Archive for 2008

Fires in California
November 28, 2008
News and Features Fires in California

One hundred eighty-seven homes were destroyed by the Freeway Fire in Southern California in mid-November 2008. Driven by Santa Ana winds, the fire exploded out of the Chino Hills into communities at the foothills of the mountains. More than 30,000 acres were scorched by the fire.

Hoping for Europa
November 28, 2008
News and Features Hoping for Europa

NASA and ESA are now deciding on the next major mission to the outer solar system. One proposal is to visit two of Jupiter’s large moons, Ganymede and Europa. Astrobiologists have long hoped to study Europa more closely because its global ocean could harbor alien life.

Endeavour Undocks From Station Today
November 28, 2008
News and Features Endeavour Undocks From Station Today

The shuttle will undock from the International Space Station at 9:47 a.m. EST, beginning the journey home for a Sunday landing.

Recycling Water is not Just for Earth Anymore
November 26, 2008
News and Features Recycling Water is not Just for Earth Anymore

A complex system of distillers and filters is at the heart of a water recycling system that will eventually supply International Space Station crews with drinking water.

Bacteria Preserve Fossils
November 26, 2008
News and Features Bacteria Preserve Fossils

The activity of bacteria has often been viewed as detrimental to fossils. Now, researchers have found that bacterial biofilms may help preserve fossils of embryos and soft tissues. Such fossils are incredibly valuable in studying the evolution of life.

Spectacular Conjunction
November 25, 2008
News and Features Spectacular Conjunction

Venus and Jupiter are converging for a spectacular three-way conjunction with the crescent Moon--a rare gathering some are calling 'the sky show of the year.' Today's story tells when and where to look.

Earth Perspectives
November 25, 2008
News and Features Earth Perspectives

In 2008, as NASA celebrated its 50th anniversary, the Earth Observatory asked a number of Earth scientists what we have learned about our home planet by going into space.

NASA Prepares for New Juno Mission to Jupiter
November 25, 2008
News and Features NASA Prepares for New Juno Mission to Jupiter

The mission will be the first in which a spacecraft is placed in a highly elliptical polar orbit around the giant planet to understand its formation, evolution and structure.

NASA-USAID Earth Observation System Expands to Africa
November 24, 2008
News and Features NASA-USAID Earth Observation System Expands to Africa

Today NASA, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and their partners are in Nairobi, Kenya, to launch SERVIR-Africa, a program that helps scientists, government leaders and local communities address concerns related to natural disasters, disease outbreaks, biodiversity and climate change. SERVIR, Spanish for “to serve,” integrates satellite resources of the U.S. and other countries into a Web-based Earth information system, putting previously inaccessible information into action locally.

NASA's Astrobiology Origins
November 24, 2008
News and Features NASA's Astrobiology Origins

Ten years ago, a new NASA program dedicated to the science of Astrobiology was born.

Taking Out the Trash
November 24, 2008
News and Features Taking Out the Trash

Researchers are developing new technology to aid future human explorers on the moon and mars - by taking out the trash. A new waste system will help astronauts recycle resources, like water, before deposal. It was also help prevent forward contamination of locations like the martian surface.

NASA Spacecraft Detects Buried Glaciers on Mars
November 24, 2008
News and Features NASA Spacecraft Detects Buried Glaciers on Mars

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed vast Martian glaciers of water ice under protective blankets of rocky debris at much lower latitudes than any ice previously identified on the Red Planet.

The Solar System in a Grain of Dust
November 21, 2008
News and Features The Solar System in a Grain of Dust

In 2004, NASA's Stardust mission returned to Earth with particles of the comet Wild 2. Now these particles are helping scientists understand how a giant cloud of gas and dust collapsed to form our solar system 4.5 billion years ago.

Clouds and Climate Change: CERES Flight Model Moves Toward Launch
November 21, 2008
News and Features Clouds and Climate Change: CERES Flight Model Moves Toward Launch

The CERES FM 5 sensor, which will continue the 30-year climate data record of the Earth's radiant energy, has been delivered ahead of schedule and on budget.

Baking the Rover is Not an Option
November 20, 2008
News and Features Baking the Rover is Not an Option

The next-generation Mars rover will visit the Red Planet to sniff out the smallest traces of organic material – the building blocks of life. Trouble is, the Mars Science Laboratory is made from several kilograms of organic material from Earth. How will mission scientists keep the martian samples clean, and distinguish which molecules are from Mars, and which are from Earth?

Discovered: Cosmic Rays from a Mysterious, Nearby Object
November 20, 2008
News and Features Discovered: Cosmic Rays from a Mysterious, Nearby Object

An international team of researchers has discovered a puzzling surplus of high-energy electrons bombarding Earth from space.

Fires in California
November 20, 2008
News and Features Fires in California

Smoke from the recent outbreak of fires in Southern California can clearly be seen from NASA satellites. The top, photo-like, true-color image, taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on November 16, 2008, shows the smoke drifting to the southwest from the Los Angeles basin over the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Endeavour Astronauts Make Second Spacewalk Today
November 20, 2008
News and Features Endeavour Astronauts Make Second Spacewalk Today

Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Shane Kimbrough will move station equipment and continue work on the starboard solar alpha rotary joint.

Silica Shock Waves
November 19, 2008
News and Features Silica Shock Waves

Astronomers have discovered tiny crystals in planet forming disks that indicate shock waves may play a role in planetary formation. The study sheds new light on the evolution of our own solar system.

NASA Invites Students to Name New Mars Rover
November 19, 2008
News and Features NASA Invites Students to Name New Mars Rover

NASA, in cooperation with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures' movie WALL-E from Pixar Animation Studios, will conduct a naming contest for its car-sized Mars Science Laboratory rover that is scheduled for launch in 2009.

NASA Tests First Deep-Space Internet
November 19, 2008
News and Features NASA Tests First Deep-Space Internet

NASA has successfully tested the first deep space communications network modeled on the Internet.

Life at the Boundaries
November 19, 2008
News and Features Life at the Boundaries

Scientists have found unique microbes living in environments where life was not known before. Both communities - beneath the Antarctic ice sheet and at the floor of the Mediterranean - could have an effect on the global carbon cycle.

Water Vapor Confirmed as Major Player in Climate Change
November 18, 2008
News and Features Water Vapor Confirmed as Major Player in Climate Change

Water vapor is known to be Earth’s most abundant greenhouse gas, but the extent of its contribution to global warming has been debated.

Carbonate Conundrum
November 18, 2008
News and Features Carbonate Conundrum

NASA’s Phoenix lander mission is now over, and scientists are analyzing the data collected from its various experiments. Phoenix's discovery of carbonates in the frozen northern soil of Mars indicates the area once could have had liquid water. However, there is no way to tell if the carbonates formed locally, or if they came from somewhere else on the planet and blew in with the wind.

Endeavour Spacewalkers at Work
November 18, 2008
News and Features Endeavour Spacewalkers at Work

Astronauts Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve Bowen are outside the station doing assembly and maintenance work.

Shuttle, Station Crews Install Leonardo, Prepare for Spacewalk
November 17, 2008
News and Features Shuttle, Station Crews Install Leonardo, Prepare for Spacewalk

The Leonardo module carries new equipment to outfit the station for six-person crews. Astronauts make the mission's first spacewalk Tuesday.

Hubble Sees Planet Orbiting Another Star
November 14, 2008
News and Features Hubble Sees Planet Orbiting Another Star

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken the first visible-light snapshot of a planet circling another star. The planet, called 'Fomalhaut b', orbits the bright southern star Fomalhaut, located 25 light-years from Earth.

Earth's Mineral Evolution
November 14, 2008
News and Features Earth's Mineral Evolution

New research shows that minerals on Earth have co-evolved with life. Up to two thirds of known minerals can be linked to biological activity, highlighting the important connection between the biosphere and the geology of Earth.

Carbon-Sniffing Satellite Arrives at Launch Site
November 13, 2008
News and Features Carbon-Sniffing Satellite Arrives at Launch Site

NASA's first spacecraft dedicated to studying carbon dioxide has arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., to begin final launch preparations.

Endeavour Crew Set For Friday Launch
November 13, 2008
News and Features Endeavour Crew Set For Friday Launch

The STS-126 mission is set to launch at 7:55 p.m. EST Friday on a mission to prep the International Space Station for expanded crews.

Phoenix Stops Phoning Home
November 13, 2008
News and Features Phoenix Stops Phoning Home

After five months, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has stopped communicating. With the seasonal decline of sunlight in the martian arctic, Phoenix no longer has enough power to charge its batteries.

Mars Phoenix Lander Finishes Successful Work
November 12, 2008
News and Features Mars Phoenix Lander Finishes Successful Work

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has ceased communications after operating for more than five months.

NASA Begins Hunt for New Meteor Showers
November 12, 2008
News and Features NASA Begins Hunt for New Meteor Showers

NASA astronomers have set up a monitoring station to scan the night sky for unknown or unexpected meteor showers--and they're finding more than they bargained for.

Arctic Sea Ice Decline Shakes Up Ocean Ecosystems
November 10, 2008
News and Features Arctic Sea Ice Decline Shakes Up Ocean Ecosystems

Researchers took advantage of NASA satellite images to show that the microscopic floating plants are teeming in regions of recent ice melt.

Solar Cycle Update: The Sun Shows Signs of Life
November 10, 2008
News and Features Solar Cycle Update: The Sun Shows Signs of Life

A surge of new-cycle sunspots in October may signal the beginning of the end of the ongoing solar minimum.

Oldest Evidence for Complex Life in Doubt
November 10, 2008
News and Features Oldest Evidence for Complex Life in Doubt

Biomarkers that were once thought to be the oldest evidence for complex life may not be as old as scientists once believed. The finding could change our understanding of the timescales in which life evolved on Earth.

STS-126 to Launch to Space Station Nov. 14
November 07, 2008
News and Features STS-126 to Launch to Space Station Nov. 14

Commander Chris Ferguson and the Endeavour crew will equip the outpost for expanded future crews.

Life in a Lump of Ice
November 07, 2008
News and Features Life in a Lump of Ice

Scientists studying the microscopic structure of super cold ice are revealing fascinating information about ice in space and its potential links to the origins of life.

Correcting Ocean Cooling
November 07, 2008
News and Features Correcting Ocean Cooling

Scientists revise their conclusion that the ocean has cooled since 2003.

NASA Gauges Sea Level, Glacier Changes
November 06, 2008
News and Features NASA Gauges Sea Level, Glacier Changes

Researchers have used satellite data to make the most precise measurements to date of changes in Alaskan glaciers.

JPL Instrument Moon-Bound
November 06, 2008
News and Features JPL Instrument Moon-Bound

JPL's Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument is aboard India's maiden moon voyage, Chandrayaan-1. A maneuver performed Tuesday, Nov. 4, placed the Indian spacecraft on a path toward the moon.

Titan Triple Threat
November 06, 2008
News and Features Titan Triple Threat

The Cassini-Huygens mission has given us our best view yet of Titan, but this moon of Saturn still remains shrouded in mystery. A proposed future mission takes a three-tiered approach – using an orbiting spacecraft, a surface probe, and a hot air balloon -- to further explore the enigmatic moon.

'Fingers of Color' in the Crab Nebula
November 06, 2008
News and Features 'Fingers of Color' in the Crab Nebula

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has provided the first clear view of the faint boundary of the Crab Nebula's X-ray-emitting pulsar wind nebula.

NOAA-N Prime Satellite Arrives at Vandenberg for Launch
November 05, 2008
News and Features NOAA-N Prime Satellite Arrives at Vandenberg for Launch

The latest polar-orbiting operational environmental weather satellite developed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, called NOAA-N Prime, arrived Tuesday by C-5A military cargo aircraft at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., in preparation for a February 4, 2009 launch.

Spaceship Force Field
November 05, 2008
News and Features Spaceship Force Field

Researchers may have discovered how to create a 'portable magnetosphere' to protect astronauts from harmful space radiation. The device would act as a force field, shielding a spacecraft and its passengers from the dangers of solar storms.

Cassini Beams Back Images of Enceladus
November 05, 2008
News and Features Cassini Beams Back Images of Enceladus

Cassini sends back new pictures of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, showing striking detail of the tiger striped region and jet sources on the moon’s south pole.

The Slow Rise of Dinosaurs
November 04, 2008
News and Features The Slow Rise of Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs survived two mass extinctions and 50 million years before they dominated the Earth. The new finding sheds light on an important stage in the evolution of life on our planet.

NASA Hearing Daily From Weak Phoenix Mars Lander
November 04, 2008
News and Features NASA Hearing Daily From Weak Phoenix Mars Lander

Phoenix has communicated with controllers daily since Oct. 30 through relays to Mars orbiters. Information indicates Phoenix is running out of power by afternoon or evening but reawakening after its solar arrays catch morning sunlight.

Cliffbot Goes Climbing
November 03, 2008
News and Features Cliffbot Goes Climbing

From Astrobiology Magazine, European Edition is a story about a rover that can scale the steep sides of cliffs and craters. Developed by a group of NASA engineers, this three-rover system, modeled on tether-aided human climbing, could make such locations on Mars accessible for future exploration.

Fires in Northwest India
November 03, 2008
News and Features Fires in Northwest India

Seasonal agricultural fires dotted the Punjab and Haryana states of northwestern India in early November 2008.

2008 Ozone Hole Maximum Announced
November 03, 2008
News and Features 2008 Ozone Hole Maximum Announced

The Antarctic ozone hole reached its annual maximum on Sept. 12, 2008, stretching over 27 million kilometers, or 10.5 square miles.

Searching for Primordial Antimatter
November 03, 2008
News and Features Searching for Primordial Antimatter

Scientists hunt for evidence of antimatter - matter's arch nemesis - left over from the very early Universe.

Molten Magnetic Meteorites
November 03, 2008
News and Features Molten Magnetic Meteorites

Meteorites that are among some of the oldest rocks known are providing clues about the conditions of the early solar system. The insight they are yielding is changing longstanding ideas about how planets form.

Archive Summary