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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 four seconds apart by one of the rover’s Navcams. Much weaker and generally smaller than Earth’s tornadoes, dust devils…
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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…
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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 include the first launch from the surface of another planet, as well as the first in-orbit rendezvous at another planet. Mars…
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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 like our own. So to get a global perspective of Venus while staying well above its hellish atmosphere, NASA’s VERITAS (Venus…
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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…
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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 Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, this science instrument will be part of an effort led by the nonprofit Carbon…
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