Western Wildfire Smoke Has Drifted Over the Atlantic
Smoke from the treacherous western wildfires has wafted across country and out to sea. To source
Life Might Spread Across Universe Like an 'Epidemic' in New Math Theory
If life can spread from star to star, researchers should see a characteristic pattern of overlapping growth. In this theoretical artist’s conception of the Milky Way galaxy, translucent green “bubbles” mark areas where life has spread beyond its home system to create cosmic oases, a process called panspermia.Credit: NASA/JPL/R. Hurt As astronomers get closer to […]
Second Cosmic Ray Detector Delivered to Space Station
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) experiment is a state-of-the-art particle physics detector that was attached to the space station in 2011. It will now be joined by the Calorimetric Electron Telescope, a detector that will be used to measure even more energetic cosmic rays.Credit: NASA In addition to ferrying tons of food, water and supplies […]
Beyond Pluto: 2nd Target Chosen for New Horizons Probe
NASA’s New Horizons probe, which flew past Pluto last month, now has a second target to aim for. The New Horizons team has selected an object named 2014 MU69, which lies roughly 1 billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) beyond Pluto , as the next target for up-close study by the spacecraft, NASA announced today (Aug. […]
Solar Storms Are Amping Up the Northern Lights This Week
An image of the Aurora Borealis, taken by night sky photographer Dora Miller (also known as Aurora Dora) on Aug. 22, 2015, in Talkeetna, Alaska.Credit: Dora Miller Space weather events that have been building over the last week continued to affect Earth early this morning (Aug. 28), increasing the possibility of amped up auroras around […]
NASA's One-Year Astronaut Takes Spin In Soyuz | Video
The Herschel/Planck Mission Constellation Lunar Mission ESA’s Special Delivery Last Moments of LCROSS – NASA Probes Hit Moon Meet the New Space Station Crew Auroras Dance Over Saturn’s Poles Arsenic Eating Bacteria Hint at Alien Life IMAX Hubble 3D: The Director’s Take – Exclusive Video Splashdown! Ares I-X’s Fall to Earth Planning the Assault: Why […]
How to Find 'Strange Life' on Alien Planets
This artist’s rendition of the super-Earth GJ 1214b shows it in orbit around a dim red dwarf star. If the atmosphere is thick in hydrogen, scientists may be able to spot signs of alien life.Credit: CfA/David Aguilar Detecting signs of life very different from that of Earth in the atmospheres of alien planets may be […]
Syfy Channel's 'Dark Matter' Finale Tonight Brings Shocking Revelation
In the Syfy original series “Dark Matter,” six people wake up on a spaceship with no memory of who they are. Jodelle Ferland plays “Five.”Credit: Syfy Syfy’s space-based TV series “Dark Matter” wraps up its first season tonight (Aug. 28) with back-to-back episodes and a jaw-dropping revelation that even the cast didn’t see coming. “Dark […]
Parachute Failure Success! NASA Drop Tests Orion Capsule Over Arizona | Video
Dwarf Planet Ceres Global Highs And Lows Animated | Video Future Explorers Powered By Fission? NASA Investigates | Video ISS Module Move Makes Way For U.S. Commercial Spacecraft | Animation Pluto And Charon Orbital Dance – New Horizons Gets Closer | Video Eyes On Pluto – How Our View Has Changed | Video What A […]
Is NASA Serious About Humans To Mars? | Video
3 tough questions for NASA’s Jim Green, Director, Planetary Science Division: Will private industry put astronauts on Mars before NASA? Can roving robots do it better? Does NASA really want the SLS? [Space Launch System] Space.com’s @DavidSkyBrody reports from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as public interest in Mars is kindled by ‘The Martian’ motion picture […]
Sampling Enceladus: Is Earth Ready for Pieces of Saturn Moon's Plumes?
The plumes of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, as seen by NASA’s Cassini probe in 2009.Credit: NASA/JPL/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE Many astrobiologists are champing at the bit to bring back samples from Saturn’s ocean-harboring moon Enceladus, but others say it may be best to exercise a little patience. In 2005, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft discovered that geysers blast from […]
Earth Germs on Spacecraft: A Push for New Protections
A global view of Mars created using images taken by NASA’s Viking mission.Credit: NASA/JPL New strategies are required to make sure hitchhiking Earth microbes don’t contanimate Mars and other alien worlds, researchers say. Today’s spacecraft feature sensitive gear that may not be able to withstand the treatment that sterilized previous Mars explorers such as NASA’s […]
Gas Giants: Facts About the Outer Planets
The planets of the solar system as depicted by a NASA computer illustration. Orbits and sizes are not shown to scale.Credit: NASA A gas giant is a large planet composed mostly of gases, such as hydrogen and helium, with a relatively small rocky core. The gas giants of our solar system are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus […]