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NASA@ My Library and Partners Engage Millions in Eclipse Training and Preparation
The Space Science Institute, with funding from the NASA Science Mission Directorate and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, provided unprecedented training, support, and supplies to 15,000 libraries in the U.S. and territories in support of public engagement during the 2023…
Mapping the Red Planet with the Power of Open Science
Mars rovers can only make exciting new discoveries thanks to human scientists making careful decisions about their next stop. The Mars 2020 mission is aimed at exploring the geology of Jezero Crater and seeking signs of ancient microbial life on…
NASA’s Mars Odyssey Captures Huge Volcano, Nears 100,000 Orbits
The 23-year-old orbiter is taking images that offer horizon-wide views of the Red Planet similar to what astronauts aboard the International Space Station see over Earth. NASA’s longest-lived Mars robot is about to mark a new milestone on June 30:…
Alphabet Soup: NASA’s GOLD Finds Surprising C, X Shapes in Atmosphere
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…
Detective Work Enables Perseverance Team to Revive SHERLOC Instrument
After six months of effort, an instrument that helps the Mars rover look for potential signs of ancient microbial life has come back online. The SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) instrument aboard NASA’s…
Surprising Phosphate Finding in NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample
Scientists have eagerly awaited the opportunity to dig into the 4.3-ounce (121.6-gram) pristine asteroid Bennu sample collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer) mission since it was delivered to Earth last fall. They…
NASA’s Juno Gets a Close-Up Look at Lava Lakes on Jupiter’s Moon Io
Infrared imagery from the solar-powered spacecraft heats up the discussion on the inner workings of Jupiter’s hottest moon. New findings from NASA’s Juno probe provide a fuller picture of how widespread the lava lakes are on Jupiter’s moon Io and…
NASA Selects Participating Scientists to Join ESA’s Hera Mission
NASA has selected 12 participating scientists to join ESA’s (European Space Agency) Hera mission, which is scheduled to launch in October 2024. Hera will study the binary asteroid system Didymos, including the moonlet Dimorphos, which was impacted by NASA’s DART…
Why Scientists Are Intrigued by Air in NASA’s Mars Sample Tubes
Tucked away with each rock and soil sample collected by the agency’s Perseverance rover is a potential boon for atmospheric scientists. Atmospheric scientists get a little more excited with every rock core NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover seals in its titanium…
Perseverance Finds Popcorn on Planet Mars
After months of driving, Perseverance has finally arrived at ‘Bright Angel’, discovering oddly textured rock unlike any the rover has seen before.