Tags: NASA

Opportunity Rover Finds Strange Rocks on Mars

SPACE For those of you that follow the movement of Opportunity, one of NASA's Mars rovers studying the surface of the Red planet, you may have noticed that it has stopped to smell the roses or, in this case, rocks. The rover has taken a break from its other investigative activities to closely examine some oddly shaped rocks that have never before been seen on the surface.

Star Sets Galactic Speed Record

While most stars hang out in the Milky Way for millions or even billions of years in orbit of the center of the galaxy, the star known as US 708 is marching to its own drum.

VIDEO—NASA’s Satellite Space Fleet Path Patterns Revealed

While it may be a groggy Monday morning, after most of the world lost an hour this weekend in the readjustment of our clocks, a new animation from NASA reveals that you may be luckier than their satellites who are on the clock 24 hours a day. While you may know that many of the satellites like Aqua, Aura and CloudSat pass overhead everyday at 1:30pm, no matter where you are, you may not have given their movements much thought or ever fully realized exactly how many satellites are working for the space agency. But in celebration of NASA’s newest achievement in having their Dawn satellite reach the dwarf planet Ceres, their giving us a new view of what orbiters do here at home.

Curiosity Rover Set to Begin Using Its Arm Again

According to NASA researchers in charge of Curiosity, the rover is set to most likely resume the use of its arm movements next week although investigations into the cause of the sporadic short-circuit are still ongoing.

What's Next for Dawn at the Dwarf Planet Ceres

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has completed its eight-year journey to the dwarf planet Ceres, but what lies ahead for the history making spacecraft while it orbits the planet that was never meant to be?

Mars Once Had More Water Than the Arctic Ocean

Scientists believe that the Red planet once had more water on its surface than is found today in Earth's Arctic Ocean. However, over time Mars has lost 87% of this water to space.

Dawn Spacecraft Arrives to Ceres—Hear What NASA Has to Say About the Mission

After more than seven years of drifting in space, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has finally achieved its primary mission of entering orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres. Becoming the first ever mission to achieve orbit around a dwarf planet, mission controllers with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory received confirmation this morning that the small orbiter had finally reached its destination.

Military Satellite Explodes in Space

An aging United States military weather satellite dubbed Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Flight 13 (DMSP-F13) exploded in orbit on February 3. The explosion occurred after the 20-year-old satellite experienced a sudden spike in temperature, producing at least 43 pieces of debris.

Short Circuit Leaves Curiosity with One Arm

NASA has announced that the Mars Curiosity Rover now just has one arm, due to a short circuit that happened while the rover was attempting to retrieve a sample.

NASA Seeks to Improve GPS Communications with Study of Ionosphere

When you don't know how to get to where you are going, chances are you pull out a smartphone or other type of device with a Global Positioning System (GPS) to help guide you where you need to go. What you may not know is that the signals traveling between the GPS satellites and your devices can get distorted thanks to the Earth's upper atmosphere.

NASA Receives Proposals for More Solar System Exploration

NASA has received dozens of new proposals for robotic missions for launch in 2021 to explore different parts of the solar system. Scientists have submitted concepts for sending probes to the moon, asteroids, comets and other planets for a chance to win $450 million in federal funding for their mission.

Curiosity Mars Rover Seeks Answers in the Rocks of Pahrump Hills

Finding some interesting chemistry in the rocks of Mars, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover decided to investigate on Telegraph Peak earlier this week, boring into the Martian surface in search of answers. Though the rock powder poses new questions to the chemical composition of the planet, the car-sized Curiosity rover is far from reaching its final destination.

Should NASA and The International Space Station Be Worried About the Vapors?

Should the vapors be cause for concern? Well it certainly has been a question that has crossed NASA and the astronauts’ aboard the International Space Station minds. Since the snafu on Wednesday, Feb. 25, when a routine spacewalk led to water leaking into space station flight engineer Terry Virts’ helmet, the team has been buzzing with news of whether or not they will be cleared to walk again this weekend.

As Dawn Spacecraft Approaches, A Second Bright Light Emerges from Ceres

To better answer Piazzi’s original questions, and some new ones that have arisen in the more than two centuries since it was first discovered, researchers with NASA developed the Dawn Spacecraft mission which was originally launched in 2007. After a successful 14-month-orbit around Vesta in the asteroid belt, Dawn is now moving onto the next dwarf planet and will arrive to Ceres within the next week. And the first question that the Dawn mission would like to answer is a glaring one, visible on the surface.

Researchers Find How Acidified Oceans Have Become with Help of NASA and ESA Satellites

While many argue that the fight against greenhouse gases is long over, climatologists and ecologists continue to urge that the battle continues on. And while the culprits are all the same, the problems with these remnants of burning fossil fuels are taking on new problems. A topic of major research has developed from these changes and now researchers are quantify just how it will impact our world in the years to come.

Ash, Auroras or Clouds—What Could this Strange Martian Plume Be?

Covered round-the-clock by rovers and orbiters, researchers know a lot about Mars and its vast desolate plains. Yet, some mysteries remain. Of course, researchers with major space agencies continue to look for evidence of life and of conditions hospitable to support possible manned missions, but even more so researchers are interested in the anomalies above the surface.

VIDEO—How Antiquated Technology May Reveal the Secrets of Titan’s Seas

Beneath the glaring surface and choppy waves, many secrets are hidden here in the oceans of Earth. The vast depths hide species unknown to men, lost treasures at the seafloor and perhaps even a cryptid or two. And while terrestrial studies of planets may have been interesting in the 20th century, space agencies are looking to aquatic surveys which may one day reveal the origins of life even farther out in space.

Valentine’s Day In Space—A Promise to Better Heart Health

When better than Valentine’s Day to discuss matters of the heart? As February happens to be American Heart Month, dedicated to heart health and the physical fitness of everyone around the world, it seems that NASA and astronauts aboard the International Space Station are taking the promise of heart health to new heights. A new year, a new crew, and a new attitude has come aboard the International Space Station, and this time they’re vowing to keep their hearts just as healthy as their minds and our thirst for knowledge in space exploration.

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