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NASA reports International Space Station Scientists study Glow in the Dark Plants

May 7, 2013 |

Written by Dr. Tony Phillips
Science at NASA

Washington, D.C. – The world is changing.  As greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere, global temperatures are on the rise. Sea levels inch upward as polar ice retreats. Crops are growing in new places.

The world is changing.  The question is, can life change with it?

A batch of genetically engineered plants orbiting Earth on board the International Space Station (ISS) may have something to say about this.

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NASA’s reports Astronomers have found Green Galaxy churning out Stars

May 5, 2013 |

Written by Whitney Clavin
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – Astronomers have spotted the “greenest” of galaxies, one that converts fuel into stars with almost 100-percent efficiency.

The findings come from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer in the French Alps.

“This galaxy is remarkably efficient,” said Jim Geach of McGill University in Canada, lead author of a new study appearing in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. “It’s converting its gas supply into new stars at the maximum rate thought possible.”

The tiny red spot in this image is one of the most efficient star-making galaxies ever observed, converting gas into stars at the maximum possible rate. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI/IRAM)

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NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft discovers Plasma changes at Saturn

May 3, 2013 |

Written by Jia-Rui Cook
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – Researchers working with data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft have discovered one way the bubble of charged particles around Saturn — known as the magnetosphere — changes with the planet’s seasons.

The finding provides an important clue for solving a riddle about the planet’s naturally occurring radio signal. The results might also help scientists better understand variations in Earth’s magnetosphere and Van Allen radiation belts, which affect a variety of activities at Earth, ranging from space flight safety to satellite and cell phone communications.

This is an artist’s concept of the Saturnian plasma sheet based on data from Cassini magnetospheric imaging instrument. It shows Saturn’s embedded “ring current,” an invisible ring of energetic ions trapped in the planet’s magnetic field. (Image credit: NASA/JPL/JHUAPL)

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NASA newest robot GROVER heads to Greenland to explore Ice Sheet

May 2, 2013 |

Written by Steve Cole
NASA Headquarters

Washington, D.C. – NASA’s newest scientific rover is set for testing May 3rd through June 8th in the highest part of Greenland.

The robot known as GROVER, which stands for both Greenland Rover and Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research, will roam the frigid landscape collecting measurements to help scientists better understand changes in the massive ice sheet.

A prototype of GROVER, minus its solar panels, was tested in January 2012 at a ski resort in Idaho. The laptop in the picture is for testing purposes only and is not mounted on the final prototype. (Credit: Gabriel Trisca, Boise State University)

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NASA reports Herschel Space Telescope completes mission

May 1, 2013 |

Written by Whitney Clavin
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – 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.

Herschel spacecraft artist’s concept. (Copyright ESA/AOES Medialab)

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NASA’s Cassini spacecraft spots huge Hurricane at Saturn’s North Pole

April 30, 2013 |

Written by Dr. Tony Phillips
Science at NASA

Washington, D.C. – 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.

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NASA Hubble Space Telescope questions answered by Jennifer Wiseman

April 28, 2013 |

Greenbelt, MD – NASA’s Jennifer Wiseman is the senior project scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, where the mission is managed.

The following questions and answers were provided in April 2013 about the history and the status of the Hubble.

Jennifer Wiseman is a senior astrophysicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where she serves as the Senior Project Scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope. (Credit: NASA)

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NASA’s Cassini spacecraft sees Meteors crash into Saturn’s Rings

April 27, 2013 |

Written by Jia-Rui C. Cook
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – 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.

Five images of Saturn’s rings, taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft between 2009 and 2012, show clouds of material ejected from impacts of small objects into the rings. (Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/Cornell)

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NASA says Saturn to make it’s closest approach to Earth April 28th

April 26, 2013 |

Written by Dr. Tony Phillips
Science at NASA

Washington, D.C. – The Solar System is a beautiful place filled with wonders that NASA space probes are only beginning to discover. There’s a tendency, though, for people to become indifferent; every year Hubble, Cassini, MESSENGER and other spacecraft beam back gigabytes of jaw-dropping images. After a while, you don’t have any more “gasps” left in you.

Well, maybe just one more. Inhale deeply, because at the end of April, Saturn will put on a breathtaking display.

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NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope observes Comet ISON approach

April 25, 2013 |

Written by Dr. Tony Phillips
Science at NASA

Washington, D.C. – Later this year, Comet ISON is expected to become a naked-eye object when it skims through the atmosphere of the sun. The Hubble Space Telescope has just obtained a sneak preview.

Hubble photographed ISON on April 10th.  At the time, the comet was 386 million miles from the sun (394 million miles from Earth), just inside the orbit of Jupiter.

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