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 Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:03:13 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[ NASA Radar Studies Continue in Central America, Hispaniola ]]> NASA / JPL science UAVSAR pod is carried on the underbelly of NASA's Gulfstream-III research aircraft

NASA radar imaging flights over Central America, Haiti and the Dominican Republic are in the second week of a three-week campaign.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Extends Cassini's Tour of Saturn, Continuing International Cooperation for World Class Science ]]> NASA / JPL science Saturn equinox 2009

NASA will extend the international Cassini-Huygens mission to explore Saturn and its moons to 2017.



]]> <![CDATA[ A Little Telescope Goes a Long Way ]]> NASA / JPL science NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility

NASA astronomers have successfully demonstrated that a David of a telescope can tackle Goliath-size questions in the quest to study Earth-like planets around other stars.



]]> <![CDATA[ JPL Airborne Radar Captures Its First Image of Post-Quake Haiti ]]> NASA / JPL science False-color composite image of the Port-au-Prince, Haiti region

JPL's Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) captured this false-color composite image of the city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and the surrounding region.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's Aquarius Gets a Presidential Visit ]]> NASA / JPL science Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (center in blue) was briefed Jan. 20.

Argentina's president got an up-close look at NASA's Aquarius instrument at the Argentine facility where it's being integrated with the SAC-D spacecraft.



]]> <![CDATA[ Prometheus: Over Easy ]]> NASA / JPL science Prometheus as seen by Cassini

Looking for all intents and purposes like a celestial egg after a session in Saturn's skillet, Prometheus displayed its pockmarked, irregular surface for NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Jan. 27, 2010.



]]> <![CDATA[ New NASA Web Site Launches Kids on Mission to Save Our Planet ]]> NASA / JPL science artist design for Climate Kids website

Climate change can be a daunting topic for most adults to grasp, let alone kids.



]]> <![CDATA[ Route 66: Cassini's Next Look at Titan ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist concept of Titan 66 Flyby A long look at Titan

Sixteen days after last visiting Saturn's largest moon, NASA's Cassini spacecraft returns for another look-see of the cloud-shrouded moon - this time from on high.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Airborne Radar Studies Haiti Earthquake Faults ]]> NASA / JPL science UAVSAR airborne radar will create 3-D maps of earthquake faults over wide swaths of Haiti

NASA has added a series of overflights of quake faults in Haiti and the Dominican Republic to a previously scheduled three-week airborne radar campaign to Central America.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's Mars Rover Spirit Starts a New Chapter ]]> NASA / JPL science Special-effects Spirit at permanent home

After six years of unprecedented exploration of the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit no longer will be a fully mobile robot.



]]> <![CDATA[ Groovy Hills Rising from Titan Surface ]]> NASA / JPL science New wrinkles on Titan

Hills with a wrinkly radial pattern stand out in a new radar image captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Dec. 28, 2009.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's WISE Eye Spies Near-Earth Asteroid ]]> NASA / JPL science near-Earth asteroid discovered by NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, has spotted its first never-before-seen near-Earth asteroid, the first of hundreds it is expected to find during its mission to map the whole sky in infrared light.



]]> <![CDATA[ January Listening Period Ends with No Word from Phoenix Mars Lander ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist concept of Mars Odyssey.

NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter has completed all 30 relay overflights of the Phoenix landing site that were scheduled for Jan. 18 to 21, and heard nothing from the lander.



]]> <![CDATA[ Rover Gives NASA an 'Opportunity' to View Interior of Mars ]]> NASA / JPL science True-color view of Marquette Island

NASA's Mars exploration rover Opportunity is allowing scientists to get a glimpse deep inside Mars.



]]> <![CDATA[ Spirit Switches to Backward Drives ]]> NASA / JPL science This two-frame animation aids evaluation of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during a drive on the rover's 2,147th Martian day, or sol (Jan. 16, 2010).

The rover team has begun driving Spirit backward as next technique for attempting to extricate the rover from the sand trap where it is embedded.



]]> <![CDATA[ Study Links Spring Ozone Over North America With Emissions Abroad ]]> NASA / JPL science WP-3D Orion aircraft

A new study links ozone levels above western North America in springtime to pollution from abroad. JPL lidar and balloon data contributed to the findings.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Orbiter Listening for Phoenix Lander Hears Nothing ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist concept of Mars Odyssey.

NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter has completed 11 overflights, listening for the Phoenix Mars Lander on Jan. 19 and 20, without hearing anything from the lander.



]]> <![CDATA[ JPL Scientist Receives American Meteorological Society Honor ]]> NASA / JPL science JPL senior research scientist Tim Liu

JPL research scientist Tim Liu has been honored by the American Meteorological Society for his space-based research on Earth's climate.



]]> <![CDATA[ Public Invited To Pick Pixels on Mars ]]> NASA / JPL science Students, researchers and others can view Mars maps using a new online tool, called HiWish.

Scientists Taking Suggestions on Where to Image the Red Planet Using NASA Satellite



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's ASTER Instrument Observes Haiti Quake Aftermath ]]> NASA / JPL science Port-au-Prince, Haiti, area, Jan. 14, 2010

Landslides from the Jan. 12 Haiti earthquake are clearly visible in a new simulated natural-color image from an instrument on NASA’s Terra spacecraft.



]]> <![CDATA[ JPL Scientist Honored by President Obama With Early Career Award ]]> NASA / JPL science JPL Oceanographer Josh Willis (center) receives the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Holdren (left) and NASA Associate Administrator Lori Garver (right

JPL Oceanographer Josh Willis was among 100 outstanding early career scientists honored by President Obama Jan. 13 at the White House.



]]> <![CDATA[ Fault Responsible for Haiti Quake Slices Island's Topography ]]> NASA / JPL science Port-au-Prince, Haiti

The fault responsible for the Jan. 12 magnitude 7.0 earthquake that devastated Haiti is visible in images created using NASA radar topography data acquired in 2000.



]]> <![CDATA[ Land Ho! Huygens Plunged to Titan Surface 5 Years Ago ]]> NASA / JPL science artist concept showing Huygens probe descent

The Huygens probe parachuted down to the surface of Saturn's haze-shrouded moon Titan exactly five years ago on Jan. 14, 2005, providing data that scientists on NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn are still building upon today.



]]> <![CDATA[ Infrared Hunt Begins: WISE Starts All-Sky Survey ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist's concept of WISE mapping the infrared sky

NASA's Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) began its survey of the infrared sky today.



]]> <![CDATA[ Resumed Mars Orbiter Observations Yield Stunning Views ]]> NASA / JPL science Dune symmetry inside Martian crater

Dunes of sand-sized materials have been trapped on the floors of many Martian craters. This view shows dunes inside a crater in Noachis Terra, west of the giant Hellas impact basin in Mars' southern hemisphere.



]]> <![CDATA[ Just a Few More Approaches to Try for Extrication ]]> NASA / JPL science An artist's concept portrays a NASA Mars Exploration Rover on the surface of Mars.

The list of remaining maneuvers being considered for extricating Spirit is becoming shorter.



]]> <![CDATA[ Asteroid To Fly By Earth Wednesday Is a Natural ]]> NASA / JPL science Orbital diagram depicts the trajectory of asteroid 2010 AL30 during its flyby of Earth in the early morning hours of Jan. 13.

Asteroid 2010 AL30 will fly safely past Earth on Jan. 13. There are those who say it may be a used rocket stage. Not so fast says NASA's Near-Earth Object Office.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's New Museum Grant Allies will make the Universe Accessible ]]> NASA / JPL science

Interactive museum exhibits about climate change, Earth science, and missions beyond Earth are among the projects NASA has selected to receive agency funding.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini Returns to Southern Hemisphere of Titan ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist's concept of Cassini's Jan. 12, 2009, flyby of Titan

NASA'S Cassini spacecraft will return to Titan's southern hemisphere on a flyby tomorrow, Jan. 12, plunging to within about 1,050 kilometers (about 670 miles) of the hazy moon's surface.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA to Check for Unlikely Winter Survival of Mars Lander ]]> NASA / JPL science Phoenix Lander amid disappearing spring ice

Beginning Jan. 18, NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter will listen for possible, though improbable, radio transmissions from the Phoenix Mars Lander, which completed five months of studying an arctic Martian site in November 2008.



]]> <![CDATA[ Martian Landform Observations Fill Special Journal Issue ]]> NASA / JPL science This view shows color variations in bright layered deposits on a plateau near Juventae Chasma in the Valles Marineris region of Mars.

Martian landforms shaped by winds, water, lava flow, seasonal icing and other forces are analyzed in 21 journal reports based on data from a camera orbiting Mars.



]]> <![CDATA[ As The Crust Turns: Cassini Data Show Enceladus in Motion ]]> NASA / JPL science NASA's Cassini captured this stunning mosaic as the spacecraft sped away from this geologically active moon of Saturn

Blobs of warm ice that periodically rise to the surface and churn the icy crust on Saturn's moon Enceladus explain the quirky behavior of the moon's south polar region.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's WISE Eye Spies First Glimpse of the Starry Sky ]]> NASA / JPL science Infrared snapshot of a region in the constellation Carina near the Milky Way taken shortly after NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) ejected its cover.

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, has captured its first look at the starry sky that it will soon begin surveying in infrared light.



]]> <![CDATA[ JPL Mourns Passing of Former Director Lew Allen Jr. ]]> NASA / JPL science Former Director Lew Allen Jr.

A former director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Lew Allen Jr., passed away Monday night, Jan. 4, at the age of 84, in Potomac Falls, Va.



]]> <![CDATA[ Galaxy Exposes Its Dusty Inner Workings in New Spitzer Image ]]> NASA / JPL science infrared portrait of the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has captured an action-packed picture of the nearby Small Magellanic Cloud, a small galaxy that looks like a wispy cloud when seen from Earth.



]]> <![CDATA[ Centuries-Old Star Mystery Coming to a Close ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist's concept of Epsilon Aurigae.

For almost two centuries, humans have looked up at a bright star called Epsilon Aurigae and watched with their own eyes as it seemed to disappear into the night sky.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's Kepler Space Telescope Discovers Five Exoplanets ]]> NASA / JPL science Planet Size

NASA's Kepler space telescope, designed to find Earth-size planets in the habitable zone of sun-like stars, has discovered its first five new exoplanets, or planets beyond our solar system.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's Mars Rover has Uncertain Future as Sixth Anniversary Nears ]]> NASA / JPL science Spirit rover

NASA's Mars rover Spirit will mark six years of unprecedented science exploration and inspiration for the American public on Sunday.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Chooses Three Finalists for Future Space Science Mission to Venus, an Asteroid or the Moon ]]> NASA / JPL science The moon, Venus, and an asteroid

NASA has selected three proposals as candidates for the agency's next space venture to another celestial body in our solar system.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini Spacecraft to Monitor North Pole on Titan ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist concept of NASA's Cassini spacecraft flying by the north polar region of Saturn's moon Titan on Dec. 27.

Though there are no plans to investigate whether Saturn's moon Titan has a Santa Claus, NASA's Cassini will zoom close to Titan's north pole this weekend.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini Holiday Movies Showcase Dance of Saturn's Moons ]]> NASA / JPL science Saturn's moons spin around the planet

Like sugar plum fairies in "The Nutcracker," the moons of Saturn performed a celestial ballet before the eyes of NASA's Cassini spacecraft.



]]> <![CDATA[ Keck Telescopes Gaze into Young Star's 'Life Zone.' ]]> NASA / JPL science Planets form around a young star in this artist's concept. Using the Keck Interferometer in Hawaii, astronomers have probed the structure of a dust disk around MWC 419 to within 50 million miles of the star. Credit: David A. Hardy/www.astroart.org

An astronomy team that includes JPL scientists has probed the inner structure of a dust disk around a star using the Keck Interferometer.



]]> <![CDATA[ As the World Churns ]]> NASA / JPL science Illustration of Earth core data

NASA Research Confirms Complex Motions of Earth's Churning, Burning Liquid Core



]]> <![CDATA[ Right-Front and Right-Rear Wheels Sit Out Latest Drive ]]> NASA / JPL science An artist's concept portrays a NASA Mars Exploration Rover on the surface of Mars.

Spirit's drive on Sol 2120 (Dec. 19, 2009) included commands for using all six wheels.



]]> <![CDATA[ Prepping WISE to Pop Its Lens Cap ]]> NASA / JPL science Infrared image of WISE launch

Engineers are getting ready to eject the cover on NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, which launched from Vandengerg Air Force Base, Calif., on Dec. 14.



]]> <![CDATA[ AcrimSat Celebrates 10 Years of Measuring the Sun's Energy ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist's concept of AcrimSat

A JPL satellite launched 10 years ago this week continues to improve climate change predictions by tracking how much of the sun's energy reaches Earth.



]]> <![CDATA[ California, Nevada Lakes Warming Rapidly ]]> NASA / JPL science California's Mono Lake

A new JPL study examines the impact recent variability in climate is having on the surface temperatures of large lakes in California and Nevada.



]]> <![CDATA[ Right-Front Wheel Rotations ]]> NASA / JPL science three-frame animation of Spirit

Spirit's right-front wheel, which had stopped operating in March 2006, revolved with apparently normal motion during the first three of four driving segments on Sol 2117 (Wednesday, Dec. 16) but stopped early in the fourth segment of the drive.



]]> <![CDATA[ New Results from a Terra-ific Decade in Orbit ]]> NASA / JPL science Guatemala's Lake Atitlan

At the age of 10, NASA's flagship Terra spacecraft continues to enrich our understanding of Earth's ocean, land and atmosphere.



]]> <![CDATA[ Dark Heart of the Eagle ]]> NASA / JPL science The constellation Aquila

The Herschel Space Observatory, a European Space Agency mission with important NASA/JPL participation, has revealed a surprising amount of activity in the Eagle nebula.



]]> <![CDATA[ Glint of Sunlight Confirms Liquid in Northern Lake District of Titan ]]> NASA / JPL science This image shows the first flash of sunlight reflected off a lake on Saturn's moon Titan.

NASA's Cassini Spacecraft has captured the first flash of sunlight reflected off a lake on Saturn's moon Titan, confirming the presence of liquid on the part of the moon dotted with many large, lake-shaped basins.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Resumes Observations ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist concept of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Researchers are receiving new science data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter after the spacecraft's six science instruments resumed observations today.



]]> <![CDATA[ Unexpected Wheel-Test Results ]]> NASA / JPL science Spirit's right-front wheel

Diagnostic tests were run on Spirit's right-rear wheel and right-front wheel on Sol 2113 (Dec. 12, 2009).



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's WISE Eye on the Universe Begins All-Sky Survey Mission ]]> NASA / JPL science WISE launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, lifted off over the Pacific Ocean this morning on its way to map the entire sky in infrared light.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Outlines Recent Breakthroughs in Greenhouse Gas Research ]]> NASA / JPL science Distribution of mid-tropospheric carbon dioxide

Researchers studying carbon dioxide, a leading greenhouse gas and a key driver of global climate change, now have a new tool at their disposal.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Data Reveal Major Groundwater Loss in California ]]> NASA / JPL science The twin Grace satellites monitor tiny month-to-month changes in Earth's gravity.

NASA data show California's primary agricultural area and major mountain water source lost nearly enough groundwater since fall 2003 to fill America's largest reservoir.



]]> <![CDATA[ WISE has launched! ]]> NASA / JPL science The tower around the Delta II rocket carrying WISE has been rolled back

WISE has launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.



]]> <![CDATA[ Climate Change Rains Down on JPL Undergrads ]]> NASA / JPL science

Two JPL college interns delving into California's rainfall records have uncovered some interesting findings that may be linked to climate change.



]]> <![CDATA[ Magnetic Dance of Titan and Saturn To Be Main Attraction during Flyby ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist's concept of Cassini's Titan flyby

When it flies by Saturn's largest moon, Titan, this weekend, NASA's Cassini spacecraft will study the interactions between the magnetic field of Saturn and Titan.



]]> <![CDATA[ WISE Launch Rescheduled for December 14 ]]> NASA / JPL science WISE in the fairing mate

The launch of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is now rescheduled for Dec. 14.



]]> <![CDATA[ Rear Wheel Trouble Continues ]]> NASA / JPL science An artist's concept of a NASA Mars Exploration Rover

Results of diagnostic tests on Spirit's right-rear wheel on Sol 2109 (Dec. 8, 2009) continue to indicate a troubled wheel, which may leave the rover with only four operable wheels.



]]> <![CDATA[ WISE Launch Delayed 24 Hours ]]> NASA / JPL science WISE in the fairing mate

Liftoff of a Delta II rocket and its NASA payload, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), has been delayed 24 hours.



]]> <![CDATA[ Reddish Dust and Ice Migration Darken Saturn's Moon Iapetus ]]> NASA / JPL science Global View of Iapetus' Dichotomy

New views of Saturn's moon Iapetus accompany papers that detail how reddish dust swept up on the moon's orbit around Saturn.



]]> <![CDATA[ Best (Meteor) Shower of 2009 - No Towel Required ]]> NASA / JPL science The Perseid meteor shower

Bundle up and get ready to watch a fiery lightshow stirred up by dead comets in Earth's upper atmosphere during the cold of winter in the dead of night.



]]> <![CDATA[ Spacecraft Out of Safe Mode ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist concept of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter today has been taken out of the precautionary "safe mode" it had been in since August.



]]> <![CDATA[ Further Tests Designed for Rover's Right-Rear Wheel ]]> NASA / JPL science An artist's concept of a NASA Mars Exploration Rover

A series of diagnostic tests on Spirit's right-rear wheel on sols 2104 and 2105 (Dec. 3 and 4) investigated stalls that occurred on Sol 2099 (Nov. 28) and earlier.



]]> <![CDATA[ Watch Live as Kids Test Their Inventions in Annual Challenge ]]> NASA / JPL science Images from JPL's Invention Challenge

Tune in to see middle- and high-school teams showcase their inventions -- cardboard bridges capable of carrying up to 235 pounds (107 kilograms) -- in this year's Invention Challenge hosted by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.



]]> <![CDATA[ WISE Launch Scheduled for Dec. 11 ]]> NASA / JPL science WISE in the fairing mate

Launch of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is scheduled for Dec. 11.



]]> <![CDATA[ Spitzer Unveils Biggest Milky Way View at Adler Planetarium ]]> NASA / JPL science The world's largest image of our Milky Way galaxy

The world's largest image of our Milky Way galaxy, taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, went on display this week in Chicago.



]]> <![CDATA[ Another Stall of Right-Rear Wheel Ends Drive ]]> NASA / JPL science NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit

Spirit's right-rear wheel stalled again on Sol 2099 (Nov. 28, 2009) during the first step of a two-step extrication maneuver.



]]> <![CDATA[ Orbiter Puts Itself Into Safe Standby ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist's concept of Odyssey

NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter put itself into a safe standby mode on Saturday, Nov. 28, and the team operating the spacecraft has begun implementing careful steps designed to resume Odyssey's science and relay operations within about a week.



]]> <![CDATA[ WISE Snug in Its Nose Cone ]]> NASA / JPL science WISE in the fairing mate

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer has been wrapped in the outer nose cone, or "fairing," that will protect it during its scheduled Dec. 9 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.



]]> <![CDATA[ Scientists Explain Puzzling Lake Asymmetry on Titan ]]> NASA / JPL science The northern and southern hemispheres of Titan

Researchers suggest that the eccentricity of Saturn's orbit around the sun may be responsible for the unusually uneven distribution of lakes over the polar regions of the planet's largest moon, Titan.



]]> <![CDATA[ Gullies and Flow Features on Crater Wall ]]> NASA / JPL science Gullies and flow features on crater wall on Mars

This image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a sample of the variety and complexity of processes that may occur on the walls of Martian craters, well after the impact crater formed.



]]> <![CDATA[ No Wheel Stall in Diagnostic Drive ]]> NASA / JPL science NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit

On Sol 2095 (Tuesday, Nov. 24), Spirit performed a set of diagnostic actions related to a stall of the right-rear wheel on the previous drive, three days earlier.



]]> <![CDATA[ Prometheus Plays Tug of War with One of Saturn's Rings ]]> NASA / JPL science Saturn and its moon Prometheus

The diminutive moon Prometheus whips gossamer ice particles out of Saturn's F ring in this image taken by the Cassini spacecraft on Aug. 21, 2009.



]]> <![CDATA[ New Report Provides Update on Recent Climate Changes ]]> NASA / JPL science View of the Earth as seen by Apollo 17

JPL researcher Eric Rignot contributed to "The Copenhagen Diagnosis," a new report that synthesizes pertinent climate research over the past four years.



]]> <![CDATA[ Team Plans Uplink of Protective Files ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist concept of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

The team operating NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter plans to uplink protective files to the spacecraft next week as one step toward resuming the orbiter's research and relay activities.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Assessing New Roles for Ailing QuikScat Satellite ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist's concept of QuikScat

NASA mission managers are assessing options for future operations of the venerable QuikScat satellite following the age-related failure of a mechanism that spins the scatterometer antenna.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini Captures Ghostly Dance Of Saturn's Northern Lights ]]> NASA / JPL science Cassini Captures Ghostly Dance of Saturn's Northern Lights

In the first video showing the auroras above the northern latitudes of Saturn, Cassini has spotted the tallest known "northern lights" in the solar system, flickering in shape and brightness high above the ringed planet.



]]> <![CDATA[ WISE a Bit Closer to the Sky ]]> NASA / JPL science Wise at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is now perched atop its rocket in preparations for a Dec. 9 liftoff.



]]> <![CDATA[ Spitzer Telescope Observes Baby Brown Dwarf ]]> NASA / JPL science two young brown dwarfs

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has contributed to the discovery of the youngest brown dwarf ever observed -- a finding that, if confirmed, may solve an astronomical mystery about how these cosmic misfits are formed.



]]> <![CDATA[ Free Spirit: Third Extrication Drive Ends With Wheel Stall ]]> NASA / JPL science Free Spirit

Spirit experienced a wheel stall with the right-rear wheel during the second step of a two-step drive on Sol 2092 (Saturday, Nov. 21).



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini Sends Back Images of Enceladus as Winter Nears ]]> NASA / JPL science Unprocessed image from Cassini's Enceladus flyby

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has sailed seamlessly through the Nov. 21 flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus and started transmitting uncalibrated temperature data and images of the rippling terrain.



]]> <![CDATA[ Popular Science and Popular Mechanics Magazines Honor Kepler ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist's concept of Kepler in the distant solar system

NASA's planet-hunting Kepler space telescope has earned the 2009 Best of What's New Grand Award from Popular Science and a 2009 Breakthrough Award from Popular Mechanics.



]]> <![CDATA[ Cassini's Big Sky: The View from the Center of Our Solar System ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist's concept of the bubble of our sun's influence

When NASA's Cassini spacecraft began orbiting Saturn five years ago, a dozen highly-tuned science instruments set to work surveying, sniffing, analyzing and scrutinizing the Saturnian system.



]]> <![CDATA[ Before Darkness Falls: Cassini to Scan Enceladus on Winter's Cusp ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist's concept of Cassini's Nov. 21, 2009, Enceladus flyby

NASA's Cassini spacecraft will fly by Saturn's moon Enceladus this weekend for a last peek at the intriguing "tiger stripes" before winter darkness blankets the area for several years.



]]> <![CDATA[ Second Planned Extrication Drive is Straight Ahead Again ]]> NASA / JPL science Spirit photographs her underbelly

Because the first extrication drive for Spirit, on Sol 2088 (Nov. 17), stopped as soon as it began due to an exceeded tilt limit, the plan for an extrication drive on Sol 2090 (Nov. 19) will essentially be a repeat of the first drive plan, but with improved rover attitude knowledge.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA Provides Venerable Hubble Hardware to Smithsonian ]]> NASA / JPL science WFPC-2 on display at the Smithsonian

Two key instruments from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have a new home in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington after being returned to Earth aboard space shuttle Atlantis last May.



]]> <![CDATA[ Tilt Parameters End First Extrication Drive ]]> NASA / JPL science Spirit photographs her underbelly

The preliminary results from the first extrication drive for Spirit on Sol 2088 (Nov. 17, 2009) indicate the rover stopped less than 1 second after it began, sensing more vehicle lateral tilt than permitted.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's WISE Gets Ready to Survey the Whole Sky ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist's concept of WISE mapping the infrared sky

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is chilled out, sporting a sunshade and getting ready to roll.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA and Microsoft Allow Earthlings to Become Martians ]]> NASA / JPL science NASA and Microsoft Allow Earthlings to Become Martians

NASA and Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Wash., have collaborated to create a Web site for Internet users to advance their knowledge about Mars while having fun at the same time.



]]> <![CDATA[ Dawn Enters Asteroid Belt -- For Good ]]> NASA / JPL science Artist's concept of Dawn

NASA's Dawn spacecraft re-entered our solar system's asteroid belt today, Nov. 13, and this time it will stay there.



]]> <![CDATA[ Ghostly 'Spokes' Puff Out From Saturn's Ring's ]]> NASA / JPL science Ghostly

Massive, bright clouds of tiny ice particles hover above the darkened rings of Saturn in an image captured by the Cassini spacecraft on Sept. 22, 2009, around the time of Saturn's equinox.



]]> <![CDATA[ Rosetta Completes Final Earth Flyby ]]> NASA / JPL science A view of Earth from the Rosetta spacecraft

On its way to a 2014 rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, with JPL instruments on board, flew past Earth today to pick up energy.



]]> <![CDATA[ El Nino Picking Up Steam ]]> NASA / JPL science Satellite image of El Niño picking up steam

The latest image from the U.S./European Jason-2 satellite finds a strong wave of warm water heading toward the Americas, fueling El Niño.



]]> <![CDATA[ Distal Rampart of Crater in Chryse Planitia ]]> NASA / JPL science Distal rampart of crater in Chryse Planitia on Mars

An example of a rampart crater is the ridge in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA to Begin Attempts to Free Sand-Trapped Mars Rover ]]> NASA / JPL science Computer simulation of Spirit's predicament

NASA will begin transmitting commands to its Mars exploration rover Spirit on Monday as part of an escape plan to free the venerable robot from its Martian sand trap.



]]> <![CDATA[ WISE Is Chilling Out ]]> NASA / JPL science WISE surrounded in scaffolding in preparation for freezing its hydrogen

Engineers are busy cooling the science instrument on NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE.



]]> <![CDATA[ NASA's Great Observatories Celebrate International Year of Astronomy ]]> NASA / JPL science NASA's Great Observatories Examine the Galactic Center Region

A never-before-seen view of the turbulent heart of our Milky Way galaxy is being unveiled by NASA today. This event will commemorate the 400 years since Galileo first turned his telescope to the heavens in 1609.



]]>