Scientists have known that the giant plume of ice grains and water vapor spewing from Saturn’s moon Enceladus is rich with organic compounds, some of which are important for life as we know it. Now, scientists analyzing data from NASA’s Cassini mission are taking the evidence for habitability a step further: They’ve found strong confirmation of hydrogen cyanide, a molecule that is key to the…
NASA’s Tech Demo Streams First Video From Deep Space via Laser
December 22, 2023
NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment beamed an ultra-high definition streaming video on Dec. 11 from a record-setting 19 million miles away (31 million kilometers, or about 80 times the Earth-Moon distance). The milestone is part of a NASA technology…
As the Arctic Warms, Its Waters Are Emitting Carbon
December 22, 2023
When it comes to influencing climate change, the world’s smallest ocean punches above its weight. It’s been estimated that the cold waters of the Arctic absorb as much as 180 million metric tons of carbon per year – more than three times what New York City emits…
NASA’s EMIT mission has created the first comprehensive maps of the world’s mineral dust-source regions, providing precise locations of 10 key minerals based on how they reflect and absorb light. When winds loft these substances into the air, they either cool or warm the atmosphere and Earth’s surface, depending on their composition. Understanding their abundance around the globe will help…
NASA Helps Study One of the World’s Most Diverse Ecosystems
December 9, 2023
An international team of researchers spent October and November 2023 in the field studying one of the world’s most biologically diverse areas – South Africa’s Greater Cape Floristic Region. As part of the effort, researchers used NASA airborne and space-based…
Students Create Elaborate Homemade Machines for JPL Competition
December 9, 2023
Some 250 students hauled homemade machines they’d spent weeks honing to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on Friday, Dec. 8, for the 24th annual JPL Invention Challenge.
The rules for the creative engineering competition change every year, but the…
NASA’s Psyche Delivers First Images and Other Data
December 6, 2023
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This mosaic of a star field in the constellation Pisces was made from “first light” images acquired Dec. 4 by both of the cameras on NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. Use the slider to view the star field with and without star names labeled. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is on a roll. In the eight weeks since it left Earth on Oct.
NASA Orbiter Snaps Stunning Views of Mars Horizon
November 29, 2023
Astronauts often react with awe when they see the curvature of the Earth below the International Space Station. Now Mars scientists are getting a taste of what that’s like, thanks to NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter, which completed its 22nd year at the Red Planet last…
NASA Uses Two Worlds to Test Future Mars Helicopter Designs
November 23, 2023
For the first time in history, two planets have been home to testing future aircraft designs. On this world, a new rotor that could be used with next-generation Mars helicopters was recently tested at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, spinning at…
NASA Mission Excels at Spotting Greenhouse Gas Emission Sources
November 18, 2023
More than a year after first detecting methane plumes from its perch aboard the International Space Station, data from NASA’s EMIT instrument is now being used to identify point-source emissions of greenhouse gases with a proficiency that has surprised even its designers.
Short for Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation, EMIT was launched in July 2022 to map 10 key minerals on the…
