2009
News and Features

A meteor shower. A crescent Moon. A disappearing planet. These three things will be on display next Wednesday, April 22nd, when the Moon occults Venus during the annual Lyrid meteor shower.

NASA's Kepler Captures First Views of Planet-Hunting Territory
April 17, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Kepler mission has taken its first images of the star-rich sky where it will soon begin hunting for planets like Earth.

NASA to restore Wallops shoreline in $45M project
April 17, 2009
News and Features

NASA is undertaking a $45 million project to protect over $1 billion of government assets on Wallops Island by restoring the island’s shoreline, which is eroding at the rate of about 10 feet a year.

FIRST Championship Ignites Students' Scientific Savvy
April 16, 2009
News and Features

More than 10,000 students from 28 countries and 533 custom-built robots will swarm Atlanta's Georgia Dome, April 16-18, to compete in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship, and discover the excitement of science and technology.

Destination: Ceres!
April 16, 2009
News and Features

Plans are being drawn up for a low-cost mission to land on the dwarf planet Ceres. Known as the Ceres Polar Lander, it would examine polar regions and search for alien organisms.

Bridge Between the Stars - NGC 602: Hubble Visualization by Jukka Metsavainio
April 16, 2009
News and Features

For those of you who have missed our very special dimensional looks into the Cosmos, then it’s high time we let our minds and eyes relax and we take a 200 thousand light-year distant journey towards the edge of the Small Magellanic Cloud for a look at a bright, young open cluster of stars known as NGC 602…

Black hole jet brightens mysteriously
April 16, 2009
News and Features

A knot in a jet of matter streaming out of a nearby galaxy has brightened mysteriously over a period of several years, newly released Hubble Space Telescope images reveal.

A Cosmic Free-for-All
April 16, 2009
News and Features

The most crowded collision of galaxy clusters has been identified by three different telescopes.

Major Utility Company Makes Agreement for Space Based Solar Power
April 15, 2009
News and Features

One of the largest utility companies in the US has decided to look towards space to find more power.

The Surprising Shape of Solar Storms
April 15, 2009
News and Features

For the first time, NASA spacecraft have traced the 3D shape of solar storms known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). It turns out the most ferocious storms resemble something from a French bakery.

Star crust is 10 billion times stronger than steel
April 15, 2009
News and Features

The crust of neutron stars is 10 billion times stronger than steel, according to new simulations. That makes the surface of these ultra-dense stars tough enough to support long-lived bulges that could produce gravitational waves detectable by experiments on Earth.

Black Hole Creates Spectacular Light Show
April 15, 2009
News and Features

For seven years the Hubble Space Telescope has been watching the jet, which pours out of the supermassive black hole in the center of the M87 galaxy. It has photographed the strange phenomenon fading and then brightening, with a peak that even outshines M87's brilliant core.

Incredible Light Show: Gas Jet Flaring From M87’s Black Hole
April 14, 2009
News and Features

The Hubble Space Telescope has been keeping an eye on the very active galaxy M87 for years, and has now captured a flare-up in a jet of matter blasting from the galaxy’s monster black hole.

Incoming Asteroid Under Close Watch
April 14, 2009
News and Features

Exactly 20 years from today, an asteroid about the size of a 25-story building will come closer to Earth than the networks of communications satellites orbiting the planet.

Generating Giant Galaxies
April 14, 2009
News and Features

A new finding indicates that not all massive, luminous galaxies formed shortly after the Big Bang. The study could yield new information about the origin and evolution of galaxies.

Eruption on Isla Fernandina
April 14, 2009
News and Features

In early April 2009, La Cumbre Volcano on Isla Fernandina in the Galapagos Islands erupted. On April 11, 2009, authorities at the Galapagos National Park reported that the volcano was releasing both lava flows and volcanic ash plumes.

Spirit Healthy But Computer Reboots Raise Concerns
April 14, 2009
News and Features

The team operating NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is examining data received from Spirit in recent days to diagnose why the rover apparently rebooted its computer at least twice over the April 11-12 weekend.

NASA Heads up Mt. Everest
April 13, 2009
News and Features

NASA researchers are about to climb the slopes of Earth's tallest mountain to test exploration technologies they'll need on the Moon and Mars.

Experiment May Help Forecast Deadly Cyclones
April 13, 2009
News and Features

NASA satellite data and a new modeling approach could improve weather forecasting and save more lives when future cyclones develop.

The Moon in Stereo
April 13, 2009
News and Features

Two identical NASA spacecraft are entering a location in space where the gravity of the sun and Earth combine to form gravitational wells where asteroids gather. These points could hold asteroids left over from a Mars-sized planet that formed billions of years ago, and then collided with the Earth to form our moon.

Cassini’s Indirect Image of Boulders and Moonlets in Saturn’s Rings
April 13, 2009
News and Features

Because Saturn is approaching its equinox, in August the rings will “disappear” from our view from Earth, as the rings will be exactly edge-on. But as the rings ease into alignment with the sun, Saturn’s moons cast their shadows across the rings, growing longer as equinox approaches.

Blasting for Ice on Mars
April 13, 2009
News and Features

The Phoenix lander has given scientists a close look at the ice in one spot high in the martian arctic, but researchers have also been surveying fresh craters across the planet for signs of frozen water.

Is dark energy getting weaker?
April 10, 2009
News and Features

AFTER billions of years of runaway expansion, is the universe starting to slow down? A new analysis of nearby supernovae suggests space might not be expanding as quickly as it once was, a tantalising hint that the source of dark energy may be more exotic than we thought.

FEATURE STEREO Hunts for Remains of an Ancient Planet near Earth
April 10, 2009
News and Features

NASA's twin STEREO probes are entering a mysterious region of space to look for remains of an ancient planet which once orbited the Sun not far from Earth. If they find anything, it could solve a major puzzle--the origin of the Moon.

Spacecraft Searching for Remains of Mystery Planet
April 10, 2009
News and Features

How did our Moon form? The leading hypothesis, the Giant Impact Theory, proposes that in the formative years of the Solar System, a Mars-sized protoplanet crashed into Earth.

Shining Earth's Mirror
April 10, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have shown that variations in earthshine – the reflection of light from the Earth's land masses and oceans – can be viewed on the dark side of the moon. The study may help astronomers search for habitable, earth-like planets around distant stars.

Aerosols Could Be Responsible For Arctic Warming
April 10, 2009
News and Features

Since the 1890s, surface temperatures on Earth have risen faster in the Arctic than in other regions of the world. NASA research suggests about half the atmospheric warming measured in the Arctic is due to airborne particles called aerosols.

Living with a Red Dwarf
April 09, 2009
News and Features

Not astrobiologists' first choice, red dwarf stars have now gained acceptance as potential hosts for habitable planets. They may not be great to live by in the first couple billion years, but they eventually settle down into relatively pleasant stars.

Cover Taken Off Planet-Hunting Telescope
April 09, 2009
News and Features

NASA's planet hunting Kepler telescope launched March 6. Before it can find planets, its protective dust cover had to be jettisoned. that has been done, NASA announced yesterday.

NASA seeks high data rate transmitter for earthquake prediction satellite
April 09, 2009
News and Features

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., is looking for a high data rate transmitter for an Earth-orbiting satellite designed to predict earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides.

Beyond Apollo: Moon Tech Takes a Giant Leap
April 09, 2009
News and Features

1960s technology worked for the Apollo program, but next-generation lunar explorers are going to need an upgrade. NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program is working on new and improved tools for NASA's return to the Moon.

Aerosols May Drive a Significant Portion of Arctic Warming
April 09, 2009
News and Features

Greenhouse gases are at the center of discussions about global climate change, but new research suggests that much of the warming observed in the Arctic since 1976 may be due to changes in tiny airborne particles called aerosols.

Humans and Aliens Might Share DNA Pattern
April 08, 2009
News and Features

The building blocks of life may be more than merely common in the cosmos. Humans and aliens could share a common genetic foundation. That's the tantalizing implication of a pattern found in the formation of amino acids in meteorites, deep-sea hydrothermal vents, and simulations of primordial Earth.

Giant mass of Antarctic ice 'set for collapse'
April 08, 2009
News and Features

A mass of Antarctic ice larger in area than Connecticut is in "imminent" danger of breaking up, according to scientists from the European Space Agency.

Would Life Form Differently Around Cool Stars?
April 08, 2009
News and Features

A new study from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope hints that planets around stars cooler than our sun might possess a different mix of potentially life-forming, or “prebiotic,” chemicals.

New Collection of Flythough Videos From HiRISE
April 08, 2009
News and Features

There’s a new collection of Mars flythrough video clips from the folks over at the HiRISE website, and they are fabulous!

Better Living Through Chemistry
April 08, 2009
News and Features

Extreme Life A new study on the harsh environment of deep-sea mud volcanoes is shedding light on how life might have survived on the early Earth, or could survive on other planets. The study was performed in the Gulf of Mexico where seafloor vents spew mud, oil, brine and gases that support life independent from the energy of the sun.

NASA Astronaut Tweets Provide Inside Look at Mission Training
April 07, 2009
NASA Breaking News

NASA astronaut Mike Massimino is using Twitter to provide a unique, behind the scenes peek at the last weeks of his training for the fifth and final shuttle servicing mission to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

NASA Aerospace Engineer Helps Students Learn Physics Using Baseball
April 07, 2009
News and Features

NASA is known for launching rockets and exploring the universe, but some rocket scientists and aerospace engineers love to solve down-to-earth problems too.

Titan's Topsy-Turvy Topography
April 07, 2009
News and Features

Researchers are making surprising new discoveries about Saturn’s moon, Titan. The discoveries include the detection of a potential subterranean ocean of hydrocarbons and unique observations of Titan’s topsy-turvy topography.

Noisy NEAs
April 07, 2009
News and Features

The upcoming LISA satellite mission is designed to help scientists see warping of the space/time continuum. However, the NASA/ESA mission may also be used by astrobiologists to study the frequency and mass of near-Earth asteroids.

Black Holes Caught in Tug-of-War
April 07, 2009
News and Features

Supermassive black holes that pack the heft of billions of suns have the capacity to regulate their energy during a tug-of-war with a hot radiation wind that blows in from their debris disks.

50th Anniversary of NASA’s First Astronauts
April 07, 2009
News and Features

his week marks the 50th anniversary of the “Mercury Seven;” NASA’s first seven astronauts.

Mt. Redoubt Gives Alaskans a Taste of the Moon
April 06, 2009
News and Features

By coating the countryside with gritty, abrasive, electrostatically-charged volcanic ash, Mt. Redoubt is giving Alaskans an unexpected taste of what it's like to live on the Moon.

Expedition 19 Takes Command of Station; Expedition 18 to Land Wednesday
April 06, 2009
News and Features

With the traditional Change-of-Command ceremony on Thursday, Commander Mike Fincke officially handed over control of the station to Expedition 19 Commander Gennady Padalka.

Satellite Images Depict Thinning Arctic Ice
April 06, 2009
News and Features

The decade-long trend of shrinking sea-ice cover is continuing, according to satellite imagery.

Discover NASA’s Breathtaking Images of Earth
April 03, 2009
News and Features

Join NASA as we celebrate Earth Day and share our unique perspective, observing the home planet from space.

Great Blue Hole, Belize
April 03, 2009
News and Features

Surrounded by darker, deeper ocean waters, coral atolls often glow in vibrant hues of turquoise, teal, peacock blue, or aquamarine.

NASA Joins 'Around the World in 80 Telescopes'
April 03, 2009
News and Features

A collection of NASA missions will be involved in a live event Friday, April 3, that will allow the public to get an inside look at how these missions are run. "Around the World in 80 Telescopes" is a 24-hour webcast that is part of the "100 Hours of Astronomy" event for the International Year of Astronomy 2009.

Astronomers Compile Most Detailed Map of Nearby Universe
April 03, 2009
News and Features

A new detailed map of the nearby Universe reveals not only where local galaxies are currently, but where they are heading, how fast and why.

2009 Great Moonbuggy Race
April 03, 2009
News and Features

Racers Get Ready! NASA's Off-world Racing Begins April 3 at 16th Annual Great Moonbuggy Race

NASA Science Celebrates Earth Day!
April 02, 2009
News and Features

Life Out of the Tropics
April 02, 2009
News and Features

The diversity of life on Earth is concentrated near the equator, with a steep falloff towards the poles. A recent study finds this is because new species tend to form in the tropics and then migrate out. This historical pattern might point to a fundamental property of life.

Hubble Finds Hidden Exoplanet in Archival Data
April 02, 2009
News and Features

A powerful image-processing technique may allow astronomers to discover extrasolar planets lurking in over a decade's worth of Hubble Space Telescope archival data.

How Low Can It Go? Sun Plunges into the Quietest Solar Minimum in a Century
April 02, 2009
News and Features

The sunspot cycle is behaving a little like the stock market. Just when you think it has hit bottom, it goes even lower.

Why Does Fargo Flood?
April 02, 2009
News and Features

The Red River of the North has a long history of severe floods.

STS-125: Mission to Service the Hubble Telescope
April 02, 2009
News and Features

Atlantis' crew conducts equipment and procedure familiarization training in preparation for the mission to service Hubble Space Telescope.

Crew of Six Begins 105-day Mars Mission Simulation
April 01, 2009
News and Features

Earlier today in Moscow, six people were locked inside a hermetically sealed living space, where they will remain for the next 105 days.

This Month in Exploration - April
April 01, 2009
News and Features

Fifty years ago the first American astronauts were selected for Project Mercury. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

Permian Polluters
April 01, 2009
News and Features

At the end of the Permian Age, 250 million years ago, about 90 percent of all animals and plants on land became extinct. Now, a team of scientists has proposed a new theory as to what caused the largest known mass extinction in history, and it all comes down to giant salt lakes.

Bright Soil Churned by Spirit's Sol 1861 Drive
April 01, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit drove 22.7 meters (74 feet) toward the southwest on the 1,861st Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's mission on Mars (March 28, 2009). After the drive, the rover took this image with its front hazard-avoidance camera, looking back at the tracks from the drive.

100 Hours of Astronomy
April 01, 2009
News and Features

The "100 Hours of Astronomy" is a four-day event designed to bring astronomy to the public around the world during the period April 2-5, 2009.

NASA Flies to Greenland to Extend Polar Science
March 31, 2009
News and Features

Imagine a piece of ice 1,000 miles long, 400 miles wide, and 2 miles thick in the center. That's the Greenland ice sheet. But that island-sized piece of ice is melting, so NASA researchers are flying to the Arctic this week to learn more about the nature of those changes.

Lunar Gardening
March 31, 2009
News and Features

Teams of privately funded scientists are currently attempting to design robotic lunar missions as part of the Google Lunar X-Prize. One team in particular is hoping to grow the first plants on the moon. If successful, they could help pave the way for future lunar settlements.

Flooding on the Red River
March 31, 2009
News and Features

Held in place by reinforced levees, the swollen Red River snakes through Fargo, North Dakota, and Moorhead, Minnesota, in this image, captured by the Advanced Land Imager on the EO-1 satellite on March 28, 2009.

Station Crews Hard at Work
March 31, 2009
News and Features

The joint Expedition 18 and 19 crews are working together on a newly expanded International Space Station. Expedition 18 returns to Earth on April 7.

Changing Opinions: Fireball Likely Not Part of Soyuz Rocket
March 31, 2009
News and Features

Officials are now saying the bright fireball seen over Virginia in the US on Sunday was probably a natural meteor event and not part of a Russian rocket, a reversal from yesterday's initial analysis.

Alien Safari Part 6: Generations
March 31, 2009
News and Features

At the most recent NASA Astrobiology Science Conference, a panel of scientists discussed different types of planets where we might find alien life. In part six of this series, the panelists answer audience questions about the origin and evolution of life elsewhere.

Early Oxygen
March 30, 2009
News and Features

Cores retrieved from layers of deep-sea rocks show that oxygen-producing organisms may have existed on Earth much earlier than previously thought. The chemical properties of the rocks indicate that the oceans and atmosphere of Earth were rich in oxygen 3.46 billion years ago.

NASA Team Finds Riches in Meteorite Treasure Hunt
March 30, 2009
News and Features

Just before dawn on Oct. 7, 2008, an SUV-sized asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere and exploded harmlessly over the Nubian Desert of northern Sudan. Scientists expected the asteroid, called 2008 TC3, had blown to dust in the resulting high-altitude fireball.

Big Fish are Toast
March 30, 2009
News and Features

A new study pinpoints why large, bony fish suffered heavily during the last mass extinction 65 million years ago. The results of the study are helping scientists understand the evolutionary processes behind life's history on our planet.

Betsiboka River Floods, Madagascar–January 2009
March 30, 2009
News and Features

Between January 18 and 20, 2009, Tropical Storm Eric swept along the east coast of the island nation of Madagascar.

Astronauts Back Home in Houston
March 30, 2009
News and Features

Seven astronauts from space shuttle Discovery's STS-119 mission returned to Houston.

Mission Manager Update, March 26, 2009
March 27, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have analyzed "dark" calibration data taken by Kepler with its dust cover on, and have concluded that the telescope's focal-plane array, the area where light is focused, is behaving as expected.

Discovery Heads For Home After Powering Up Station
March 27, 2009
News and Features

The STS-119 crew is set for a Saturday landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after leaving a newly symmetrical International Space Station, now with its full set of solar arrays.

Cyclone Izilda
March 27, 2009
News and Features

Cyclone Izilda had estimated winds of 65 kilometers per hour (40 miles per hour or 35 knots) at roughly the same time that the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image on March 25, 2009.

Picking Up the Pieces
March 27, 2009
News and Features

Asteroid 2008 TC3 was the first space rock to have been spotted before it came crashing to Earth. On October 7, 2008, it exploded high above the Nubian Desert. Now, nearly 280 pieces of the asteroid have been collected from the deserts of the Sudan and they are unlike anything seen before.

A Greenhouse on the Moon by 2014?
March 27, 2009
News and Features

Paragon has teamed up with Google Lunar XPRIZE contender Odyssey Moon to deliver a biological greenhouse to the lunar surface.

New Astronaut Crew Launches to International Space Station
March 26, 2009
NASA Breaking News

The 19th crew to live and work aboard the International Space Station launched into orbit Thursday morning from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, aboard a Soyuz spacecraft. NASA astronaut Michael Barratt, Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, and spaceflight participant and U.S. software engineer Charles Simonyi lifted off at 6:49 a.m. CDT.

Mars Rover Update
March 26, 2009
News and Features

Back in 2004, most experts would have said this story is impossible. No rover could possibly survive long enough on Mars for a five-year update. Yet here it is. Mission scientists reveal what Spirit and Opportunity are up to on the Red Planet today--and what their prospects are for the future.

The World Archipelago, Persian Gulf
March 26, 2009
News and Features

To expand the possibilities for beachfront tourist development, Dubai undertook a massive engineering project to create hundreds of artificial islands along its Persian Gulf coastline.

Soyuz Rockets to Space; 13 Humans Now in Orbit
March 26, 2009
News and Features

It's a busy day in space, with 13 humans now in orbit. A Soyuz rocket blasted off amid clouds and drizzle at the Baikonur Cosmodrome today (Thursday) sending Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka , American astronaut Michael Barratt,and American spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi on their way to the International Space Station.

New Views of Spring on Mars
March 26, 2009
News and Features

New high-resolution images taken last month of Mars' south polar region are revealing signs of spring that are decidedly Martian.

"Image of the Century" Now Refurbished
March 25, 2009
News and Features

More imaging goodness is now available from the folks at the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP), a cooperative effort between NASA and private business to give new life to some of the first ever close-up images of the Moon.

Discovery Set to Leave Station Today
March 25, 2009
News and Features

The STS-119 crew will undock from the International Space Station at 3:53 p.m. EDT, en route to a Saturday landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Rewriting the DNA Alphabet
March 25, 2009
News and Features

Scientists have presented an artificial genetic system using a type of DNA with 12 chemical letters instead of the usual four. The technology is shedding light on the origins of life on Earth, and could be used to personalize medical treatment for millions of patients.

Cassini Provides Virtual Flyover of Saturn's Moon Titan
March 25, 2009
News and Features

"Fly me to the moon" - to Saturn's moon Titan, that is. New Titan movies and images are providing a bird's-eye view of the moon's Earth-like landscapes.

Calling All Amateur Astronomers: Help Comb Arecibo Data for Gems
March 25, 2009
News and Features

Einstein@Home is one of the world’s largest public computing projects, with more than 200,000 people donating time on their own computers to mine gravitational wave data for the tell-tale signs of pulsars.

Attend the "No Boundaries" project Webinar to learn more!
March 25, 2009
News and Features

The "No Boundaries" project will help you explore careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), as you learn about NASA.

NASA and Microsoft to Make Universe of Data Available to the Public
March 24, 2009
NASA Breaking News

NASA and Microsoft Corp. announced Tuesday plans to make planetary images and data available via the Internet under a Space Act Agreement.

Name NASA's Next Mars Rover
March 24, 2009
News and Features

Choose From Nine Finalists

Former Astronaut To Take Social Media to New Heights
March 24, 2009
News and Features

In 2008, astronaut Scott Parazynski came within 24 hours of reaching the summit of Mt. Everest when a painful back injury forced him to abandon his climb. Now, Parazynski is on his way back for another attempt at summitting the world's highest mountain peak. But this time, he wants to take the rest of the world with him.

President Obama Calls Shuttle, Station Astronauts
March 24, 2009
News and Features

Praising the crew's "sense of adventure and discovery," the President, joined by schoolchildren and members of Congress, asked the crew about station construction, science, and life in orbit.

New Instrument to Watch Sunlight Changes
March 24, 2009
News and Features

When NASA launches the Glory satellite, researchers will have the most accurate instrument to date for measuring solar fluctuations.

Hubble Finds Rare Progenitor to a Supernova
March 23, 2009
News and Features

Hubble has identified a star that was one million times brighter than Earth's sun before it exploded as a supernova in 2005.

Discovery Astronauts Making Mission's Third Spacewalk
March 23, 2009
News and Features

Spacewalkers Joseph Acaba and Richard Arnold will move the crew and equipment translation aid, or CETA, carts from the P1 to S1 truss.

To See a Clear Day From Far Away
March 23, 2009
News and Features

Astronomers are close to discovering Earth-sized planets in Earth-like orbits around distant stars – but the real question is, are they habitable? Do they have Earth-like atmospheres? Such questions may prove very difficult to answer.

Rover Spots Distant Goal
March 23, 2009
News and Features

NASA's Opportunity rover has caught its first glimpse of the destination it's been seeking for the past six months – Endeavor Crater. On route to Endeavor, Opportunity will continue to examine the martian soil in search of clues about the past climate of Mars.

Alaska's Redoubt Volcano Erupts with Several Explosions
March 23, 2009
News and Features

Overnight, Alaska's Redoubt volcano erupted with five large explosions. The National Weather Service has issued an Ashfall Advisory, with light ashfall already reported in some regions.

Mission Madness 2009: Vote For Your Favorite NASA Mission
March 20, 2009
News and Features

March means tournament time for college basketball fans, and NASA wants to make sure space exploration fans aren't left out of the action. A lineup of 64 missions face off in this bracket-style, single elimination tournament.

Too Salty to Freeze
March 20, 2009
News and Features

For the first time, liquid water has been detected on Mars. Salty, liquid water was identified on a leg of NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander. The discovery has important implications in determining whether or not Mars is habitable for life.

Sunspots at Solar Maximum and Minimum
March 20, 2009
News and Features

Our Sun is always too bright to view with the naked eye, but it is far from unchanging. It experiences cycles of magnetic activity. Areas of strong activity manifest as visible spots—sunspots—on the Sun’s surface.

Solar Array Deployment Underway
March 20, 2009
News and Features

With the S6 truss in place, the final set of solar arrays will complete the station's complement of electricity-generating solar panels.

Final Hardware For Test Of NASA's New Rocket Arrives In Florida
March 19, 2009
NASA Breaking News

After a seven-day, 2,917-mile journey, a train carrying the four motor segments for the Ares I-X rocket arrived Thursday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The motor is the final hardware needed for the rocket's upcoming test flight this summer.

Life’s Crystal Code
March 19, 2009
News and Features

What do we have in common with a crystal chandelier? We’re both made of material that replicates its own structure. In our case it’s DNA, while the crystals in the chandelier grew from minerals like quartz. One scientist thinks for early life on Earth, certain mineral crystals played the role that DNA does for us today.

This Month in Exploration - March
March 19, 2009
News and Features

Forty years ago, the first docking of two manned American spacecraft occurred during the Apollo 9 mission. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

Simulation Shows World Without Ozone Layer
March 19, 2009
News and Features

The Montreal Protocol has helped reduce contaminants responsible for damage to the ozone layer ... but what if the landmark treaty had never existed?

Cathedral Fire, Wilson's Promontory, Victoria
March 19, 2009
News and Features

Wilson’s Promontory National Park, located at the southern tip of Victoria, Australia, was one of many areas scorched by large bushfires in February 2009.

From the Top to the Bottom
March 18, 2009
News and Features

Scientists studying climate change in Antarctica are showing how global warming and loss of sea ice are affecting many facets of the food chain. Interestingly, at the base of the food chain, Antarctic phytoplankton is responding in two contrasting ways.

Expedition 19 Set for March 26 Launch to International Space Station
March 18, 2009
News and Features

Commander Gennady Padalka, left, and Flight Engineer Michael Barratt will launch in a Russian Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan, along with spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi. They'll join crewmate Koichi Wakata.

Discovery Crew Prepares for Thursday's S6 Truss Installation
March 18, 2009
News and Features

Astronauts Steve Swanson and Richard Arnold will conduct tomorrow's spacewalk to install the S6 Truss.

Space Station Construction Visible Through Backyard Telescopes
March 18, 2009
News and Features

Space shuttle Discovery launched Sunday, March 15th, on a construction mission to the International Space Station. Perfect timing for sky watchers! The mission coincides with a series of ISS flybys over North American towns and cities. People who go outside after sunset can see the shuttle-station combo with their naked eyes and view the changing outlines of the ISS through backyard telescopes.

NASA's Fermi Mission, Namibia's HESS Telescopes Explore a Blazar
March 18, 2009
News and Features

An international team of astrophysicists using telescopes on the ground and in space have uncovered surprising changes in radiation emitted by an active galaxy.

Mars, Then and Now: Google Mars Update
March 17, 2009
News and Features

Antique maps, latest streaming satellite images now viewable with Mars in Google Earth

Hearts of Galaxies Close in for Cosmic Train Wreck
March 17, 2009
News and Features

A new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope offers a rare view of a pending collision between the cores of two merging galaxies.

Discovery Heads to Station on Power Up Mission
March 17, 2009
News and Features

Discovery and crew are set to dock to the International Space Station at 5:13 p.m. EDT Tuesday. Commander Lee Archambault and crew will install the outpost's final set of solar arrays.

The Secret Life of Amino Acids
March 17, 2009
News and Features

NASA scientists studying dust from meteorites have uncovered clues about how life works on its most basic, molecular level. The study shows that biological molecules created in space and delivered to Earth by meteorites may have had a profound effect on the development of life.

NASA Scientists Find Clues to a Secret of Life
March 17, 2009
News and Features

Biological molecules created in space and brought to Earth by meteorite impacts may help explain why life is left-handed.

Discovery Lifts Off!
March 16, 2009
News and Features

Discovery launched at 7:43 p.m. EDT on the STS-119 mission to the International Space Station. Commander Lee Archambault and crew will install the outpost's final set of solar arrays.

The Day the Sun Brought Darkness
March 16, 2009
News and Features

The Quebec Blackout was different, because this one was caused by a solar storm!

Ares Super-chute
March 16, 2009
News and Features

NASA and U.S. Air Force test pilots have just dropped a 50,000-pound "dummy" rocket booster on the Arizona desert--and stopped it before it crashed. It's all part of NASA's plan to return to the Moon.

Alien Safari Part 5: Alien vs. Predator
March 16, 2009
News and Features

At the most recent NASA Astrobiology Science Conference, a panel of scientists discussed different types of planets where we might find alien life. In the fifth segment of this series, the panelists address questions from the audience about the search for life on Mars and elsewhere.

Galactic Dust Bunnies Found to Contain Carbon After All
March 13, 2009
News and Features

Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, researchers have found evidence suggesting that stars rich in carbon complex molecules may form at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

Teams Repairing Leak, Working Toward Sunday Shuttle Launch
March 13, 2009
News and Features

Teams have developed a plan for troubleshooting and repairing the leak that scrubbed Wednesday's launch attempt and are working toward a Sunday, March 15 launch at 7:43 p.m. EDT.

New Observing Technique Turns Gray Skies Blue
March 13, 2009
News and Features

A new detection technique and a new satellite instrument should help ease the struggle of detecting tiny particles in the air that may affect global climate.

Cassini Swaps Thrusters
March 13, 2009
News and Features

Early this morning the Cassini spacecraft relayed information that it had successfully swapped to a backup set of propulsion thrusters late Wednesday.

Ares I Rocket First Stage Igniter Successfully Tested
March 13, 2009
News and Features

NASA has completed a successful test firing of the igniter that will be used to start the Ares I rocket first stage motor.

Drought, Urbanization Were Ingredients for Atlanta's Perfect Storm
March 12, 2009
News and Features

On March 14, 2008, a tornado swept through downtown Atlanta, its 130 mile-per-hour winds ripping holes in the roof of the Georgia Dome, blowing out office windows and trashing parts of Centennial Olympic Park.

Cometary Life Limit
March 12, 2009
News and Features

Large debris disks around certain stars may imply a high rate of killer comets that wipe out any chance of life forming in these stellar systems.

STS-119 to Launch No Earlier Than March 15
March 12, 2009
News and Features

Discovery will deliver the final set of solar arrays to the International Space Station.

Recipe for Perfect Webb Telescope Mirror
March 12, 2009
News and Features

The Webb Telescope's mirrors are made of a special element that will enable them to withstand the rigors of space.

NASA's Observatory Sees Black Hole in Medusa
March 12, 2009
News and Features

The mythological Medusa had hair of writhing snakes. But the "hair" of the galaxy Medusa is a tidal tail formed by colliding galaxies.

Fermi's Best-Ever Look at the Gamma-Ray Sky
March 11, 2009
News and Features

A new map combining nearly three months of data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is giving astronomers an unprecedented look at the high-energy cosmos.

Discovery Set for Launch Tonight on STS-119 Mission
March 11, 2009
News and Features

Weather is looking good for a liftoff at 9:20 p.m. EDT. Discovery and crew will deliver the final set of solar arrays to the space station.

Rebooting Postponed for Mars Odyssey
March 11, 2009
News and Features

The team operating NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter postponed a planned rebooting of the spacecraft this morning after seeing an unexpected rise in the temperature of a star camera that is part of the navigation system.

Protein Big Bang
March 11, 2009
News and Features

A new study on proteins is shedding light on the history of life on Earth. After eons of gradual evolution, proteins experienced an explosion of new forms that coincided with the increasing diversity of bacteria, archaea and eucarya.

NASA's Ares I Rocket First Stage Igniter Successfully Tested
March 11, 2009
News and Features

NASA has completed a successful test firing of the igniter that will be used to start the Ares I rocket first stage motor.

Join NASA in Celebrating Sun-Earth Day 2009
March 10, 2009
News and Features

Sun-Earth Day is comprised of a series of programs and events that occur throughout the year culminating with a celebration on or near the Spring Equinox.

Expedition 18 Spacewalk at the Space Station Today
March 10, 2009
News and Features

Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov will install EXPOSE-R, a European experiment that exposes seeds and spores to the space environment.

Turning the Tide to Energy
March 10, 2009
News and Features

A new concept in energy production could harness the power of ocean waves.

STS-119 Crew in Florida: Discovery Set for Tomorrow's Launch
March 10, 2009
News and Features

Weather is favorable for the STS-119 launch, which is set to lift off at 9:20 p.m. EDT on March 11. Discovery and crew will deliver the final set of solar arrays to the space station.

Shifting Through Sand
March 10, 2009
News and Features

Robotic explorers are used to study the Earth's most difficult terrain, and they also play a major role in the exploration of our solar system. Now, scientists have provided detailed recommendations for building robots that can traverse sand and other granular surfaces. The study could aid in the future exploration of environments like Mars.

Minchinmavida and Chaiten Volcanoes, Chile
March 09, 2009
News and Features

The Andes Mountains along the western coastline of South America include numerous active stratovolcanoes (steep-sided, cone-shaped volcanoes).

Kepler Lifts Off on Planet Finding Mission
March 09, 2009
News and Features

Kepler is the world's first mission with the ability to find true Earth-like planets orbiting stars in the "habitable zone."