science wire

Voyager 2 Completes Switch to Backup Thruster Set
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Voyager 2 has successfully switched to the backup set of thrusters that controls the roll of the spacecraft.

NASA Releases Updated Radar Movie of Asteroid 2005 YU55
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA Scientists working with the 230-foot-wide (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., have released a second, longer, and more refined, movie clip of asteroid 2005 YU55. The images were generated from data collected at Goldstone on Nov. 7, 2011, between 11:24 a.m. and 1:35 p.m. PST (2:24 p.m. and 4:35 p.m. EST).

The Tarantula Glows with X-rays and Infrared Light
This spiderweb-like tangle of gas and dust is a star-forming region called 30 Doradus. It is one of the largest such regions located close to the Milky Way galaxy, and is found in the neighboring galaxy Large Magellanic Cloud.

NASA Sets Mars Science Laboratory Launch Coverage
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft with the Curiosity rover is set to launch to the planet Mars aboard an Atlas V rocket on Nov.

NASA Ready for November Launch of Car-Size Mars Rover
The Mars Science Laboratory Spacecraft, inside its payload fairing, is hoisted onto its Atlas V launch vehicle (left).

NASA to Hold Media Briefing About Mars Rover Launch

NASA Captures New Images of Large Asteroid Passing Earth
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, Calif. has captured new radar images of Asteroid 2005 YU55 passing close to Earth.

Cassini Flyby Focuses on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus

Voyager 2 to Switch to Backup Thruster Set
Voyager Mission Status Report NASA's Deep Space Network personnel sent commands to the Voyager 2 spacecraft on Nov.

NASA’s Cassini Makes a New Pass at Enceladus
NASA's Cassini spacecraft will acquire the first detailed radar images of Saturn's moon Enceladus during a flyby on Sunday, Nov.

’Mysteries’ Slideshow Highlights Spooky Side of Space

NASA Launches JPL-Built Earth Science Experiment
October 31, 2011 An experiment developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., to test technology for future NASA Earth science missions was aboard one of five small "CubeSat" research satellites that hitched a ride to orbit Oct. 28 with NASA's newest Earth-observing satellite, the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project, or NPP.

’Pacman’ Nebula Gets Some Teeth
October 26, 2011 To visible-light telescopes, this star-forming cloud appears to be chomping through the cosmos, earning it the nickname the "Pacman" nebula, like the famous Pac-Man video game that debuted in 1980.

NASA in Final Preparations for Nov. 8 Asteroid Flyby
October 26, 2011 NASA scientists will be tracking asteroid 2005 YU55 with antennas of the agency's Deep Space Network at Goldstone, Calif., as the space rock safely flies past Earth slightly closer than the moon's orbit on Nov.

NASA Says Comet Elenin Gone and Should Be Forgotten
October 25, 2011 Comet Elenin is no more. Latest indications are this relatively small comet has broken into even smaller, even less significant, chunks of dust and ice.

NASA Telescopes Help Solve Ancient Supernova Mystery
October 24, 2011 PASADENA, Calif. - A mystery that began nearly 2,000 years ago, when Chinese astronomers witnessed what would turn out to be an exploding star in the sky, has been solved. New infrared observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, reveal how the first supernova ever recorded occurred and how its shattered remains ultimately spread out to great distances.

National Academy of Engineering Honors JPL Director

Mars Rover Carries Device for Underground Scouting
October 20, 2011 An instrument on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity can check for any water that might be bound into shallow underground minerals along the rover's path. "If we conclude that there is something unusual in the subsurface at a particular spot, we could suggest more analysis of the spot using the capabilities of other instruments," said this instrument's principal investigator, Igor Mitrofanov of the Space Research Institute, Russia.

Latest Cassini Images of Enceladus on View

Spitzer Snaps a Picture of the Coolest of Companions
These two infrared images were taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope in 2004 and 2009. They show a faint object moving through space together with a dead star called a white dwarf.

The Spark of a New Era
› Browse version of image __JPL_CAPTION_2 › Browse version of image __JPL_CAPTION_3 › Browse version of image - Seventy-five years ago this Halloween, at 9 a.m., a t

NASA’s Spitzer Detects Comet Storm in Nearby Solar System
October 19, 2011 PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected signs of icy bodies raining down in an alien solar system.

Orion’s Belt Lights Up Cassini’s View of Enceladus
October 18, 2011 NASA's Cassini mission will take advantage of the position of two of the three stars in Orion's belt when the spacecraft flies by Saturn's moon Enceladus on Wed., Oct.

NASA, Japan Release Improved Topographic Map of Earth
October 17, 2011 PASADENA, Calif. - NASA and Japan released a significantly improved version of the most complete digital topographic map of Earth on Monday, produced with detailed measurements from NASA's Terra spacecraft.

NASA’s Dawn Science Team Presents Early Science Results
October 12, 2011 Scientists with NASA's Dawn mission are sharing with other scientists and the public their early information about the southern hemisphere of the giant asteroid Vesta.

Caltech Event Marks 75th Anniversary of JPL Rocket Tests
October 11, 2011 PASADENA, Calif.

New View of Vesta Mountain From NASA’s Dawn Mission
October 10, 2011 A new image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows a mountain almost three times as high as Mt.

Video Documents Three-Year Trek on Mars by NASA Rover
October 10, 2011 While NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity was traveling from Victoria crater to Endeavour crater, between September 2008 and August 2011, the rover team took an end-of-drive image on each Martian day that included a drive.

Elusive Planets in Decade-Old Hubble Data
October 06, 2011 In a painstaking reanalysis of images taken in 1998 by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have found visual evidence for two exoplanets that went undetected back then. Exoplanets are planets that orbit stars beyond our sun. Finding these hidden gems in the Hubble archive gives astronomers an invaluable time machine for comparing much earlier planet orbital motion data to more recent observations.

NASA’s Moon Twins Going Their Own Way
October 06, 2011 PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL)-B spacecraft successfully executed its first flight path correction maneuver Wednesday, Oct.

Mars Science Laboratory Meets its Match in Florida
October 05, 2011 In preparation for launch later this year, the "back shell powered descent vehicle" configuration containing NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, has been placed on the spacecraft's heat shield.

Space Observatory Provides Clues to Creation of Earth’s Oceans
October 05, 2011 PASADENA, Calif. - Astronomers have found a new cosmic source for the same kind of water that appeared on Earth billions of years ago and created the oceans. The findings may help explain how Earth's surface ended up covered in water. New measurements from the Herschel Space Observatory show that comet Hartley 2, which comes from the distant Kuiper Belt, contains water with the same chemical signature as Earth's oceans.

NASA Mars Rovers Win Popular Mechanics ’Breakthrough’ Award
October 03, 2011 More than seven years after completing their three-month prime missions on opposite sides of Mars, NASA rovers Spirit and Opportunity have been selected for lifetime achievement award honors as part of the Breakthrough Awards presented by Popular Mechanics magazine.

Saturn’s Geyser Moon Enceladus Shows off for NASA’s Cassini
October 03, 2011 PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully completed its Oct. 1 flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus and its jets of water vapor and ice.

NASA Leads Study of Unprecedented Arctic Ozone Loss
October 02, 2011 PASADENA, Calif. - A NASA-led study has documented an unprecedented depletion of Earth's protective ozone layer above the Arctic last winter and spring caused by an unusually prolonged period of extremely low temperatures in the stratosphere.

NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft Begins New Vesta Mapping Orbit
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Dawn spacecraft has completed a gentle spiral into its new science orbit for an even closer view of the giant asteroid Vesta.

NASA-Funded Quake Forecast Gets High Score in Study
While earthquakes can't yet be predicted, scientists are making advances in their ability to forecast where they are most likely to occur, with the best forecasts now about 10 times more accurate than a random prediction, according to a new study by scientists at the University of California, Davis.

NASA Selects Science Investigations For Concept Studies
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA has selected 11 science proposals, including one from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, for evaluation as potential future science missions.

JPL Participates in Space-Themed Corn Maze

NASA Announces Tweetup for Mars Rover Launch
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA will host a two-day launch Tweetup for 150 of its Twitter followers on Nov.

NASA to Host News Conference on Asteroid Search Findings

Aquarius Yields NASA’s First Global Map of Ocean Salinity
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's new Aquarius instrument has produced its first global map of the salinity of the ocean surface, providing an early glimpse of the mission's anticipated discoveries. Aquarius, which is aboard the Aquarius/SAC-D (Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas) observatory, is making NASA's first space observations of ocean surface salinity variations - a key component of Earth's climate.

Saturn’s Moon Enceladus Spreads Its Influence
Chalk up one more feat for Saturn's intriguing moon Enceladus. The small, dynamic moon spews out dramatic plumes of water vapor and ice - first seen by NASA's Cassini spacecraft in 2005. It possesses simple organic particles and may house liquid water beneath its surface. Its geyser-like jets create a gigantic halo of ice, dust and gas around Enceladus that helps feed Saturn's E ring.

NASA’s WISE Mission Captures Black Hole’s Wildly Flaring Jet
PASADENA, Calif. - Astronomers using NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have captured rare data of a flaring black hole, revealing new details about these powerful objects and their blazing jets. Scientists study jets to learn more about the extreme environments around black holes.

Origin of Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Remains a Mystery
PASADENA, Calif. - Observations from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission indicate the family of asteroids some believed was responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs is not likely the culprit, keeping open the case on one of Earth's greatest mysteries. While scientists are confident a large asteroid crashed into Earth approximately 65 million years ago, leading to the extinction of dinosaurs and some other life forms on our planet, they do not know exactly where the asteroid came from or how it made its way to Earth.

NASA Announces Two Game-Changing Space Technology Projects
WASHINGTON - NASA has selected two game-changing space technology projects for development.

Cassini Presents Saturn Moon Quintet

NASA’s Dawn Collects a Bounty of Beauty from Vesta
This image obtained by the framing camera on NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows the south pole of the giant asteroid Vesta.

Meteor Likely Cause of Southwest U.S. Light Show
PASADENA, Calif. - A meteor is the most probable cause of a bright, colorful fireball witnessed by people in a wide swath of the southwestern United States, according to Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL.

NASA Rover Inspects Next Rock at Endeavour
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is using instruments on its robotic arm to inspect targets on a rock called "Chester Lake." This is the second rock the rover has examined with a microsc

NASA to Announce Kepler Discovery at Media Briefing
Science Journal Has Embargoed Details Until 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT), Sept. 15 PASADENA, Calif. - NASA will host a news briefing at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT), Thursday, Sept. 15, to announce a new discovery by the Kepler mission. The briefing will be held at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

Herschel Mission Finds Galactic Growth Slow and Steady
The Herschel infrared space observatory has discovered that galaxies do not always need to collide with each other to drive vigorous star birth. The finding overturns a long-held assumption and paints a more stately picture of how galaxies evolve. Herschel is a European Space Agency mission with important contributions from NASA and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Memorial Image Taken on Mars on September 11, 2011

NASA Launches Mission to Study Moon From Crust to Core
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA's twin lunar Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 9:08 a.m. EDT (6:08 a.m. PDT) Saturday, Sept.

NASA GRAIL Mission to the Moon Underway
Status update: - Engineers have received from both GRAIL spacecraft, and their solar arrays have deployed.

Launch Postponed Until Saturday
GRAIL Mission Status Report Status update: - Engineers have received from both GRAIL spacecraft, and their solar arrays have deployed.

GRAIL Launch Milestones
Status update: - Engineers have received from both GRAIL spacecraft, and their solar arrays have deployed.

Orbiter Resumes Use of Camera
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission Status Report PASADENA, Calif. - Operators of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are resuming use of the mission's highest resolution camera following a second precautionary shutdown in two weeks.

Tributes to Terrorism Victims are on Mars
In September 2001, Honeybee Robotics employees in lower Manhattan were building a pair of tools for grinding weathered rinds off rocks on Mars, so that scientific instruments on NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity could inspect the rocks' interiors.

NASA GRAIL Moon Mission Launch Rescheduled
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The launch of a Delta II vehicle carrying NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) was scrubbed today, Thursday, Sept.

NASA Spacecraft Sees Wind-Whipped Fires in East Texas
As most of Texas continues to experience the worst one-year drought on record, more than 170 wildfires have erupted across the Lone Star State so far this month alone.

NASA Gives Public New Internet Tool to Explore the Solar System
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA is giving the public the power to journey through the solar system using a new interactive Web-based tool.

NASA Invites 150 Twitter Followers to Lunar Launch
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA has invited 150 followers of the agency's Twitter accounts to a two-day launch Tweetup Sept.

Aquarius Makes First Ocean Salt Measurements
Aquarius Mission Update PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Aquarius instrument has successfully completed its commissioning phase and is now "tasting" the saltiness of Earth's ocean surface, making measurements from its perch in near-polar orbit.

NASA’s Mars Rover Opportunity Begins Study of Martian Crater
PASADENA, Calif. - The initial work of NASA's Mars rover Opportunity at its new location on Mars shows surface compositional differences from anything the robot has studied in its first 7.5 years of exploration.

Launch Preparations Report
Mars Science Laboratory Mission Status Report PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project continues to press ahead with launch preparation activities, planning to use additional time before encapsulating the rover in the launch vehicle's nose cone.

Jupiter-Bound Space Probe Captures Earth And Moon
PASADENA, Calif. - On its way to the biggest planet in the solar system - Jupiter, NASA's Juno spacecraft took time to capture its home planet and its natural satellite - the moon.

NASA Announces Media Telecon About Opportunity Rover

NASA Satellite Shows a Mean Irene’s Fury
After pounding North Carolina and Virginia on Aug. 27, Hurricane Irene made a second landfall near Little Egg Inlet, N.J., early Sunday morning, Aug.

NASA/ISRO Image Shows Irene’s Winds Before Landfall
Hurricane Irene made landfall early Saturday morning, Aug. 27, just west of Cape Lookout, NC, as a category one hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (75 knots).

Track Irene’s Progress on NASA Hurricane Websites
Large and powerful Hurricane Irene is poised to become the first hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Ike in 2008.

Cassini Closes in on Saturn’s Tumbling Moon Hyperion
NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured new views of Saturn's oddly shaped moon Hyperion during its encounter with this cratered body on Thursday, Aug.

NASA Moon Mission in Final Preparations for September Launch
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA's Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission to study the moon is in final launch preparations for a scheduled Sept.

NASA Sets GRAIL Launch Coverage Events
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA's GRAIL spacecraft is set to launch to the moon aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket on Sept.

NASA Satellites Detect Pothole on Road to Higher Seas
An Update from NASA's Sea Level Sentinels: Like mercury in a thermometer, ocean waters expand as they warm.

NASA Hosts News Conference on Upcoming Moon Mission

New Rover Snapshots Capture Endeavour Crater Vistas
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has captured new images of intriguing Martian terrain from a small crater near the rim of the large Endeavour crater.

NASA’s GRAIL Moon Twins are Joined to Their Booster
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA's lunar-bound GRAIL twins were mated to their Delta II launch vehicle at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 17 at 8:45 a.m. EDT (5:45 a.m. PDT) today.

NASA Research Yields Full Map of Antarctic Ice Flow
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA-funded researchers have created the first complete map of the speed and direction of ice flow in Antarctica. The map, which shows glaciers flowing thousands of miles from the continent's deep interior to its coast, will be critical for tracking future sea-level increases from climate change.

Comet Elenin Poses No Threat to Earth
Often, comets are portrayed as harbingers of gloom and doom in movies and on television, but most pose no threat to Earth.

NASA’s Asteroid Photographer Beams Back Science Data
The Dawn spacecraft has completed a graceful spiral into the first of four planned science orbits during the spacecraft's yearlong visit to Vesta.

Unusual Fault Pattern Surfaces in Earthquake Study
PASADENA, Calif.- Like scars that remain on the skin long after a wound has healed, earthquake fault lines can be traced on Earth's surface long after their initial rupture. Typically, this line of intersection is more complicated at the surface than at depth. But a new study of the April 4, 2010, El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake in Baja California, Mexico, reveals a reversal of this trend.

A Cosmic Inkblot Test
If this were an inkblot test, you might see a bow tie or a butterfly depending on your personality.

NASA Mars Rover Arrives at New Site on Martian Surface
PASADENA, Calif. - After a journey of almost three years, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has reached the Red Planet's Endeavour crater to study rocks never seen before.