News and Features - NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Copyright (c) 2009 NASA / JPL All rights reserved. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/index.cfm News and Technology JPL's RSS feed brings you the latest press releases, feature stories and slide shows from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. JPL has explored every planet in the solar system with robotic spacecraft. en-us Wed, 16 May 2012 11:32:37 GMT 5 News and Features - NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/index.cfm http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcast/planets-300.jpg <![CDATA[ JPL Invites all Earthlings to Annual Open House ]]> NASA / JPL science Annual Open House event with plenty of hands-on activities and opportunities to talk with scientists and engineers

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., invites the public to its annual Open House on Saturday, June 9, and Sunday, June 10, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Lends Galaxy Evolution Explorer to Caltech ]]> NASA / JPL science The Galaxy Next Door

NASA is lending the Galaxy Evolution Explorer to the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, where the spacecraft will continue its exploration of the cosmos.



]]> <![CDATA[ Mojave Desert Tests Prepare for NASA Mars Roving ]]> NASA / JPL science Test Rover Aids Preparations in California for Curiosity Rover on Mars

Engineers ran rover-mobility tests on California sand dunes this week in preparation for operating NASA's Curiosity rover after it lands in Mars' Gale Crater.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's New Carbon-Counting Instrument Leaves the Nest ]]> NASA / JPL science Technicians prep the OCO-2 instrument for shipping at JPL.

NASA's first mission dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide moves a step closer to reality with the shipment of its JPL-built science instrument.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's Juno Spacecraft Images Big Dipper ]]> NASA / JPL science NASA's Jupiter-bound Juno spacecraft tested its JunoCam instrument

En route to Jupiter, NASA's Juno mission has snapped a quick photo of a familiar sight in the nighttime sky--the Big Dipper.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Dawn Mission Reveals Secrets of Large Asteroid ]]> NASA / JPL science Mineral Diversity at Vesta's South Pole

NASA's Dawn spacecraft provides the first orbital analysis of the giant asteroid Vesta, yielding new insights into its creation with terrestrial planets and Earth's moon.



]]> <![CDATA[ Opportunity Rolling Again After Fifth Mars Winter ]]> NASA / JPL science Looking Back at Greeley Haven After Opportunity's First Drive of 2012

With its daily supply of solar energy increasing, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has driven off the sunward-tilted outcrop, Greeley Haven.



]]> <![CDATA[ Overfed Black Holes Shut Down Galactic Star-Making ]]> NASA / JPL science This artistically modified image of the local galaxy Arp 220, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, helps illustrate the Herschel results.

The Herschel Space Observatory has shown galaxies with the most powerful, active black holes at their cores produce fewer stars than galaxies with less active black holes.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Spacecraft Detects Changes in Martian Sand Dunes ]]> NASA / JPL science Advancing Dune in Nili Patera, Mars

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed that movement in sand dune fields on the Red Planet occurs on a surprisingly large scale, about the same as in dune fields on Earth.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's Spitzer Sees the Light of Alien 'Super Earth' ]]> NASA / JPL science How to See a Super Earth

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected light emanating from a "super-Earth" planet beyond our solar system for the first time.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA to Hold News Conference on Dawn Mission Results ]]> NASA / JPL science This artist's concept shows NASA's Dawn spacecraft orbiting the giant asteroid Vesta.

NASA will host a news conference on Thursday, May 10, at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT) to present a new analysis of the giant asteroid Vesta using data from the agency's Dawn spacecraft.



]]> <![CDATA[ Paydirt at 8-Year-Old Mars Rover's 'New Landing Site' ]]> NASA / JPL science 'Homestake' Vein in Color

A crater NASA's Mars rover Opportunity drove for years to reach is paying off with evidence about wet environments older than any recorded at sites the rover has seen before.



]]> <![CDATA[ A NASA Weather 'Eye in the Sky' Marks 10 Years ]]> NASA / JPL science Global Carbon Dioxide Transport from AIRS Data, July 2009

With 2,378 spectral eyes measuring our atmosphere, NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder might well be called a "monster" of weather and climate research. On May 4, it turns 10.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini, Saturn Moon Photographer ]]> NASA / JPL science Raw, unprocessed image of Enceladus

NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully flies by Saturn's moons Enceladus and Dione.



]]> <![CDATA[ Black Hole Caught Red-Handed in a Stellar Homicide ]]> NASA / JPL science Computer-simulated image shows gas from a tidally shredded star

Astronomers have gathered the most direct evidence yet of a supermassive black hole shredding a star that wandered too close.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini to Probe Enceladus Gravity, Take Pictures ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist concept of Cassini at Saturn. Image credit: NASA/JPL

NASA's Cassini spacecraft will be making a close flyby of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus on May 2.



]]> <![CDATA[ 100 Days and Counting to NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover Landing ]]> NASA / JPL science Curiosity Touching Down, Artist's Concept

At 10:31 p.m. PDT today, April 27, (1:31 p.m. EDT), NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, carrying the one-ton Curiosity rover, will be within 100 days from the Martian surface.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's WISE Catches Aging Star Erupting With Dust ]]> NASA / JPL science Dusty Star Stands Out From the Rest

Images from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) reveal an old star in the throes of a fiery outburst, spraying the cosmos with dust.



]]> <![CDATA[ Dawn Reveals Secrets of Giant Asteroid Vesta ]]> NASA / JPL science Aquilia Area in Color

Findings from Dawn reveal new details about the giant asteroid Vesta, including its varied surface composition, sharp temperature changes and clues to its internal structure.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini Investigates Titan's Chemical Factory ]]> NASA / JPL science Titan and Dione

Saturn's moon Titan has a thick, smoggy atmosphere that's one of the most complex chemical environments in the solar system. How long has this "factory" been in business?



]]> <![CDATA[ Fireball Over California/Nevada: How Big Was It? ]]> NASA / JPL science A meteor in the sky above Reno, Nevada on April 22, 2012. Image credit: Lisa Warren

Scientists have a size estimate for an impressive fireball that was witnessed over California's Central Valley Sunday (4/22).



]]> <![CDATA[ JPL to Host Small Business Science Forum, Supplier Fair ]]> NASA / JPL science NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., will host the 24th annual High-Tech Conference for Small Business on Tuesday, March 6, and Wednesday, March 7, at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., through its Business Opportunities Office, will host a supplier fair featuring 20 to 25 local and national high-tech small businesses.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Tests GPS Monitoring System for Big U.S. Quakes ]]> NASA / JPL science Location of the more than 500 real-time GPS monitoring stations in the western United States

A research network of Western U.S. GPS stations will be tested to see if it can quickly pinpoint a strong quake's location/size and aid in disaster response/tsunami warning.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's Spitzer Finds Galaxy With Split Personality ]]> NASA / JPL science The Sombrero Galaxy's Split Personality

While some galaxies are rotund and others are slender disks like our spiral Milky Way, new observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope show that the Sombrero galaxy is both.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini Sees Objects Blazing Trails in Saturn Ring ]]> NASA / JPL science Images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft

Images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft have revealed strange half-mile-sized objects punching through parts of Saturn's F ring, leaving glittering trails behind.



]]> <![CDATA[ Study Finds Surprising Arctic Methane Emission Source ]]> NASA / JPL science A new airborne study with NASA contributions measured surprising levels of the potent greenhouse gas methane

The Arctic region is home to large reservoirs of the potent greenhouse gas methane. A new study with NASA contributions finds the Arctic Ocean may be an important source.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Image Gallery Highlights Earth's Changing Face ]]> NASA / JPL science The retreat of Pedersen Glacier in Alaska. Left: summer 1917. Right: summer 2005.

Just in time for Earth Day, NASA's Global Climate Change website unveils a new version of its "State of Flux" image gallery, which highlights how our home planet is changing.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini Finds Titan Lake is Like a Namibia Mudflat ]]> NASA / JPL science A recent study finds that the lake known as Ontario Lacus on Saturn's moon Titan (left)

Scientists with NASA's Cassini mission find that a lake on Saturn's moon Titan most resembles Etosha Pan in Namibia.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini Finds Saturn Moon has Planet-Like Qualities ]]> NASA / JPL science The Face of Phoebe

Data from NASA's Cassini mission reveal Saturn's moon Phoebe has more planet-like qualities than previously thought.



]]> <![CDATA[ Dawn Gets Extra Time to Explore Vesta ]]> NASA / JPL science Dawn Orbiting Vesta

NASA's Dawn mission has received official confirmation that 40 extra days have been added to its exploration of the giant asteroid Vesta.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini Successfully Flies over Enceladus ]]> NASA / JPL science Arc of Enceladus

NASA's Cassini spacecraft beams back images of the icy moons Enceladus and Tethys during its course through the Saturn system.



]]> <![CDATA[ Breaking the Ice on Icebergs ]]> NASA / JPL science Iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland, 1984

It's been 100 years since the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank. JPL scientists demystify these frozen mountains of floating ice.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's WISE Mission Sees Skies Ablaze With Blazars ]]> NASA / JPL science This artist's concept shows a 'feeding,' or active, supermassive black hole with a jet streaming outward at nearly the speed of light.

Astronomers are hunting a class of supermassive black holes throughout the universe called blazars thanks to data collected by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer.



]]> <![CDATA[ Herschel Spots Comet Massacre Around Nearby Star ]]> NASA / JPL science Comet Storm around Fomalhaut

New data from the Herschel Space Observatory suggest comets are constantly smashing together around the star Fomalhaut.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini to Dip into Enceladus Spray Again ]]> NASA / JPL science NASA's Cassini spacecraft will make a close approach to the south polar region of Saturn's moon Enceladus on April 14, 2012.

Less than three weeks after its last swoop over the Saturn moon, NASA's Cassini spacecraft returns for an encore.



]]> <![CDATA[ Live Public Talk: Mars Science Laboratory Landing Site ]]> NASA / JPL science This artist's concept features NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover next to its landing site at Gale Crater.

Join us in person at JPL, or virtually via the Internet, on April 12 for a public talk about Gale Crater, landing site of NASA's next Mars rover.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA to Fly Atomic Clock to Improve Space Navigation ]]> NASA / JPL science The device 'swooshing' into a satellite is the vacuum tube

NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock will improve the way we conduct deep-space navigation by enabling a spacecraft to calculate its own timing and navigation data in real time.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Views Our Perpetually Moving Ocean ]]> NASA / JPL science This is an animation of ocean surface currents from June 2005 to December 2007 from NASA satellites.

The swirling flows of tens of thousands of ocean currents are captured in a new NASA scientific visualization created with the help of JPL satellite and model data.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Extends Spitzer, Planck, Kepler Missions ]]> NASA / JPL science From left to right, artist's concepts of the Spitzer, Kepler and Planck space telescopes.

NASA is extending three missions affiliated with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., as a result of the 2012 Senior Review of Astrophysics Missions.



]]> <![CDATA[ Dark Heart of a Cosmic Collision ]]> NASA / JPL science Centaurus A All Prettied Up in Infrared and X-Rays

The cataclysmic history of a giant galaxy is on display in a new image that combines infrared and X-ray observations.



]]> <![CDATA[ 12-Mile-High Martian Dust Devil Caught In Act ]]> NASA / JPL science Mars' Stringbean Twister

A Martian dust devil roughly 12 miles high (20 kilometers) was captured whirling its way along the Amazonis Planitia region of Northern Mars on March 14.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Announces 2012 Carl Sagan Fellows ]]> NASA / JPL science The Sagan Fellowship program, named after the late Carl Sagan, supports talented young scientists in their mission to explore the unknown.

NASA has announced the 2012 Sagan Exoplanet Fellowships, a program designed to encourage new talent in the area of exoplanet research.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's SOFIA Captures Image of Dying, Outflowing Star ]]> NASA / JPL science NASA's SOFIA telescope and the FORCAST instrument captured this color-composite image of the planetary nebula Minkowski 2-9 (M2-9)

The last exhalations of a dying star can be seen in a new image from NASA's SOFIA telescope.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cosmic 'Leaf Blower' Robs Galaxy of Star-Making Fuel ]]> NASA / JPL science The Beginning of the End of Star Formation

Supernova explosions and the jets of a monstrous black hole are scattering a galaxy's star-making gas like a cosmic leaf blower.



]]> <![CDATA[ Icy Moons through Cassini's Eyes ]]> NASA / JPL science Enceladus Plume

NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully flies by Saturnian moons.



]]> <![CDATA[ 'Mount Sharp' on Mars Links Geology's Past and Future ]]> NASA / JPL science 'Mount Sharp' Inside Gale Crater, Mars

A stack of geological chapters in the history book of Mars has attracted NASA's big new rover and takes an informal name from a geologist with early Mars missions.



]]> <![CDATA[ Flying Formation - Around the Moon at 3,600 MPH ]]> NASA / JPL science As the GRAIL twins (Ebb and Flow) fly over areas of greater and lesser gravity at 3,600 mph

The act of two or more aircraft flying together in a disciplined, synchronized manner is one of the cornerstones of military aviation, as well as just about any organized air show.



]]> <![CDATA[ Mars-Bound NASA Craft Adjusts Path, Tests Instruments ]]> NASA / JPL science This is an artist's concept of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft during its cruise phase between launch and final approach to Mars.

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft, halfway to Mars, adjusted its flight path today for delivery of the one-ton rover Curiosity to the surface of Mars in August.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini to Make Closest Pass Yet over Enceladus South Pole ]]> NASA / JPL science Highlighting Plumes

NASA's Cassini spacecraft will fly about 46 miles (74 kilometers) above the surface of the Saturnian moon Enceladus.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA GRACE Data Hit Big Apple on World Water Day ]]> NASA / JPL science A new visualization of global groundwater depletion

Premiering on New York's Times Square today to mark World Water Day: a new visualization of global groundwater depletion created using data from NASA's GRACE mission.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini Mission Receives Air and Space Museum Award ]]> NASA / JPL science NASA's Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn was awarded the 2012 National Air

The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum has bestowed its highest group honor, the Trophy for Current Achievement, on NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's 'Eyes on the Earth' Gets Sharper Vision ]]> NASA / JPL science An improved version of NASA's popular

NASA's Webby Award-winning Global Climate Change website has introduced a new version of its "Eyes on the Earth" interactive virtual reality visualization.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA GRAIL Returns First Student-Selected Moon Images ]]> NASA / JPL science MoonKAM Looks Homeward

One of two NASA spacecraft orbiting the moon has beamed back the first student-requested pictures of the lunar surface from its onboard camera.



]]> <![CDATA[ Dawn Sees New Surface Features on Giant Asteroid ]]> NASA / JPL science Bright Rays from Canuleia Crater

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has revealed unexpected details on the surface of the giant asteroid Vesta.



]]> <![CDATA[ Students and Robots Take to the Courts in Competition ]]> NASA / JPL science Student-controlled robots compete at the FIRST Robotics Competition by shooting foam basketballs into hoops.

Student teams from California, Nevada, Brazil and Chile competed in the 21st annual Los Angeles regional FIRST competition this past weekend.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's New 'Earth-Now' App: Your World, Unplugged ]]> NASA / JPL science NASA's new, free 'Earth-Now' iPhone app

A free, new iPhone app from NASA literally puts the whole world in the palm of your hands.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini Sees Saturn Stressing out Enceladus ]]> NASA / JPL science These images, based on ones obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft

Direct observations linking the tidal pull of Saturn to jets on Enceladus are among highlights of NASA's Cassini mission discussed at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini Plasma Spectrometer Resumes Operations ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist concept of Cassini spacecraft. Image credit: NASA/JPL

Cassini mission managers have received confirmation that the plasma spectrometer instrument was successfully turned on.



]]> <![CDATA[ Launch of NASA's NuSTAR Mission Postponed ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist's concept of NuSTAR in orbit.

The planned launch of NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) mission has been postponed after a March 15 launch status meeting.



]]> <![CDATA[ At 10, GRACE Continues Defying, and Defining, Gravity ]]> NASA / JPL science GRACE - A Decade of Amazing Science

A decade after launch, NASA's GRACE space twins continue their orbital waltz, producing amazing science.



]]> <![CDATA[ Astronomers Find Cosmic Lenses with Feeding Black Holes ]]> NASA / JPL science Quasar lenses imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope

Observations from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveal several galaxies containing feeding black holes, called quasars, which are distorting the appearance of galaxies behind them.



]]> <![CDATA[ Student-designed Robots Take on March Madness ]]> NASA / JPL science 2011 FIRST Robotics competition

Sixty-six high school teams will take their robots to the courts this weekend to compete in the 21st season of the Los Angeles regional FIRST Robotics Competition.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Releases New WISE Mission Catalog of Entire Infrared Sky ]]> NASA / JPL science This is a mosaic of the images covering the entire sky as observed by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), part of its All-Sky Data Release

NASA unveiled a new atlas and catalog of the entire infrared sky today showing more than a half billion stars, galaxies and other objects captured by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini Garners Top Honor From Air and Space Museum ]]> NASA / JPL science Saturn

NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., has received the top group honor from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum - the Trophy for Current Achievement. Representatives for Cassini will receive the trophy on March 21 at a black-tie dinner in Washington, D.C.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini Spies Wave Rattling Jet Stream on Jupiter ]]> NASA / JPL science Following the path of one of Jupiter's jet streams

New movies of Jupiter are the first to catch an invisible wave shaking up one of the giant planet's jet streams, an interaction that also takes place in Earth's atmosphere.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini Captures New Images of Icy Moon ]]> NASA / JPL science Portrait of Rhea

Saturn's moon Rhea appears in glorious detail in new images obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA March 13 NuSTAR Media Briefing Postponed ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist's concept of NuSTAR on orbit. NuSTAR has a 10-m (30') mast that deploys after launch to separate the optics modules (right) from the detectors in the focal plane (left).

The Tuesday, March 13, media briefing to discuss the upcoming launch of the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) has been postponed.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA to Hold Media Briefing About Upcoming NuSTAR Mission ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist's concept of NuSTAR on orbit. NuSTAR has a 10-m (30') mast that deploys after launch to separate the optics modules (right) from the detectors in the focal plane (left).

NASA will hold a media briefing at 9 a.m. PDT (12 p.m. EDT) on Tuesday, March 13, to discuss the upcoming launch of an innovative X-ray telescope called NuSTAR.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's Kepler Mission Wins Aviation Week Award ]]> NASA / JPL science Roger Hunter (left) Kepler project manager, and Jim Fanson (middle)

NASA's Kepler mission has been named the winner of the 2012 Aviation Week Laureate Award in the Space category.



]]> <![CDATA[ JPL Celebrates Women in Space Exploration ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist's collage for Women's History Month

In honor of Women's History Month, JPL is hosting an event on March 8 to recognize the success of women in science and engineering.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Mars Orbiter Catches Twister in Action ]]> NASA / JPL science The Serpent Dust Devil of Mars

A towering dust devil casts a serpentine shadow over the Martian surface in a new image from the high-resolution camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.



]]> <![CDATA[ Citizen Scientists Reveal a Bubbly Milky Way ]]> NASA / JPL science A team of volunteers from the general public has pored over observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope

Volunteers are helping astronomers find star-blown bubbles throughout our Milky Way galaxy.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's Twin GRAIL Spacecraft Begin Collecting Lunar Data ]]> NASA / JPL science Using a precision formation-flying technique, the twin GRAIL spacecraft will map the moon's gravity field, as depicted in this artist's rendering.

NASA's GRAIL twins have begun their science collection phase in lunar orbit.



]]> <![CDATA[ Santa Monica High Tops Regional Ocean Sciences Bowl ]]> NASA / JPL science The winning high school team, Santa Monica High School with their coach, Ingo Gaida (far right).

For the second straight year, Santa Monica High School beat longtime rival Arcadia High School to retain its title of Regional Ocean Sciences Bowl champions.



]]> <![CDATA[ Engineers Tuck NuSTAR in its Nose Cone ]]> NASA / JPL science An Orbital Sciences technician completes final checks of NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array

NuSTAR is being encapsulated in its rocket nose cone, or fairing, which will protect it during launch, scheduled for no earlier than March 21.



]]> <![CDATA[ Community College Scholars Selected to Design Rovers ]]> NASA / JPL science Students who participated in NASA's National Community College and Aerospace Scholars program in 2011 planned simulated Mars rover missions.

Community college students team up with NASA for a chance to design robotic rovers through the National Community College Aerospace Scholars program.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini Detects Hint of Fresh Air at Dione ]]> NASA / JPL science This view highlights tectonic faults and craters on Dione, an icy world that has undoubtedly experienced geologic activity since its formation.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has "sniffed" molecular oxygen ions around Saturn's icy moon Dione, confirming the presence of a tenuous atmosphere.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Finds Sea Ice Driving Arctic Air Pollutants ]]> NASA / JPL science Bromine explosion on March 13, 2008 across the western Northwest Territories in Canada

A NASA-led study finds Arctic sea ice loss may be intensifying release of bromine into the atmosphere, depleting ground-level ozone and depositing toxic mercury in the Arctic.



]]> <![CDATA[ Camera on NASA Mars Odyssey Tops Decade of Discovery ]]> NASA / JPL science Tenth Anniversary Image from Camera on NASA Mars Orbiter

NASA's Mars Odyssey, the longest-working spacecraft ever sent to Mars, has now been sending home images for 10 years.



]]> <![CDATA[ Young Stars Flicker Amidst Clouds of Gas and Dust ]]> NASA / JPL science Orion nebula

Astronomers have spotted young stars in the Orion nebula changing right before their eyes, thanks to the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.



]]> <![CDATA[ Asteroid 2011 AG5 - A Reality Check ]]> NASA / JPL science The orbit of asteroid 2011 AG5 carries it beyond the orbit of Mars and as close to the sun as halfway between Earth and Venus.

Asteroid 2011 AG5 has been receiving a lot of attention lately because of a very unlikely scenario which would place it on an Earth-interception course 28 years from now.



]]> <![CDATA[ Proposed Mars Mission Has New Name ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist rendition of the proposed InSight (Interior exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) Lander.

Proposed Discovery mission concept by JPL to investigate the formation and evolution of terrestrial planets by studying the deep interior of Mars now has a new name, InSight.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Pinning Down Where 'Here' is Better Than Ever ]]> NASA / JPL science NASA's Next-Generation Satellite Laser Ranging system

NASA is helping lead a global effort to upgrade systems used to determine a terrestrial reference frame for Earth and improve the accuracy of Earth observations from space.



]]> <![CDATA[ The Many Moods of Titan ]]> NASA / JPL science Snapshots of Titan's North Polar Cloud

Recent data collected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft show a shifting, Earth-like environment at Saturn's moon Titan.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's Spitzer Finds Solid Buckyballs in Space ]]> NASA / JPL science Building a Buckyball Particle in Space

Astronomers using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have, for the first time, discovered buckyballs in a solid form in space.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Satellite Finds Earth's Clouds are Getting Lower ]]> NASA / JPL science This image of clouds over the southern Indian Ocean was acquired on July 23, 2007

A new university study using data from NASA's Terra spacecraft finds Earth's clouds got about one percent lower on average during the first decade of the 2000s.



]]> <![CDATA[ NuSTAR Mated to its Rocket ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist's concept of NuSTAR on orbit. NuSTAR has a 10-m (30') mast that deploys after launch to separate the optics modules (right) from the detectors in the focal plane (left).

Mating of NASA's NuSTAR observatory to its Pegasus rocket is underway.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Map Sees Earth's Trees in a New Light ]]> NASA / JPL science Global map of forest height produced from NASA's ICESAT/GLAS, MODIS and TRMM sensors.

A NASA-led science team has created an accurate, high-resolution map of the height of Earth's forests.



]]> <![CDATA[ JPL and Caltech CubeSat Proposals Move Forward ]]> NASA / JPL science CubeSat Artist Rendering and NASA's M-Cubed/COVE

NASA selects 33 small satellites - including two from JPL in partnership with Caltech - to fly as auxiliary payloads aboard rockets planned to launch in 2013 and 2014.



]]> <![CDATA[ Advanced Communications Testbed for Space Station ]]> NASA / JPL science NASA Engineers and Technicians transporting the SCAN Testbed

An orbiting laboratory will soon provide new and improved ways for future space travelers to communicate.



]]> <![CDATA[ Planck All-Sky Images Show Cold Gas and Strange Haze ]]> NASA / JPL science All-sky image of molecular gas and three molecular cloud complexes seen by Planck

New images from the Planck mission show previously undiscovered islands of star formation and a mysterious haze of microwave emissions in our Milky Way galaxy.



]]> <![CDATA[ 3-D Map Study Shows Before-After of 2010 Mexico Quake ]]> NASA / JPL science This five-foot-high (1.5-meter-high) surface rupture, called a scarp, formed in just seconds along the Borrego fault during the magnitude 7.2

A new partially NASA-supported study of the April 2010 major quake near the California-Mexico border gives the most comprehensive before-and-after picture yet of a quake zone.



]]> <![CDATA[ Spacecraft Computer Issue Resolved ]]> NASA / JPL science This artist concept features NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover

Engineers have found the root cause of a computer reset that occurred two months ago on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory and have determined how to correct it.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Mission Takes Stock of Earth's Melting Land Ice ]]> NASA / JPL science NASA's GRACE Takes Stock of Earth's Melting Land Ice

A new comprehensive University of Colorado-led study used gravity data from NASA's Grace mission to calculate how much Earth's melting land ice is adding to global sea level.



]]> <![CDATA[ New Views Show Old NASA Mars Landers ]]> NASA / JPL science Spirit Lander and Bonneville Crater in Color

New color images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show the agency's 2008 Phoenix Mars Lander and the lander that carried its rover Spirit to Mars in 2004.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer in Standby Mode ]]> NASA / JPL science The Galaxy Evolution Explorer was launched on April 28, 2003.

NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer was placed in standby mode today as engineers prepare to end mission operations, nearly nine years after the telescope's launch.



]]> <![CDATA[ Mars-Bound NASA Rover Carries Coin for Camera Checkup ]]> NASA / JPL science NASA's Mars rover Curiosity with an inset of an instrument located at the end of it's robotic arm.

At least one object in photos NASA's Curiosity rover will transmit from Mars later this year will look familiar to all Americans: a Lincoln penny sent as a camera reference.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's Juno Spacecraft Refines its Path to Jupiter ]]> NASA / JPL science NASA's Juno spacecraft passes in front of Jupiter in this artist's depiction.

NASA's solar-powered Juno spacecraft successfully refined its flight path Wednesday with the mission's first trajectory correction maneuver.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Mission Returns First Video From Moon's Far Side ]]> NASA / JPL science South pole of the far side of the moon as seen from the GRAIL mission's Ebb spacecraft.

A camera aboard one of NASA's twin Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) lunar spacecraft has returned its first unique view of the far side of the moon.



]]> <![CDATA[ JPL to Host High-Tech Small Business Conference ]]> NASA / JPL science High-Tech Conference for Small Business

JPL will host the 24th annual High-Tech Conference for Small Business on Tuesday, March 6, and Wednesday, March 7, at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel.



]]>