Science News
NASA Curiosity Rover Collects First Martian Bedrock Sample
Feb. 11, 2013
NASA's Curiosity rover has, for the first time, used a drill carried at the end of its robotic arm to bore into a flat, veiny rock on Mars and collect a sample from its interior. This is the first time any robot has drilled into a rock to collect a sample on Mars.
LDCM/Atlas V is Cleared for Flight
Feb. 11, 2013
The reconvening of the Launch Readiness Review is complete and the remaining items of work and those needing further review have been closed. NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission spacecraft aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is cleared for flight.
Curiosity Drills into Mars
Feb. 9, 2013
Science@NASA Headline News — 2013
In a milestone accomplishment, NASA's Curiosity rover has drilled into a rock on Mars and gathered material from its interior. This is the first time any robot has drilled into a rock to collect a sample on Mars.
See Mercury at Sunset
Feb. 8, 2013
Science@NASA Headline News — 2013
The planet Mercury is about to make its best apparition of the year for backyard sky watchers. Look west at sunset for a piercing pink planet surrounded by twilight blue.
A Possible Naked-eye Comet in March
Feb. 6, 2013
Science@NASA Headline News — 2013
A comet falling in from the distant reaches of the solar system could become a naked-eye object in early March. This is Comet Pan-STARRS's first visit to the inner solar system, so surprises are possible as its virgin ices are exposed to intense solar heating for the first time.
Record Setting Asteroid Flyby
Jan. 28, 2013
Science@NASA Headline News — 2013
On Feb. 15th an asteroid about half the size of a football field will fly past Earth closer than many man-made satellites. Since regular sky surveys began in the 1990s, astronomers have never seen an object so big come so close to our planet.
Comet of the Century?
Jan. 18, 2013
Science@NASA Headline News — 2013
Astronomers are keeping a close eye on newly-discovered Comet ISON, which could become visible in broad daylight later this year when it skims through the atmosphere of the sun.
NASA Finds Long-Term Climate Warming Trend
Jan. 15, 2013
Science@NASA Headline News — 2013
NASA scientists say 2012 was the ninth warmest of any year since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global temperatures. With the exception of 1998, the nine warmest years in the 132-year record all have occurred since 2000, with 2010 and 2005 ranking as the hottest years on record.
Solar Variability and Terrestrial Climate
Jan. 8, 2013
Science@NASA Headline News — 2013
A new report issued by the National Research Council (NRC), "The Effects of Solar Variability on Earth's Climate," lays out some of the surprisingly complex ways that solar activity can make itself felt on our planet.
Christmas Sky Show
Dec. 21, 2012
Science@NASA Headline News — 2012
The Moon and Jupiter are converging for a heavenly sky show on Christmas 2012. Got a telescope? Something is happening on Jupiter that makes it an extra-interesting target for backyard optics.