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Space

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Stay informed with the latest space news. Explore the wonders of space, from astronomical discoveries to space exploration missions.

Water-Watching Satellite Monitors Warming Ocean off California Coast

September 20, 2023

Warm ocean waters from the developing El Niño are shifting north along coastlines in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Along the coast of California, these warm waters are interacting with a persistent marine heat wave that recently influenced the development of Hurricane Hilary. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite is able to spot the movement of these warm ocean waters in…

Venus on Earth: NASA’s VERITAS Science Team Studies Volcanic Iceland

September 20, 2023

With its crushing atmospheric pressure, clouds of sulfuric acid, and searing surface temperature, Venus is an especially challenging place to study. But scientists know that observing its surface can provide key insights into the habitability and evolution of rocky planets…

NASA’s Curiosity Reaches Mars Ridge Where Water Left Debris Pileup

September 19, 2023

Three billion years ago, amid one of the last wet periods on Mars, powerful debris flows carried mud and boulders down the side of a hulking mountain. The debris spread into a fan that was later eroded by wind into a towering ridge, preserving an intriguing record of the Red…

NASA to Discuss Optical Communications Demo Riding With Psyche

September 16, 2023

NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 20, to discuss the agency’s first test of high-bandwidth optical communications beyond the Moon. The Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) technology demonstration is launching aboard the Psyche spacecraft Thursday, Oct. 5. Audio of the call will stream live on NASA’s website. The following participants will discuss the…

NASA-Built Greenhouse Gas Detector Moves Closer to Launch

September 15, 2023

A state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer, which will measure the greenhouse gases methane and carbon dioxide from space, moved closer to launch this month after being delivered to a clean room at Planet Labs PBC (Planet) in San Francisco. Designed and built by NASA’s Jet…

NASA Scientists Test New Tool for Tracking Algal Blooms

September 8, 2023

By the time they were over, a series of massive algal blooms along the west coast of Florida in 2020 would be linked to some 2,000 tons of dead marine life around Tampa Bay. The human costs were stark, too, including a double-digit increase in asthma cases in Sarasota and…

NASA’s Psyche Mission on Track for Liftoff Next Month

September 7, 2023

The spacecraft’s solar arrays are folded like an envelope into their stowed position. Xenon gas – fuel for the journey to the asteroid belt – is loaded. All four thrusters have passed their final tests. Engineers have confirmed the massive high-gain antenna is set to transmit data. The software is tested and ready. The science instruments – a multispectral imager, magnetometer, and…

NASA’s Oxygen-Generating Experiment MOXIE Completes Mars Mission

September 7, 2023

When the first astronauts land on Mars, they may have the descendants of a microwave-oven-size device to thank for the air they breathe and the rocket propellant that gets them home. That device, called MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment), has…

NASA to Discuss Psyche Asteroid Mission, Optical Communications Demo

September 2, 2023

NASA will host a news conference at 1 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept. 6, to discuss the agency’s upcoming Psyche mission, which will be its first to visit a metal-rich asteroid. Riding along with Psyche is a laser transceiver for NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC)…

NASA, Partners Study Ancient Life in Australia to Inform Mars Search

August 25, 2023

In June 2023, NASA’s Mars Exploration Program leaders joined their counterparts from the Australian Space Agency, ESA (European Space Agency), and the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) on a field expedition to visit some of the oldest convincing evidence of life on Earth. “This science expedition was a great opportunity for NASA to work…