Clik here to view.
Moon’s Inner Crust Almost Completely Pulverized
This image shows a highly porous crust on the lunar surface, a consequence of fractures generated by billions of years of impact cratering. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ IPGP From looking at the Moon’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Herschel Spacecraft Won’t “Bomb” the Moon, But GRAIL Will
Artist concept of Ebb and Flow, the two GRAIL spacecraft in orbit of the Moon. Credit: NASA The Herschel space telescope is slated to be decommissioned next March as the observatory’s supply of...
View ArticleOne Spacecraft Captures Another in Lunar Orbit
This is awesome! It is the first footage of one orbiting robotic spacecraft taken by another orbiting robotic spacecraft at Earth’s moon. “Flow,” one of two satellites making up NASA’s Gravity...
View ArticleApollo’s Final Footsteps, 40 years later
Will there come a time when we on Earth can look up at the Moon and know that people are living there permanently? 40 years ago today, humans left the Moon for the last time during our visits during...
View ArticleClik here to view.
NASA Looks Towards Next Mission to the Moon
NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) Observatory sits beside a radio frequency antenna inside an enclosure that blocks external static to detect electromagnetic emissions....
View ArticleClik here to view.
End of Mission: GRAIL Spacecraft Impact a Mountain on the Moon
The planned path of the GRAIL spacecrafts’ final orbit. Credit: NASA “So long, Ebb and Flow, and we thank you,” said GRAIL project manager David Lehman of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory after the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Kepler Spacecraft Back in Action After Reaction Wheel Problem
Artist's concept of Kepler in action. NASA/Kepler mission/Wendy Stenzel. There has been some concern about the Kepler spacecraft after one of the devices that provide the ability for super-precise...
View ArticleFly Over a Pristine Lunar Crater
Linné crater on the Moon is one of the youngest, most well-preserved lunar impact craters. This cone-shaped crater thought to be less than 10 million years old – a mere whippersnapper when it comes to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Continuing the Landsat Mission: New Satellite Launches to Space
An Atlas-V rocket with the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) spacecraft onboard is seen as it launches on Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Credit: NASA NASA launched...
View ArticleStunning Compilation of the Solar Dynamic Observatory’s Observations
Three years ago today, (February 11, 2010) I was standing at Kennedy Space Center watching the launch of the Solar Dynamics Observatory. The launch was spectacular, and included a unique effect as the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
No Glory: NASA Releases Findings from Taurus XL Rocket Failure
Artist concept of the Glory spacecraft in Earth orbit. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center NASA has released the findings from a panel that investigated the 2011 crash of the Glory spacecraft...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tito Wants to Send Married Couple on Mars Flyby Mission
An artist’s concept of how the spacecraft for the Inspiration Mars Foundation’s “Mission for America” might be configured. Credit: Inspiration Mars. Millionaire and space tourist Dennis Tito announced...
View ArticleMAVEN’s Magnetometer Will Look Back in Time
The next mission to the Red Planet, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) will be the first spacecraft ever to make direct measurements of the Martian atmosphere. MAVEN will carry eight...
View ArticleSolar Spacecraft Gets a Little Loopy
Twice a year, the Solar Dynamics Observatory performs a 360-degree roll about the axis on which it points toward the Sun. This produces some unique views, but the rolls are necessary to help calibrate...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Sun Blasts Out Two CME’s Towards Mercury
the Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) captured this series of four images of a coronal mass ejection (CME) escaping the sun on the morning of April 25, 2013. The images show the CME from 5:24 a.m....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Buzz Aldrin is on a Mission (to Mars), Part 1
Moonwalker and space visionary, Buzz Aldrin. Credit: National Geographic. Buzz Aldrin, celebrated Apollo astronaut and an outspoken champion for the pursuit of space exploration has written a new book...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Podcast: Death of a Spacecraft
The Spirit Mars Exploration Rover ‘died’ in 2010. Credit: NASA In the end, everything dies, even plucky space robots. Today we examine the last days of a series of missions. How do spacecraft tend to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Another Exoplanet Hunting Mission Ends: CoRoT Spacecraft Can’t be Recovered
The COROT spacecraft. Credits: CNES/D. Ducros More bad news on the exoplanet-hunting front: While the final fate of the Kepler spacecraft remains unknown, the CoRoT (Convection, Rotation and Planetary...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Podcast: The Spacecraft That Wouldn’t Die
The Solar Max Spacecraft. Credit: NASA. In our previous episode, week we explored the various ways spacecraft can die. But this week, we explore the spacecraft (and the scientists) who never give up,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Where’s the Best Place To Drill for History on Mars?
The process of selecting a site for NASA’s next landing on Mars, planned for September 2016, has narrowed to four semifinalist sites located close together in the Elysium Planitia region of Mars. The...
View Article