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SpaceX launches Space Force's X-37B space plane on 8th mystery mission (video)

The latest mission of the U.S. Space Force’s mysterious X-37B space plane is underway. The robotic X-37B lifted off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida tonight (Aug. 21) at 11:50 p.m. EDT (0350 GMT on Aug. 22). The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth as planned 8.5 minutes later, touching down at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station…
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'Devil Comet' contains 'strongest evidence yet' that comets delivered water to Earth

A “devil” comet’s water is strikingly similar to the water on Earth, researchers have discovered. The finding supports the idea that water was brought to our planet through comet impacts, helping set the stage for life to evolve, the team reported Aug. 8 in the journal Nature Astronomy. “Our new results provide the strongest evidence yet that at least some Halley-type…
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NASA’s Webb Reveals Long-Studied Star Is Actually Twins

Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory through launch, Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument also revealed jets of gas flowing into space from the twin stars. Scientists recently got a big surprise from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope when they turned the…
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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 include first-time insights into the volcanic processes at work there. These results come courtesy of Juno’s Jovian Infrared Auroral…
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Mapping the Red Planet With the Power of Open Science

Combining images from orbit with images from the surface, a JPL-developed tool allows researchers to zoom in to see individual boulders and zoom out to see all of Mars. Mars rovers can only make exciting new discoveries thanks to human scientists making careful…
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NASA Studies Find Previously Unknown Loss of Antarctic Ice

New research on Antarctica, including the first map of iceberg calving, doubles the previous estimates of loss from ice shelves and details how the continent is changing. The greatest uncertainty in forecasting global sea level rise is how Antarctica’s ice loss…
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NASA Data on Plant ‘Sweating’ Could Help Predict Wildfire Severity

A new study uses data from the ECOSTRESS instrument aboard the space station to better understand why some parts of a wildfire burn more intensely than others. Even in drought-stricken California, not all areas face the same degree of wildfire risk. A recent study featuring data from NASA’s ECOSTRESS mission found relationships between the intensity of a wildfire and the water stress in…
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