News & Features
Follow mission news or learn about exciting new discoveries from NASA centers and research partners.
Earth's Early Atmosphere
Dec. 2, 2011
Scientists have reconstructed the atmospheric conditions of the early Earth by studying the oldest minerals on our planet.
That Sparkle in Cassini's Eye
Dec. 2, 2011
NASA's Cassini spacecraft obtains the first-ever synthetic aperture radar images of Saturn's moon Enceladus.
Magnetic Pole Reversal Happens
Dec. 1, 2011
Earth's magnetic field has flipped its polarity many times over the millennia -- but this causes no dramatic effects, and will not lead to problems in 2012.
Grace Helps Monitor U.S. Drought
Dec. 1, 2011
The twin Grace satellites, which JPL developed and manages for NASA, detect small changes in Earth's gravity field caused primarily by the redistribution of water on and beneath the land surface.
Earth's Lightning Waves Leak into Space
Nov. 30, 2011
Lightning bursts create electromagnetic waves that circle around Earth creating a low frequency wave called Schumann resonance.
Growing Knowledge in Space
Nov. 30, 2011
Plants are critical in supporting life on Earth, and with help from an experiment that flew onboard space shuttle Discovery's STS-131 mission, they also could transform living in space.
Fermi Reveals A Cosmic-ray Cocoon
Nov. 30, 2011
The constellation Cygnus hosts one of our galaxy's richest-known stellar construction zones.
ChemCam to Shine a Light on Mars Habitability
Nov. 29, 2011
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) on its way and researchers are preparing for the data it's instruments will return from Mars. Among MSL's instruments is ChemCam, which will use lasers to remotely analyze the elemental composition of Mars's surface.
Measuring the Radiation on Mars
Nov. 23, 2011
Scheduled to launch Nov. 26, 2011, NASA’s next rover mission to Mars includes the SwRI-built Radiation Assessment Detector, one of 10 instruments that will assess past and present habitability of the Red Planet.
Habitable Does not Mean 'Earth-Like'
Nov. 23, 2011
Although the number of exoplanets discovered is reaching the thousands, few are "Earth-like" in terms of their suitability for life as we know it.