NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory News and Features
22 Feb 2019, 20:02 UTC
NASA's Curiosity rover is busy making new discoveries on Mars. The rover has been climbing Mount Sharp since 2014 and recently reached a clay region that may offer new clues about the ancient Martian environment's potential to support life. Curiosity encountered a hurdle last Friday, when a hiccup during boot-up interrupted its planned activities and triggered a protective safe mode. The rover was brought out of this mode on Tuesday, Feb. 19, and is otherwise operating normally, having successfully booted up over 30 times without further issues.
After a Reset, Curiosity Is Operating Normally
22 Feb 2019, 20:02 UTC
NASA's Curiosity rover is busy making new discoveries on Mars. The rover has been climbing Mount Sharp since 2014 and recently reached a clay region that may offer new clues about the ancient Martian environment's potential to support life. Curiosity encountered a hurdle last Friday, when a hiccup during boot-up interrupted its planned activities and triggered a protective safe mode. The rover was brought out of this mode on Tuesday, Feb. 19, and is otherwise operating normally, having successfully booted up over 30 times without further issues.
New Horizons
22 Feb 2019, 18:20 UTC
The mission team called it a "stretch goal" – just before closest approach, precisely point the cameras on NASA's New Horizons spacecraft to snap the sharpest possible pics of the Kuiper Belt object nicknamed Ultima Thule, its New Year's flyby target and the farthest object ever explored. Now that New Horizons has sent those stored flyby images back to Earth, the team can enthusiastically confirm that its ambitious goal was met.
New Horizons Spacecraft Returns Its Sharpest Views of Ultima Thule
22 Feb 2019, 18:20 UTC
The mission team called it a "stretch goal" – just before closest approach, precisely point the cameras on NASA's New Horizons spacecraft to snap the sharpest possible pics of the Kuiper Belt object nicknamed Ultima Thule, its New Year's flyby target and the farthest object ever explored. Now that New Horizons has sent those stored flyby images back to Earth, the team can enthusiastically confirm that its ambitious goal was met.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
22 Feb 2019, 15:00 UTC
This picture showcases a gravitational lensing system called SDSS J0928+2031. Astronomers are using NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observations of this type of lensing to research how stars form and evolve in distant galaxies.
Hubble Peers into the Vast Distance
22 Feb 2019, 15:00 UTC
This picture showcases a gravitational lensing system called SDSS J0928+2031. Astronomers are using NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observations of this type of lensing to research how stars form and evolve in distant galaxies.
NASA Breaking News
21 Feb 2019, 20:50 UTC
NASA has selected 12 science and technology demonstration payloads to fly to the Moon as early as the end of this year, dependent upon the availability of commercial landers. These selections represent an early step toward the agency’s long-term scientific study and human exploration of the Moon and, later, Mars.
NASA Selects Experiments for Possible Lunar Flights in 2019
21 Feb 2019, 20:50 UTC
NASA has selected 12 science and technology demonstration payloads to fly to the Moon as early as the end of this year, dependent upon the availability of commercial landers. These selections represent an early step toward the agency’s long-term scientific study and human exploration of the Moon and, later, Mars.
Most Recent News
- 23 Feb 2019
- 22 Feb 2019
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21:00 UTC
NASA Awards Support Services Contract for Exploration Ground System...
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After a Reset, Curiosity Is Operating Normally
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NASA Renames Facility in Honor of ‘Hidden Figure’ Katherine Johnson
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Condensed matter theorist Chong Wang joins Faculty
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Hubble Peers into the Vast Distance
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Beyond Pluto: The Hunt for a Massive Planet X
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Week in images
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Western Sicily
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Earth from Space
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NASA Administrator Statement on Israeli Moon Mission
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[release] Hayabusa2 Latest Status, the Successful First Touchdown
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21:00 UTC
- 21 Feb 2019
Blogs
AmericaSpace
22 Feb 2019, 20:05 UTC
The Falcon 9 rocket which launched last night’s SpaceX mission performed beautifully on its third flight, delivering Indonesia’s PSN-6 satellite “Nusantara Satu” to orbit, along with a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) microsat and – most notably – deploying a moonlander developed by Israel’s SpaceIL organization.
Last Night’s Falcon 9 Will Fly One More Time, Exploding Mid-Air in Crew Dragon Abort Test
22 Feb 2019, 20:05 UTC
The Falcon 9 rocket which launched last night’s SpaceX mission performed beautifully on its third flight, delivering Indonesia’s PSN-6 satellite “Nusantara Satu” to orbit, along with a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) microsat and – most notably – deploying a moonlander developed by Israel’s SpaceIL organization.
Centauri Dreams
22 Feb 2019, 18:28 UTC
Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 is a project worth investigating. Using a database drawn from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 is probing the cosmos at infrared wavelengths. Volunteers search the WISE data in a ‘citizen science’ effort that has already discovered more than 1,000 likely brown dwarfs. Now we have news of an intriguing white dwarf showing apparently multiple rings of gas and dust.
A White Dwarf with Puzzling Rings
22 Feb 2019, 18:28 UTC
Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 is a project worth investigating. Using a database drawn from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 is probing the cosmos at infrared wavelengths. Volunteers search the WISE data in a ‘citizen science’ effort that has already discovered more than 1,000 likely brown dwarfs. Now we have news of an intriguing white dwarf showing apparently multiple rings of gas and dust.
Bad Astronomy
22 Feb 2019, 14:00 UTC
Here's a fun thing about galaxies: Sometimes they collide. It's hard to imagine such a colossal event, a cataclysm on a scale a million trillion kilometers across. When it happens, the gravity of each galaxy grapples with the other, distorting their shapes, drawing out tens-of-thousands-of-light-years-long streamers of gas and stars, stretching toward each others like the yearning of a lover's arms.
Prelude to galactic catastrophe
22 Feb 2019, 14:00 UTC
Here's a fun thing about galaxies: Sometimes they collide. It's hard to imagine such a colossal event, a cataclysm on a scale a million trillion kilometers across. When it happens, the gravity of each galaxy grapples with the other, distorting their shapes, drawing out tens-of-thousands-of-light-years-long streamers of gas and stars, stretching toward each others like the yearning of a lover's arms.
Scientific American
22 Feb 2019, 12:00 UTC
Orange skies, icy dunes and methane clouds—no, it’s not some post-apocalyptic picture of Earth. It’s what Saturn’s moon Titan might look like to explorers. While it doesn’t sound like paradise, scientists, including my colleagues in chemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder, think Titan has enough in common with Earth that it’s worth studying. But is there life on Titan? Right now, we can’t say for sure.
Could a Space Helicopter Find Life on Saturn's Moon Titan?
22 Feb 2019, 12:00 UTC
Orange skies, icy dunes and methane clouds—no, it’s not some post-apocalyptic picture of Earth. It’s what Saturn’s moon Titan might look like to explorers. While it doesn’t sound like paradise, scientists, including my colleagues in chemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder, think Titan has enough in common with Earth that it’s worth studying. But is there life on Titan? Right now, we can’t say for sure.
Universe Today
22 Feb 2019, 05:01 UTC
Billions of years ago, Mars was likely a much warmer and wetter place than the cold, dry, barren world we see today. Whether there was life there or not remains an open question. But there’s a massive, growing wall of evidence showing that Mars may have had the necessary conditions for life in the past, including at least one system of river valley networks.
Signs that Ancient Rivers Flowed Across the Surface of Mars, Billions of Years Ago
22 Feb 2019, 05:01 UTC
Billions of years ago, Mars was likely a much warmer and wetter place than the cold, dry, barren world we see today. Whether there was life there or not remains an open question. But there’s a massive, growing wall of evidence showing that Mars may have had the necessary conditions for life in the past, including at least one system of river valley networks.
Most Recent Blogs
- 23 Feb 2019
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08:01 UTC
On Its Maiden Flight, India's SSLV Will Carry Two Defense Satellite...
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06:49 UTC
Space Adventures Hopes for Fruitful Cooperation with Roscosmos
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Night Log 2019-02-22
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Brazil’s Carajás Mines
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NASA and SpaceX Agree Demo-1 is Go for March 2
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NASA gives 'go' for SpaceX Crew Dragon to fly test flight to space ...
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'Go' for DM-1
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Firefly Aerospace gets a Florida launch site
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NASA, SpaceX and a test dummy are ready for Dragon 2’s first trip t...
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NASA, SpaceX complete Crew Dragon flight readiness review
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Space transport roundup – Feb.22.2019
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00:36 UTC
NASA Space Day to Share Accomplishments, Opportunities at Texas Cap...
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SpaceX FRR And Friendly Ghosts From Apollo
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Firefly Aerospace begins operations at Cape Canaveral Spaceport
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NASA Clears SpaceX to Launch Crew Dragon ‘Demo-1’ on March 2
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Toni Myers, Who Turned Astronauts Into Filmmakers, Dies at 75
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08:01 UTC
- 22 Feb 2019
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23:42 UTC
Meet WFIRST, The Space Telescope with the Power of 100 Hubbles
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23:42 UTC
First U.S. rocket supporting a Moon landing since Apollo 17
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Inside Story: Master Bond
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New International Moon/Mars Mission Launched at HI-SEAS Habitat
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SOFIA Uncovers Clues to the Evolution of Universe and Search for Li...
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That Moment When You Become An Astronaut
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Virgin Galactic’s Beth Moses Talks About “Indescribable” Flight Abo...
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NASA gives go-ahead for SpaceX commercial crew test flight
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Firefly Aerospace Launches Partnership to Build & Launch Rockets on...
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Ultimate Ultima: New Horizons team shares sharpest view of space sn...
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Japanese probe lands on asteroid to capture sample
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SpaceX gains FRR green light for DM-1 mission to the ISS
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Demo-1 Flight Readiness Concludes, Press Conference Tonight
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Young Advocates Set Their Eyes on Tackling Light Pollution
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What’s the Weather Like on Mars? Ask InSight Lander
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21:28 UTC
Trump Signs Space Policy Directive 4 in Step to Create Space Force
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Demo-1 Flight Readiness Concludes
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New Ultima Thule Photos Were Made in a Blur
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Japanese Spacecraft To Shoot Bullet At Asteroid This Week
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Air Force Awards $739 Million Launch Service Contracts
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VSS Unity Again Reaches Space – But This Time with Three People on ...
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Say Hello to Hippocamp! The New Moon Discovered at Neptune, Which C...
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Virgin Galactic stages second piloted spaceflight
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Video of Today’s SpaceShipTwo Powered Flight
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SpaceShipTwo Flies to Highest Altitude with 3 People Aboard
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Virgin Galactic sets new milestones on second flight to edge of spa...
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Virgin Galactic Rocket Plane Reaches Edge of Space
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Last Night’s Falcon 9 Will Fly One More Time, Exploding Mid-Air in ...
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February 25 – March 3, 2019 / Vol 38, No 8 / Hawai`i Island, USA
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The Oldest and Coldest White Dwarf Ever Found has Bizarre Dust Ring...
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New Horizons Spacecraft Returns Its Sharpest Views of Ultima Thule
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Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Reaches Higher into Sub-Orbit
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19:00 UTC
Video: “Space to Ground” ISS report – Feb.22.2019
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19:00 UTC
Virgin Galactic reaches space again – this time with a passenger
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23:42 UTC
