Archive for 2008

Knocking Back Rocks
May 30, 2008
News and Features Knocking Back Rocks

Iowa State University has now established the Asteroid Deflection Research Center (ADRC). The ADRC will gather researchers from around the world to develop technologies that will protect the Earth from devastating impacts.

NASA Phoenix Mars Lander Puts Arm and Other Tools to Work
May 29, 2008
News and Features NASA Phoenix Mars Lander Puts Arm and Other Tools to Work

NASA's Mars lander is returning more detailed images from the Martian surface and is now preparing its instruments for science operations.

Targeting a Lunar Bulls-Eye
May 29, 2008
News and Features Targeting a Lunar Bulls-Eye

Using Earth-based radar, scientists have studied ejecta material from the moon's Orientale impact basin. The new data has implications for future robotic and human missions to explore the lunar south pole.

NASA Selects Small Explorer Investigations for Concept Studies
May 29, 2008
Press Releases

NASA has selected six candidate mission proposals for further evaluation as part of the agency's Small Explorer (SMEX) Program. The proposals will study the far reaches of the universe, including the Earth's thermosphere and ionosphere, the sun, black holes, the first stars, and Earthlike planets around nearby stars.

Strange Ring Found Circling Dead Star
May 29, 2008
News and Features Strange Ring Found Circling Dead Star

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has found a bizarre ring of material around the magnetic remains of a star that blasted to smithereens.

NASA Scientists' Model Reveals How Plasma from Superstorms Affects Near-Earth Space
May 29, 2008
News and Features NASA Scientists' Model Reveals How Plasma from Superstorms Affects Near-Earth Space

NASA scientists have uncovered new details about how plasma from superstorms interact with Earth’s magnetosphere

NASA Invites Media to Observe Tests of Lunar Rovers and Spacesuits
May 28, 2008
Press Releases

News media are invited to a trek on the moon -- or at least an earthly approximation of one. Robots, rovers and lunar planners from NASA centers across the country will gather at Moses Lake, Wash., in June to perform a series of field tests based on mission-related activities for NASA's planned return to the moon by 2020. A media day will be held June 10 to give reporters a chance to observe the demonstrations.

Phoenix Spacecraft Commanded to Unstow Arm
May 28, 2008
News and Features Phoenix Spacecraft Commanded to Unstow Arm

Scientists leading NASA's Phoenix Mars mission from the University of Arizona in Tucson sent commands to unstow its robotic arm and take more images of its landing site early today.

Satellites Illuminate Pollution's Influence On Clouds
May 27, 2008
News and Features Satellites Illuminate Pollution's Influence On Clouds

Clouds have typically posed a problem to scientists using satellites to observe the lowest part of the atmosphere, where humans live and breathe, because they block the satellite's ability to capture a clear, unobstructed view of Earth's surface. It turns out, however, that these "obstructions" are worth a closer look, as clouds and their characteristics actually serve a valuable role in Earth's climate. That closer look is now available by satellites comprising the Afternoon Constellation, or A-Train.

Orbiter Relays Second-Day Information From NASA Mars Lander
May 27, 2008
News and Features Orbiter Relays Second-Day Information From NASA Mars Lander

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter successfully received information from the Phoenix Mars Lander Tuesday evening and relayed the information to Earth. The relayed transmission included images and other data collected by Phoenix during the mission's second day after landing on Mars.

NASA Mars Lander Prepares to Move Arm
May 27, 2008
News and Features NASA Mars Lander Prepares to Move Arm

NASA's Phoenix Lander is ready to begin moving its robotic arm, first unlatching its wrist and then flexing its elbow.

Cartwheel Coronal Mass Ejection
May 27, 2008
News and Features Cartwheel Coronal Mass Ejection

Imagine a billion-ton cloud of gas launching itself off the surface of the sun and then ... doing a cartwheel. That's exactly what happened on April 9, 2008, when a coronal mass ejection or "CME" pirouetted over the sun's limb in full view of an international fleet of spacecraft. Even veteran solar physicists were amazed.

Camera on Mars Orbiter Snaps Phoenix During Landing
May 26, 2008
News and Features Camera on Mars Orbiter Snaps Phoenix During Landing

A telescopic camera in orbit around Mars caught a view of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander suspended from its parachute during the lander's successful arrival at Mars Sunday evening, May 25.

Iron-Coated Fossils
May 26, 2008
News and Features Iron-Coated Fossils

Fossilized microbes found in Spain’s Rio Tinto valley may guide the search for past life on Mars.

Martian Touchdown
May 26, 2008
News and Features Martian Touchdown

NASA’s Phoenix lander has touched down safely on Mars and sent back the first close-up pictures of the planet’s northern arctic plains. Over the next three months, it will look for evidence of liquid water in Mars’s recent past.

Mars Cold Goes Down Deep
May 23, 2008
News and Features Mars Cold Goes Down Deep

New observations from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter indicate that the crust and upper mantle of Mars is stiffer and colder than previously thought. The data could have implications for the search for life in the martian subsurface.

Phoenix Spacecraft on Course for May 25 Mars Landing
May 22, 2008
News and Features Phoenix Spacecraft on Course for May 25 Mars Landing

With three days and 3 million miles left to fly before arriving at Mars, NASA's Phoenix spacecraft is on track for its destination in the Martian arctic.

Lunar GRAIL
May 22, 2008
News and Features Lunar GRAIL

Meet MIT professor of physics Maria Zuber. She's dynamic, intelligent, intense, and she's on a quest for the Grail.

NASA's Swift Satellite Catches a Star Going 'Kaboom!'
May 22, 2008
News and Features NASA's Swift Satellite Catches a Star Going 'Kaboom!'

When a gigantic star blows up, astronomers call it a "supernova." Over the past 100 years, astronomers have observed thousands of these explosions. But in every case, they were seeing the star after the explosion took place. They were seeing the hot debris from the explosion racing outward. It would be like seeing fireworks a few seconds after they go off, when the colorful lights are shooting away from the puff of smoke that mark the locations of the actual explosion.

Building Life's Foundations
May 22, 2008
News and Features Building Life's Foundations

New research conducted by the MARTE project team has shown that microbes can make barren areas suitable for life. This could have important implications for the search for life on Mars and other planets.

Interplanetary Road Maps
May 21, 2008
News and Features Interplanetary Road Maps

Technology that could someday provide 3D roadmaps of other planets and moons is now in development. The information the maps provide would help in designing future scientific missions to locations in the solar system.

100 Explosions on the Moon
May 21, 2008
News and Features 100 Explosions on the Moon

Not so long ago, anyone claiming to see flashes of light on the Moon would be viewed with deep suspicion by professional astronomers. Such reports were filed under "L" … for lunatic.

Storm Winds Blow in Jupiter’s Little Red Spot
May 20, 2008
News and Features Storm Winds Blow in Jupiter’s Little Red Spot

Using data from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft and two telescopes at Earth, an international team of scientists has found that one of the solar system’s largest and newest storms – Jupiter’s Little Red Spot – has some of the highest wind speeds ever detected on any planet.

NASA Nanotechnology-Based Biosensor Helps Detect Biohazards
May 20, 2008
Press Releases

NASA has developed a revolutionary nanotechnology-based biosensor that can detect trace amounts of specific bacteria, viruses and parasites. This biosensor will be used to help prevent the spread of potentially deadly biohazards in water, food and other contaminated sources.

Earthquake Near Chengdu, China
May 20, 2008
News and Features Earthquake Near Chengdu, China

This pair of images, captured by Taiwan’s Formosat-2, illustrates the challenges faced by rescuers bringing equipment and supplies to survivors of the massive 7.9 earthquake that devastated the Sichuan Basin on May 12, 2008.

The Glow of Hydroxyl
May 20, 2008
News and Features The Glow of Hydroxyl

Hydroxyl has been found in the atmosphere of Venus. It's the first time the molecule has been spotted on another planet and will help scientists understand the workings of Venus's dense atmosphere.

Rendezvous with Mars
May 19, 2008
News and Features Rendezvous with Mars

Phoenix, NASA’s latest mission to Mars, is a lander that will touch down in the planet’s northern polar region on May 25, 2008. It will search for evidence that liquid water, and a habitable environment for life, have been present there in the recent past. But first the spacecraft has to land safely.

Dust over the Hamoun Wetlands
May 18, 2008
News and Features Dust over the Hamoun Wetlands

Straddling the borders of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, the Hamoun Wetlands had long been an oasis in the otherwise arid landscape of Central Asia.

Europa's Wandering Poles
May 18, 2008
News and Features Europa's Wandering Poles

Features on Jupiter's moon Europa indicate that it's poles may have wandered by as much as 90 degrees. This extreme shift supports the theory that Europa harbors a liquid ocean beneath its icy crust.

Life Falling Back to Earth
May 15, 2008
News and Features Life Falling Back to Earth

New research shows that organisms living inside rocks ejected from planets by asteroid impacts may be able to survive their trip into orbit – and back.

NASA Satellite Finds Interior of Mars Is Colder
May 15, 2008
Press Releases

New observations from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter indicate that the crust and upper mantle of Mars are stiffer and colder than previously thought.

Earth Impacts Linked to Human-Caused Climate Change
May 14, 2008
News and Features Earth Impacts Linked to Human-Caused Climate Change

A new NASA-led study shows that human-caused climate change has impacted a wide range of Earth's natural systems, from permafrost thawing to plants blooming earlier across Europe to lakes declining in productivity in Africa.

NASA Study Links Earth Impacts to Human-Caused Climate Change
May 14, 2008
Press Releases

A new NASA-led study shows human-caused climate change has made an impact on a wide range of Earth's natural systems, including permafrost thawing, plants blooming earlier across Europe, and lakes declining in productivity in Africa.

Inhale. Explore. Exhale.
May 14, 2008
News and Features Inhale. Explore. Exhale.

For three weeks, volunteers have spent time breathing and sweating inside a NASA test chamber to help researchers design systems for future space vehicles. The systems will control carbon dioxide and humidity for crew capsules that will take human explorers to the moon and beyond.

Chandra Uncovers Youngest Supernova in Our Galaxy
May 14, 2008
News and Features Chandra Uncovers Youngest Supernova in Our Galaxy

The most recent supernova in our galaxy has been discovered by tracking the rapid expansion of its remains. This result, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array, will help improve our understanding of how often supernovae explode in the Milky Way galaxy.

NASA Phoenix Mission Ready for Mars Landing
May 13, 2008
News and Features NASA Phoenix Mission Ready for Mars Landing

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is preparing to end its long journey and begin a three-month mission to taste and sniff fistfuls of Martian soil and buried ice. The lander is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet May 25.

New Software Brings the Universe to Your Computer
May 13, 2008
News and Features New Software Brings the Universe to Your Computer

The incredible images from NASA's "Great Observatories" and many other NASA space- and ground-based telescopes are now available to the public in an educational and innovative manner through the release of the free WorldWide Telescope software from Microsoft.

Mercury's Iron Snow
May 13, 2008
News and Features Mercury's Iron Snow

Scientific evidence suggests that iron 'snow' may form deep inside of Mercury. The movement of this iron snow could be responsible for Mercury's magnetic field. The finding has implications in our understanding of the nature and evolution of planets.

Fires in Mexico and Guatemala
May 13, 2008
News and Features Fires in Mexico and Guatemala

Scores of fires (locations marked in red) were burning in Mexico and northern Central America on May 11, 2008, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite passed overhead and captured this image.

New Water Reclamation System Headed for Duty
May 12, 2008
Press Releases

International Space Station crews soon will have a new water reclamation system that will recycle wastewater, allowing up to six crew members to live aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Oceans Gasping for Breath
May 12, 2008
News and Features Oceans Gasping for Breath

During the Jurassic, global warming and severe environmental change led to the extinction of many species. One of the most intriguing effects was that the oceans became starved of oxygen.

Space Station Tricorder
May 08, 2008
News and Features Space Station Tricorder

Any Trekkies out there? Remember the tricorder? Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock both carried them, and they came in mighty handy exploring "strange new worlds ...where no one has gone before."

Planets by the Dozen
May 08, 2008
News and Features Planets by the Dozen

You know the planets of our solar system, each a unique world with its own distinctive appearance, size, and chemistry. Mars, with its bitter-cold, rusty red sands; Venus, a fiery world shrouded in thick clouds of sulfuric acid; sideways Uranus and its strange vertical rings. The variety is breathtaking.

Testing Times for Robotic Explorers
May 08, 2008
News and Features Testing Times for Robotic Explorers

A team of scientists have been investigating how signs of life on Mars can be spotted using instruments on robotic probes.

NASA Successfully Completes First Series of Ares Engine Tests
May 08, 2008
Press Releases

NASA engineers Thursday successfully completed the first series of tests in the early development of the J-2X engine that will power the upper stages of the Ares I and Ares V rockets, key components of NASA's Constellation Program. Ares I will launch the Orion spacecraft that will take astronauts to the International Space Station and then to the moon by 2020. The Ares V will carry cargo and components into orbit for trips to the moon and later to Mars.

Saturn Does the Wave in Upper Atmosphere
May 07, 2008
News and Features Saturn Does the Wave in Upper Atmosphere

Two decades of scrutinizing Saturn are finally paying off, as scientists have discovered a wave pattern, or oscillation, in Saturn's atmosphere only visible from Earth every 15 years.

Striking a Balance with Climate Change
May 07, 2008
News and Features Striking a Balance with Climate Change

The sun has powered almost everything on Earth since life began, including its climate. The sun also delivers an annual and seasonal impact, changing the character of each hemisphere as Earth's orientation shifts through the year. Since the Industrial Revolution, however, new forces have begun to exert significant influence on Earth's climate.

NASA Satellite Captures Image of Cyclone Nargis Flooding in Burma
May 06, 2008
News and Features NASA Satellite Captures Image of Cyclone Nargis Flooding in Burma

The first cyclone of the 2008 season in the northern Indian Ocean was a devastating one for Burma. According to reports from Accuweather.com, Cyclone Nargis made landfall with sustained winds of 130 mph and gusts of 150-160 mph, which is the equivalent of a strong Category 3 or minimal Category 4 hurricane. News reports stated that several thousand people have been killed, and thousands more were missing as of May 5.

A Super Solar Flare
May 06, 2008
News and Features A Super Solar Flare

At 11:18 AM on the cloudless morning of Thursday, September 1, 1859, 33-year-old Richard Carrington—widely acknowledged to be one of England's foremost solar astronomers—was in his well-appointed private observatory. Just as usual on every sunny day, his telescope was projecting an 11-inch-wide image of the sun on a screen, and Carrington skillfully drew the sunspots he saw.

Earth's Late Veneer
May 06, 2008
News and Features Earth's Late Veneer

New research questions the idea that water and other elements were added to the Earth late in its formation by impacts with icy comets and meteorites. The finding may cause scientists to rethink theories about the origin of life on our planet.

Is There Life on Mars? Ask a Magnet.
May 05, 2008
News and Features Is There Life on Mars? Ask a Magnet.

Magnetite, a type of iron oxide, is common on both Earth and Mars, and appears in many forms. On Earth, some of those forms are produced only by bacteria and have unique magnetic signatures. Soon Sam Kim has developed a means of detecting this biologically-produced magnetite that could help in the search for life on Mars.

2008 Time 100 - Michael Griffin
May 05, 2008
News and Features 2008 Time 100 - Michael Griffin

Mike Griffin, 58, had wanted to be administrator of NASA since the inception of the agency. To him, the appeal of the job was never about position or title but about the fact that space fired his imagination. It still does, and now, thanks to him, manned exploration of the moon and Mars is becoming a real possibility.

Mapping Mars from Wet to Dry
May 04, 2008
News and Features Mapping Mars from Wet to Dry

High-resolution data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s CRISM instrument has been used to create a new online map of Mars. The map allows visitors to see Mars' progression through wet, volcanic and dry eras.

Dust Storm in the Taklimakan Desert
May 02, 2008
News and Features Dust Storm in the Taklimakan Desert

Dust storms covered much of the Taklimakan Desert in western China in early May 2008. By the time the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite took this picture, on May 2, 2008, the storm had intensified since the previous day.

You Are What You Eat
May 02, 2008
News and Features You Are What You Eat

By examining marks on the teeth of ancient human ancestors, scientists have found that their diet was far different than previously believed. The research sheds light on the evolutionary history of complex organisms on Earth.

Cyclone Nargis
May 01, 2008
News and Features Cyclone Nargis

On May 1, 2008, Typhoon Nargis hovered over the Bay of Bengal, having become a very severe cyclonic storm. A report issued by the U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center at 15:00 UTC (approximately 9:00 p.m. local time) stated that the storm had intensified significantly over the previous six hours and was expected to come ashore in Myanmar (Burma) in the evening of May 2.

A.I. on Mars
May 01, 2008
News and Features A.I. on Mars

Artificial intelligence is giving a boost to Mars Express as it searches for signs of past or present life on Mars.

Send Your Name to the Moon With New Lunar Mission
May 01, 2008
Press Releases

NASA's Space Shuttle Program on Thursday successfully conducted a test firing of a space shuttle reusable solid rocket motor in Utah.

Archive Summary