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NASA News
The latest updates from deep space missions, planetary defense, and scientific breakthroughs across the cosmos.
MarsSpanning Disciplines in the Search for Life Beyond Earth
Download related briefing materials from Dec. 13’s press conference at the 2017 American Geophysical Union meeting. The search for life beyond Earth is riding a surge of creativity and innovation. Following a gold rush of exoplanet discovery over the past two decades, it is time to tackle the next step: determining which of the known exoplanets are proper …
MarsMars Mission Sheds Light on Habitability of Distant Planets
Related Story: Spanning Disciplines in the Search for Life Beyond Earth Following a gold rush of exoplanet discovery, the next step in the search for life is determining which of the known exoplanets are proper candidates for life — and for this, a cross-disciplinary approach is essential. How long might a rocky, Mars-like planet be …
Deep SpaceHeads Up, Earthlings! The 2017 Geminids Are Here
Maybe you’ve already seen a bright meteor streak across the December sky? The annual Geminid meteor shower has arrived. It’s a good time to bundle up, go outside and let the universe blow your mind! “With August’s Perseids obscured by bright moonlight, the Geminids will be the best shower this year,” said Bill Cooke with …
Deep SpaceDoes New Horizons’ Next Target Have a Moon?
Scientists were already excited to learn this summer that New Horizons’ next flyby target – a Kuiper Belt object a billion miles past Pluto — might be either peanut-shaped or even two objects orbiting one another. Now new data hints that 2014 MU69 might have orbital company: a small moon. That’s the latest theory coming …
AsteroidsMission Status Update – Cruising Toward Asteroid Bennu
Editor’s note: This mission update was amended Jan. 3, 2018, to reflect a more accurate arrival process at Bennu. OSIRIS-REx is continuing outbound cruise operations, en route to arrive in December of 2018 at the asteroid Bennu, with approach operations starting in August. The spacecraft is currently 29.6 million miles (47.6 million kilometers) from Earth …
EarthNASA Shows New Tongan Island Made of Tuff Stuff, Likely to Persist Years
In late December 2014, a submarine volcano in the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga erupted, sending a violent stream of steam, ash and rock into the air. The ash plumes rose as high as 30,000 feet (9 kilometers) into the sky, diverting flights. When the ash finally settled in January 2015, a newborn island with …
The SunCan Data Save Dolphins? How Scientists Are Using NASA Data to Study Link Between Solar Storms and Animal Beachings
The age-old mystery of why otherwise healthy dolphins, whales and porpoises get stranded along coasts worldwide deepens: After a collaboration between NASA scientists and marine biologists, new research suggests space weather is not the primary cause of animal beachings — but the research continues. The collaboration is now seeking others to join their search for …
AsteroidsNASA Selects Participating Scientists for Mission to Asteroid Bennu
Editor’s note (Jan. 9, 2018): The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft’s arrival date at Bennu has been revised to December 2018, with approach operations starting in August. NASA has selected 13 participating scientists for the agency’s first asteroid sample return mission, OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer). The goal of the OSIRIS-REx Participating Scientist …
ISSNASA’s CATS Concludes Successful Mission on Space Station
A spaceborne lidar instrument that fired more laser pulses than any previous orbiting instrument has ended its operations on the International Space Station, after a successful 33-month mission to measure clouds and tiny atmospheric particles that play key roles in Earth’s climate and weather. During its mission, NASA’s Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) lidar provided measurements …
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