NASA

Fowl play: Turkey turmoil at NASA center in California

by

A flock of wild turkeys has gotten a little too interested in space exploration, so a NASA facility is helping the hefty birds explore a nice reserve instead. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California just south of San Francisco covers some 500 acres and hosts scientists working on topics from exoplanets to flight technology — … Read more

NASA Says Tonga Eruption Sent Up Highest Ash Plumes Ever Captured by Satellite

by

When a volcano in Tonga erupted on January 15, it gave satellites their first glimpse at a plume of volcanic ash shooting into the mesosphere, the third layer of Earth’s atmosphere.   According to NASA, the Tonga event was the largest volcanic eruption since satellites began monitoring our planet. As the Pacific volcano shot a burst of ash … Read more

NASA opens Nighttime Precision Landing Challenge to help future moon missions

by

NASA wants your help to safely land future lunar spacecraft in the dark, including permanently shadowed craters that may be icy. The agency’s new Nighttime Precision Landing Challenge No. 1 plans to award as many as three prizes of up to $650,000 each. The challenge asks applicants to create sensors able to detect hazards from … Read more

NASA Eyes Electric Car Tech for Future Moon Rovers

by

Of the many “firsts” from NASA’s Apollo program of lunar exploration, one often overlooked is that the Apollo missions included the first—and so far only—times that humans have driven on another world. Presaging today’s eco-conscious market for carbon-neutral transportation, Apollo’s battery-powered lunar roving vehicles were all-electric as well. Astronaut David Scott, who was the first … Read more

US Could Get a Century’s Worth of Sea Level Rise in Just 3 Decades, Report Warns

by

A new federal report with up-to-date projections for all states and territories predicts sea levels in the United States will rise more than three times as fast as they did last century.   According to new lines of data, the average sea level along the nation’s coastline could increase by 0.3 meters (or a foot) … Read more

Historic sea level rise predicted by NASA and government task force

by

As climate change continues to progress, so will its effects. In a new collaborative report, NASA and other U.S. government agencies have found that sea levels will rise up to a foot by 2050.  The report, which comes from a sea level rise task force that includes a number of government agencies including NASA as … Read more

NASA probe snaps stunning photos of crescent Jupiter and its moon Ganymede

by

Data captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft is revealing incredible new images of Jupiter and its moon Ganymede. In a blog post on Monday (Feb. 14), Juno mission team members shared images of a huge crater on Ganymede as well as a backlit picture of Jupiter that the spacecraft captured during its dips in and out … Read more

This Is The James Webb Space Telescope’s First-Ever Photograph of a Star

by

Star light, star bright, the James Webb Space Telescope has seen its first star (though it wasn’t quite tonight) – and even taken a selfie, NASA announced Friday. The steps are part of the months-long process of aligning the observatory’s enormous golden mirror that astronomers hope will begin unraveling the mysteries of the early Universe … Read more

NASA space telescope spots most powerful light ever seen on Jupiter, helps solve 30-year-old mystery

by

Jupiter’s southern hemisphere, as seen by NASA’s Juno spacecraft. In a new study, NASA’s NuSTAR space telescope spots the highest-energy light from Jupiter. (Image credit: Enhanced image by Kevin M. Gill (CC-BY) based on images provided courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS ) NASA has detected the most energetic light ever seen on Jupiter and, in the process, … Read more

NASA to unveil 1st images from James Webb Space Telescope today. Here’s where to find them.

by

NASA will unveil the first-ever images from the James Webb Space Telescope on today (Feb. 11) and you’ll be able to see them as they debut online. But don’t expect a dazzling view. The first images captured by Webb, the largest telescope ever flown in space, will be released today at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 … Read more