News & Features
Follow mission news or learn about exciting new discoveries from NASA centers and research partners.
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.
Extreme Life Forms Might be Able to Survive on Eccentric Exoplanets
Sept. 12, 2012
NASA Observations Point to 'Dry Ice' Snowfall on Mars
Sept. 12, 2012
Observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have detected carbon-dioxide snow clouds on Mars and evidence of carbon-dioxide snow falling to the surface.
A Canopy of Confidence: Orion’s Parachutes
Sept. 11, 2012
As NASA continues to build the Orion spacecraft and head toward its first unmanned test flight in 2014, it will once again descend under parachutes to a water landing.
Hubble Watching Ancient Orbs
Sept. 11, 2012
This sparkling picture taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the center of globular cluster M 4. The power of Hubble has resolved the cluster into a multitude of glowing orbs, each a colossal nuclear furnace.
Orbiter Images NASA's Martian Landscape Additions
Aug. 8, 2012
Late Monday night, an image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the Curiosity rover and the components that helped it survive its seven-minute ordeal from space to its present location in Mars' Gale Crater.
Cassini Shows Why Jet Streams Cross-Cut Saturn
June 26, 2012
Turbulent jet streams, regions where winds blow faster than in other places, churn east and west across Saturn. Scientists have been trying to understand for years the mechanism that drives these wavy structures in Saturn's atmosphere and the source from which the jets derive their energy.
Study Finds Ancient Warming Greened Antarctica
June 18, 2012
A new university-led study with NASA participation finds ancient Antarctica was much warmer and wetter than previously suspected. The climate was suitable to support substantial vegetation -- including stunted trees -- along the edges of the frozen continent.
Compact Blue Dwarf Can’t Hide from Hubble
June 18, 2012
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured this view of the dwarf galaxy UGC 5497, which looks a bit like salt sprinkled on black velvet in this image.