Science News
Paydirt at 8-Year-Old Mars Rover's 'New Landing Site'
May 4, 2012
A report in the May 4 edition of the journal Science details discoveries Opportunity made in its first four months at the rim of Endeavour Crater, including key findings reported at a geophysics conference in late 2011.
Catch a Glimpse of Halley's Comet Debris -- Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower
May 4, 2012
Each spring as Earth passes through the debris trail from Halley's Comet (1P/Halley), the cosmic bits burn up in our atmosphere and result in the annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower. This year the peak will occur on the night of May 5 and into the morning of May 6, with meteor rates of about 40-60 meteors per hour under ideal conditions.
HuScience Nugget: Lightning Signature Could Help Reveal the Solar System's Originsbble Sees the Eye of the Storm in Galaxy Cluster
May 4, 2012
As lightning flashes, it creates low frequency waves that circle Earth, a phenomenon known as Schumann Resonance, which tells scientists what kinds of atoms exist in a planet's atmosphere.
Perigee "Super Moon" On May 5-6
May 2, 2012
Science@NASA Headline News — 2012
Another "super-Moon" is in the offing. The perigee full Moon of May 5-6 will be as much as 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full moons of 2012.
Cassini to Probe Enceladus Gravity, Take Pictures
May 2, 2012
NASA's Cassini spacecraft will be flying within about 46 miles (74 kilometers) of Saturn's moon Enceladus on Wednesday, May 2, aiming primarily to learn more about the moon's internal structure. The flyby is the third part of a trilogy of flybys -- the other two took place on April 28, 2010, and Nov. 30, 2010 -- for Cassini's radio science experiment.
NASA's ER-2 Completes MABEL Validation Deployment
May 2, 2012
The flight, ground and science team that supported the MABEL laser altimeter validation flights over Greenland gathered by NASA's ER-2 for a group photo before pilot Stu Broce (in pressure suit) took the aircraft aloft on its return flight from Keflavik, Iceland to Palmdale, Calif. April 27.
NASA Langley Aircraft Joins Operation IceBridge
April 30, 2012
A NASA research airplane took wing today for Greenland, where it is joining an extensive airborne survey of Earth's polar ice.
100 Days and Counting to NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover Landing 04.27.12
April 30, 2012
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 its appointment with the Martian surface. At that moment, the mission has about 119 million miles (191 million kilometers) to go and is closing at a speed of 13,000 mph (21,000 kilometers per hour).
NASA's Spitzer Finds Galaxy With Split Personality
April 25, 2012
The infrared vision of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed that the Sombrero galaxy -- named after its appearance in visible light to a wide-brimmed hat -- is in fact two galaxies in one.
Fireball Over California/Nevada
April 25, 2012
A bright ball of light traveling east to west was seen over the skies of central/northern California Sunday morning, April 22. The former space rock-turned-flaming-meteor entered Earth's atmosphere around 8 a.m. PDT. Reports of the fireball have come in from as far north as Sacramento, Calif. and as far east as North Las Vegas, Nev.