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NASA Returns to Arctic Studying Summer Sea Ice Melt

5 min read

What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic, and a new NASA mission is helping improve data modeling and increasing our understanding of Earth’s rapidly changing climate. Changing ice, ocean, and atmospheric conditions in the northernmost part of…

Article7 hours ago
ICON, shown in this artist’s concept, studied the frontiers of space, the dynamic zone high in our atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above.

NASA’s ICON Mission Ends with Several Ionospheric Breakthroughs

5 min read

After contributing to many important findings on the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space — an area where space weather can interfere with both satellites and communications signals — NASA’s ICON (Ionospheric Connection Explorer) mission has come to an end.…

Article2 days ago
This is a still of a data visualization of global carbon dioxide that orbits Earth from a distance.

Watch Carbon Dioxide Move Through Earth’s Atmosphere

5 min read

What we’re looking at This global map shows concentrations of carbon dioxide as the gas moved through Earth’s atmosphere from January through March 2020, driven by wind patterns and atmospheric circulation.  Because of the model’s high resolution, you can zoom…

Article3 days ago

NASA-Funded Studies Explain How Climate Is Changing Earth’s Rotation

6 min read

Researchers used more than 120 years of data to decipher how melting ice, dwindling groundwater, and rising seas are nudging the planet’s spin axis and lengthening days. Days on Earth are growing slightly longer, and that change is accelerating. The…

Article1 week ago
A photp showing everal participants in NASA's Space Apps Challenge.

Registration Opens for the 2024 NASA International Space Apps Challenge

3 min read

NASA invites innovators, technologists, storytellers, and problem solvers to register for the 2024 NASA Space Apps Challenge, the largest annual global hackathon.

Article1 week ago
This image is an animated version of the Aura satellite in orbit. The satellite, seen centered in the image, is made up of silver and gold box-like shapes and instruments. Spanning out to the right of the satellite is a long sheet of solar panels. In the background of the image at the bottom is a portion of Earth seen with clouds and a blue haze surrounding it. The top of the background is the deep black of space, with a cluster of green colored stars to the left.

NASA Celebrates 20 Years of Earth-Observing Aura Satellite

4 min read

A few of the many highlights from the last 20 years since Aura Launched.

Article1 week ago

Surfing NASA’s Internet of Animals: Satellites Study Ocean Wildlife

5 min read

Anchoring the boat in a sandbar, research scientist Morgan Gilmour steps into the shallows and is immediately surrounded by sharks. The warm waters around the tropical island act as a reef shark nursery, and these baby biters are curious about…

Article2 weeks ago

NASA’s ECOSTRESS Maps Burn Risk Across Phoenix Streets

3 min read

Roads and sidewalks in some areas get so hot that skin contact could result in second-degree burns. Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California have mapped scorching pavement in Phoenix where contact with skin — from a fall,…

Article3 weeks ago
In the background, the bottom half of the image is filled with a portion of Earth. The top half is the very dark blue of space. Separating the two are bands of glowing greens and red, depicting the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere. In the foreground, a satellite. The satellite has two rectangular wing-like structures jutting out from the right and left of a silver rectangular box. On the top are 3 large white dishes.

Alphabet Soup: NASA’s GOLD Finds Surprising C, X Shapes in Atmosphere

5 min read

Who knew Earth’s upper atmosphere was like alphabet soup? NASA’s Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission has revealed unexpected C- and X-shaped formations in an electrified layer of gas high above our heads called the ionosphere. While…

Article4 weeks ago

The 1998 Florida Firestorm and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

5 min read

East central Florida’s natural environment and climate have shaped, and delayed, Kennedy Space Center launch operations since the 1960s. Torrential pop-up thunderstorms, Atlantic hurricanes, roasting heat, and other climatic phenomena, including lightning and fire, repeatedly hampered mission timelines and created…

Article1 month ago