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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…
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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…
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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 Pinellas counties, and estimated losses of around $1 billion across economic sectors from tourism to fisheries. Earth-orbiting…
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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…
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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) technology demonstration. The media briefing will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, Facebook, X, YouTube, and on…
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NASA Maps Key Heat Wave Differences in Southern California

August 23, 2023
Like much of the planet, Southern California is expected to experience more heat waves in the future due to Earth’s changing climate. And some of these will feel increasingly humid, as long-term forecasts call for muggy spells more typically associated with Florida or…
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New Video Series Reveals What Drives NASA’s Psyche Mission Team

August 22, 2023
What motivates someone to labor for years to help build something that will be rocketed into space, never to be seen again on our planet? For the scientists, engineers, and technicians behind NASA’s Psyche mission to a metal-rich asteroid, the answers are wide-ranging but share a common thread: a passion to explore the unknown. That inspiration is highlighted in the new “Behind the…
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