NASA will provide coverage of the upcoming prelaunch and launch activities for its Psyche mission to a metal-rich asteroid. Launch is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Live launch coverage without commentary will begin at 9:15 a.m. EDT on the NASA Television media channel. The live…
NASA Invites Public to Share in Excitement of Psyche Mission
October 4, 2023
NASA is inviting the public to take part in virtual activities ahead of the launch of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. The Psyche spacecraft will travel about 2.2 billion miles to study a metal-rich asteroid of the same name. The asteroid, which lies in the outer portion of the…
NASA’s Perseverance Captures Dust-Filled Martian Whirlwind
September 30, 2023
The lower portion of a Martian dust devil was captured moving along the western rim of Mars’ Jezero Crater by NASA’s Perseverance rover on Aug. 30, 2023, the 899th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The video, which was sped up 20 times, is composed of 21 frames taken…
NASA-Led Study Pinpoints Areas of New York City Sinking, Rising
September 28, 2023
Parts of the New York City metropolitan area are sinking and rising at different rates due to factors ranging from land-use practices to long-lost glaciers, scientists have found. While the elevation changes seem small – fractions of inches per year – they can enhance or diminish local flood risk linked to sea level rise.
The new study was published Wednesday in Science Advances by a team of…
Historic Wind Tunnel Facility Testing NASA’s Mars Ascent Vehicle Rocket
September 25, 2023
The MAV (Mars Ascent Vehicle) team recently completed wind tunnel testing at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in a facility that has been a critical part of NASA missions going all the way back to the Apollo program.
The same facility that provided valuable testing for…
NASA Releases Independent Review’s Mars Sample Return Report
September 22, 2023
An Independent Review Board (IRB) looked at NASA’s current plans and goals of the first mission to return samples from Mars, and NASA is establishing a team to respond.
In addition to bringing home the first sample collected from Mars, this highly complex mission would…
Autonomous Systems Help NASA’s Perseverance Do More Science on Mars
September 21, 2023
In about a third of the time it would have taken other NASA Mars rovers, Perseverance recently navigated its way through a field of boulders more than 1,700 feet wide (about a half-kilometer). While planners map out the rover’s general routes, Perseverance managed the finer points of navigating the field, nicknamed “Snowdrift Peak,” on its own, courtesy of AutoNav, the self-driving system…
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.
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 Planet’s watery past.
Now, after three attempts, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has reached the ridge…
