ScienceDaily: Space Probe News

Mars rover Opportunity examines clay clues in rock

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:06:06 EDT

NASA's senior Mars rover, Opportunity, is driving to a new study area after a dramatic finish to 20 months on "Cape York" with examination of a rock intensely altered by water.

Nine-year-old Mars rover passes 40-year-old record

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:09:09 EDT

While Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt visited Earth's moon for three days in December 1972, they drove their mission's Lunar Roving Vehicle 19.3 nautical miles (22.210 statute miles or 35.744 kilometers). That was the farthest total distance for any NASA vehicle driving on a world other than Earth until yesterday.

NASA's asteroid sample return mission moves into development

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:59:59 EDT

NASA's first mission to sample an asteroid is moving ahead into development and testing in preparation for its launch in 2016.

Galaxy's 'burning ring of fire' is frenetic region of star formation

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:53:53 EDT

Johnny Cash may have preferred this galaxy's burning ring of fire to the one he sang about falling into in his popular song. The "starburst ring" seen at center of a new image in red and yellow hues is not the product of love, as in the song, but is instead a frenetic region of star formation. The galaxy, a spiral beauty called Messier 94, is located about 17 million light-years away.

Asteroid 1998 QE2 to sail past Earth is nine times larger than cruise ship

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:53:53 EDT

On May 31, 2013, asteroid 1998 QE2 will sail serenely past Earth, getting no closer than about 3.6 million miles (5.8 million kilometers), or about 15 times the distance between Earth and the moon. And while QE2 is not of much interest to those astronomers and scientists on the lookout for hazardous asteroids, it is of interest to those who dabble in radar astronomy and have a 230-foot (70-meter) -- or larger -- radar telescope at their disposal.

NASA completes first part of Webb Telescope's 'eye surgery' operation

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:52:52 EDT

Much like the inside of an operating room, in the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., engineers worked meticulously to implant part of the eyes of the James Webb Space Telescope. They scrubbed up and suited up to perform one of the most delicate performances of their lives. That part of the eyes, the MIRI, or Mid-Infrared Instrument, will glimpse the formation of galaxies and see deeper into the universe than ever before.

New craters abound: Mars camera reveals hundreds of impacts each year

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:50:50 EDT

Taking before and after pictures of the Martian terrain, researchers have identified nearly 250 fresh impact craters on the Red Planet. The results provide scientists with a better yardstick to estimate how frequently craters are blasted on Mars, allowing them to assess recently formed features with greater accuracy.

Scientists shape first global topographic map of Saturn's moon Titan

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:39:39 EDT

Scientists have created the first global topographic map of Saturn's moon Titan, giving researchers a valuable tool for learning more about one of the most Earthlike and interesting worlds in the solar system.

Entrepreneur giving space shuttle truss new uses

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:11:11 EDT

A truss design devised to help workers process space shuttles continues to find new uses as a space shuttle engineer-turned-entrepreneur adapts it to everything from a solar-powered electric generator to a mobile cellphone tower.

First X-class solar flares of 2013

Tue, 14 May 2013 08:37:37 EDT

On May 13, 2013, the sun emitted an X2.8-class flare, peaking at 12:05 p.m. EDT. This is the the strongest X-class flare of 2013 so far, surpassing in strength the X1.7-class flare that occurred 14 hours earlier. It is the 16th X-class flare of the current solar cycle and the third-largest flare of that cycle. The second-strongest was an X5.4 event on March 7, 2012. The strongest was an X6.9 on Aug. 9, 2011.

Milky Way black hole snacks on hot gas

Tue, 07 May 2013 20:15:15 EDT

The Herschel space observatory has made detailed observations of surprisingly hot gas that may be orbiting or falling towards the supermassive black hole lurking at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

Telling time on Saturn: Undergraduate student shows how planet's magnetosphere changes with the seasons

Fri, 03 May 2013 09:49:49 EDT

An undergraduate student has discovered that a process occurring in Saturn's magnetosphere is linked to the planet's seasons and changes with them, a finding that helps clarify the length of a Saturn day and could alter our understanding of the Earth's magnetosphere.

The day NASA's Fermi dodged a 1.5-ton bullet

Wed, 01 May 2013 10:12:12 EDT

NASA scientists don't often learn that their spacecraft is at risk of crashing into another satellite. But when Julie McEnery, the project scientist for NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, checked her email on March 29, 2012, she found herself facing this precise situation.

Herschel completes its 'cool' journey in space

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:24:24 EDT

The Herschel observatory, a European space telescope for which NASA helped build instruments and process data, has stopped making observations after running out of liquid coolant as expected. The European Space Agency mission, launched almost four years ago, revealed the universe's "coolest" secrets by observing the frigid side of planet, star and galaxy formation.

NASA probe gets close-up views of large hurricane on Saturn

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:14:14 EDT

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has provided scientists the first close-up, visible-light views of a behemoth hurricane swirling around Saturn's north pole. In high-resolution pictures and video, scientists see the hurricane's eye is about 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) wide, 20 times larger than the average hurricane eye on Earth. Thin, bright clouds at the outer edge of the hurricane are traveling 330 mph(150 meters per second). The hurricane swirls inside a large, mysterious, six-sided weather pattern known as the hexagon.

NASA probe observes meteors colliding with Saturn's rings

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:46:46 EDT

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has provided the first direct evidence of small meteoroids breaking into streams of rubble and crashing into Saturn's rings. These observations make Saturn's rings the only location besides Earth, the moon and Jupiter where scientists and amateur astronomers have been able to observe impacts as they occur. Studying the impact rate of meteoroids from outside the Saturnian system helps scientists understand how different planet systems in our solar system formed.

Jupiter's atmosphere still contains water supplied by the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet impact

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:23:23 EDT

Researchers are reporting Herschel observations of water in Jupiter's stratosphere. It is a clear remnant of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet impact on Jupiter nearly 20 years ago.

NASA successfully launches three smartphone satellites

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:29:29 EDT

Three smartphones destined to become low-cost satellites rode to space April 21, 2013 aboard the maiden flight of Orbital Science Corp.'s Antares rocket from NASA's Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia. The trio of "PhoneSats" is operating in orbit, and may prove to be the lowest-cost satellites ever flown in space. The goal of NASA's PhoneSat mission is to determine whether a consumer-grade smartphone can be used as the main flight avionics of a capable, yet very inexpensive, satellite.

Three super-Earth-size planets found in 'habitable zone'

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:29:29 EDT

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered two new planetary systems that include three super-Earth-size planets in the "habitable zone," the range of distance from a star where the surface temperature of an orbiting planet might be suitable for liquid water. The Kepler-62 system has five planets; 62b, 62c, 62d, 62e and 62f. The Kepler-69 system has two planets; 69b and 69c. Kepler-62e, 62f and 69c are the super-Earth-sized planets.

New Earth-like planets found orbiting a Sun-like star

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:09:09 EDT

A team of scientists has discovered two Earth-like planets in the habitable orbit of a Sun-like star. Using observations gathered by NASA's Kepler Mission, the team found five planets orbiting a Sun-like star called Kepler-62. Four of these planets are so-called super-Earths, larger than our own planet, but smaller than even the smallest ice giant planet in our Solar System. These new super-Earths have radii of 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, and 1.9 times that of Earth. In addition, one of the five was a roughly Mars-sized planet, half the size of Earth.

How to target an asteroid

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:20:20 EDT

Like many of his colleagues at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., Shyam Bhaskaran is working a lot with asteroids these days. And also like many of his colleagues, the deep space navigator devotes a great deal of time to crafting, and contemplating, computer-generated 3-D models of these intriguing nomads of the solar system. But while many of his coworkers are calculating asteroids' past, present and future locations in the cosmos, zapping them with the world's most massive radar dishes, or considering how to rendezvous and perhaps even gently nudge an asteroid into lunar orbit, Bhaskaran thinks about how to collide with one.

For the very first time, two spacecraft will fly in formation with millimeter precision

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 11:42:42 EDT

A new project aims to demonstrate that two satellites can move as one single object with sub-millimeter precision. This configuration will enable the creation of enormous space telescopes with the lens and detector hundreds of meters apart.

Titan's methane: Going, going, soon to be gone?

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:41:41 EDT

By tracking a part of the surface of Saturn's moon Titan over several years, NASA's Cassini mission has found a remarkable longevity to the hydrocarbon lakes on the moon's surface.

NASA-funded asteroid tracking sensor passes key test

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:38:38 EDT

An infrared sensor that could improve NASA's future detecting and tracking of asteroids and comets has passed a critical design test.

Where are the best windows into Europa's interior?

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:34:34 EDT

The surface of Jupiter's moon Europa exposes material churned up from inside the moon and also material resulting from matter and energy coming from above. If you want to learn about the deep saltwater ocean beneath this unusual world's icy shell -- as many people do who are interested in possible extraterrestrial life -- you might target your investigation of the surface somewhere that has more of the up-from-below stuff and less of the down-from-above stuff.

Ice cloud heralds fall at Titan's south pole

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:31:31 EDT

An ice cloud taking shape over Titan's south pole is the latest sign that the change of seasons is setting off a cascade of radical changes in the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon. Made from an unknown ice, this type of cloud has long hung over Titan's north pole, where it is now fading, according to new observations.

NASA Mars Orbiter images may show 1971 Soviet lander

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:33:33 EDT

Hardware from a spacecraft that the Soviet Union landed on Mars in 1971 might appear in images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. While following news about Mars and NASA's Curiosity rover, Russian citizen enthusiasts found four features in a five-year-old image from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that resemble four pieces of hardware from the Soviet Mars 3 mission: the parachute, heat shield, terminal retrorocket and lander. A follow-up image by the orbiter from last month shows the same features.

NASA's asteroid initiative: Robotically capture small near-Earth asteroid and explore it

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:34:34 EDT

NASA's FY2014 budget proposal includes a plan to robotically capture a small near-Earth asteroid and redirect it safely to a stable orbit in the Earth-moon system where astronauts can visit and explore it.

Blame it on the rain (from Saturn's rings): More charged water particles fall than thought

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:23:23 EDT

A new study tracks the "rain" of charged water particles into the atmosphere of Saturn and finds there is more of it and it falls across larger areas of the planet than previously thought. The study, whose observations were funded by NASA and whose analysis was led by the University of Leicester, England, reveals that the rain influences the composition and temperature structure of parts of Saturn's upper atmosphere.

Exposure to space radiation reduces ability of intestinal cells to destroy oncoprotein

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:48:48 EDT

With so much recent interest in space travel, many have asked, is it safe? Two studies funded by NASA help explain why space radiation may increase the risk of colorectal cancer in humans.

NASA selects Explorer investigations for formulation

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 05:52:52 EDT

NASA's Astrophysics Explorer Program has selected two missions for launch in 2017: a planet-hunting satellite and an International Space Station instrument to observe X-rays from stars.

TESS project will launch telescopes to perform full-sky search for transiting exoplanets

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 05:50:50 EDT

NASA has selected the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) project for a planned launch in 2017. The $200 million project will use an array of wide-field cameras to perform an all-sky survey to discover transiting exoplanets, ranging from Earth-sized planets to gas giants, in orbit around the brightest stars in the sun's neighborhood.

Hubble sees light and dust in a nearby starburst galaxy

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:39:39 EDT

The Hubble Space Telescope has taken an image of a small, sparkling hook in the dark sky -- a beautiful object is known as J082354.96+280621.6, or J082354.96 for short. It is a starburst galaxy, so named because of the incredibly (and unusually) high rate of star formation occurring within it.

Asteroid and moon landing technology demonstrated

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 06:42:42 EDT

Last week Astrobotic successfully flew a sensor package designed to guide spacecraft safely to the surface of asteroids, moons, planets, and beyond. The flight occurred on an unmanned helicopter operated by a pilot on the ground. The flights are preparation for demonstration of this capability on a propulsive lander similar to Astrobotic's Griffin.

Rocket powered by nuclear fusion could send humans to Mars

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:52:52 EDT

Scientists are building components of a fusion-powered rocket aimed to clear many of the hurdles that block deep space travel, including long times in transit, exorbitant costs and health risks.

Used parachute on Mars flaps in the wind

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 10:56:56 EDT

Photos from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show how the parachute that helped NASA's Curiosity rover land on Mars last summer has subsequently changed its shape on the ground.

Final MAVEN instrument integrated to spacecraft

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 20:03:03 EDT

An instrument that will measure the composition of Mars' upper atmosphere has been integrated to NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft. MAVEN has a scheduled launch date of Nov. 18.

Rotary valve could help propel craft to Mars one day

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 20:00:00 EDT

A rotary fuel delivery valve just might help us get manned space flights out of our immediate neighborhood one day, and it could have practical terrestrial applications.

Crawler-transporter receives new roller bearing assemblies

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:15:15 EDT

For more than a year, NASA's crawler-transporter (CT) 2 has been undergoing a major tuneup in the Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Recent work has included preparations to install upgraded components that will enable the crawler to carry the greater loads anticipated with the agency's new rocket designed to take astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit for the first time since the early 1970s.

Saturn is like an antiques shop, Cassini suggests; Moons and rings date back to solar system's birth

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 17:01:01 EDT

A new analysis of data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft suggests that Saturn's moons and rings are gently worn vintage goods from around the time of our solar system's birth. Though they are tinted on the surface from recent "pollution," these bodies date back more than 4 billion years. They are from around the time that the planetary bodies in our neighborhood began to form out of the protoplanetary nebula, the cloud of material still orbiting the sun after its ignition as a star.

NASA turns up the heat on construction of the Space Launch System

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:41:41 EDT

Welding engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., have had an extremely busy winter assembling adapters that will connect the Orion spacecraft to a Delta IV rocket for the initial test flight of Orion in 2014. The adapter later will attach Orion to NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), a new heavy-lift rocket managed and in development at the Marshall Center that will enable missions farther into space than ever before. The 2014 Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) will provide engineers with important data about the adapter's performance before it is flown on SLS beginning in 2017.

Measuring Mars: The MAVEN magnetometer

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 19:41:41 EDT

When the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission begins its journey to the Red Planet in 2013, it will carry a sensitive magnetic-field instrument built and tested by a team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Scheduled for launch in late 2013, MAVEN will be the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. The goal of MAVEN is to determine the history of the loss of atmospheric gases to space through time, providing answers about Mars' climate evolution.

SpaceX dragon spacecraft carrying NASA cargo ready for return to Earth

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:51:51 EDT

More than three weeks after arriving at the International Space Station, the Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) Dragon spacecraft is ready for the trip back to Earth, now scheduled for Tuesday, March 26.

LRO's LAMP ultraviolet spectrograph observes mercury and hydrogen in GRAIL impact plumes

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:17:17 EDT

When NASA's twin GRAIL spacecraft made their final descent for impact onto the Moon's surface last December, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's sophisticated payload was in position to observe the effects. As plumes of gas rose from the impacts, the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project aboard LRO detected the presence of mercury and hydrogen and measured their time evolution as the gas rapidly expanded into the vacuum of space at near-escape velocities.

Moon and asteroids share history, NASA scientists find

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 18:52:52 EDT

NASA and international researchers have discovered that Earth's moon has more in common than previously thought with large asteroids roaming our solar system.

SpaceX dragon spacecraft carrying NASA cargo ready for return to Earth

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 19:54:54 EDT

Sun in the way will affect Mars missions in April

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:24:24 EDT

The positions of the planets next month will mean diminished communications between Earth and NASA's spacecraft at Mars. Mars will be passing almost directly behind the sun, from Earth's perspective. The sun can easily disrupt radio transmissions between the two planets during that near-alignment. To prevent an impaired command from reaching an orbiter or rover, mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., are preparing to suspend sending any commands to spacecraft at Mars for weeks in April. Transmissions from Mars to Earth will also be reduced.

Mars Curiosity rover exits 'safe mode'

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:22:22 EDT

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has returned to active status and is on track to resume science investigations, following two days in a precautionary standby status, "safe mode."

NASA's LRO sees GRAIL's explosive farewell

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 20:24:24 EDT

Many spacecraft just fade away, drifting silently through space after their mission is over, but not GRAIL. NASA's twin GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) spacecraft went out in a blaze of glory Dec. 17, 2012, when they were intentionally crashed into a mountain near the moon's north pole.

Goldstone radar snags images of asteroid 2013 ET

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:10:10 EDT

A sequence of radar images of asteroid 2013 ET was obtained on March 10, 2013, by NASA scientists using the 230-foot (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., when the asteroid was about 693,000 miles (1.1 million kilometers) from Earth, which is 2.9 lunar distances.

Curiosity Mars rover sees trend in water presence

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:33:33 EDT

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has seen evidence of water-bearing minerals in rocks near where it had already found clay minerals inside a drilled rock.

NASA's Webb Telescope gets its wings

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:38:38 EDT

A massive backplane that will hold the primary mirror of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope nearly motionless while it peers into space is another step closer to completion with the recent assembly of the support structure's wings.

Panorama from NASA Mars rover shows Mount Sharp

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:33:33 EDT

Rising above the present location of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, higher than any mountain in the 48 contiguous states of the United States, Mount Sharp is featured in new imagery from the rover.

NASA's first laser communication system integrated, ready for launch

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 18:03:03 EDT

A new NASA-developed, laser-based space communication system will enable higher rates of satellite communications similar in capability to high-speed fiber optic networks on Earth.

'Hot spots' ride a merry-go-round on Jupiter

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 18:03:03 EDT

In the swirling canopy of Jupiter's atmosphere, cloudless patches are so exceptional that the big ones get the special name "hot spots." Exactly how these clearings form and why they're only found near the planet's equator have long been mysteries.

Particles and fields package integrated on upcoming Mars-bound spacecraft

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:11:11 EDT

The six science instruments that comprise the Particles and Fields Package that will characterize the solar wind and ionosphere of Mars have been integrated aboard NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN spacecraft. The spacecraft is on track for launch later this year.

Cassini returns images of battered Saturn's moon Rhea

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:41:41 EDT

Following its last close flyby of Saturn's moon Rhea, NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured these raw, unprocessed images of the battered icy moon. They show an ancient, cratered surface bearing the scars of collisions with many space rocks. Scientists are still trying to understand some of the curious features they see in these Rhea images, including a curving, narrow fracture or a graben, which is a block of ground lower than its surroundings and bordered by cliffs on either side. This feature looks remarkably recent, cutting most of the craters it crosses, with only a few small craters superimposed.

Cassini makes last close flyby of Saturnian moon Rhea

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 08:23:23 EST

NASA's Cassini spacecraft will be swooping close to Saturn's moon Rhea on Saturday, March 9, the last close flyby of Rhea in Cassini's mission. The primary purpose will be to probe the internal structure of the moon by measuring the gravitational pull of Rhea against the spacecraft's steady radio link to NASA's Deep Space Network here on Earth. The results will help scientists understand whether the moon is homogeneous all the way through or whether it has differentiated into the layers of core, mantle and crust.

New 3-D reconstructions show buried flood channels on Mars

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:52:52 EST

New maps of the subsurface of Mars show for the first time buried channels below the surface of the red planet. Understanding the source and scale of the young channels present in Elysium Planitia -- an expanse of plains along the equator, and the youngest volcanic region on the planet -- is essential to comprehend recent Martian hydrologic activity and determine if such floods could have induced climate change.

Herschel space observatory to complete its mission soon

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 13:17:17 EST

The Herschel space observatory is expected to exhaust its supply of liquid helium coolant in the coming weeks, after spending more than three years studying the cool universe and surpassing the expectations of the international team of scientists involved.