As our closest cosmic neighbor, and the Earth’s only natural satellite, the moon has long been a symbol of mystery and intrigue. Spacecraft have been studying the moon for nearly 50 years, and lunar exploration has been an important benchmark in our nation’s history. But, there is still much to learn, and many more questions to answer. Currently, NASA’s only …Continue Reading
In what appears to be seriously big news from a team of NASA-funded researchers, scientists have found evidence that some building blocks of DNA–including two of the four nucleobases that make up our genetic code–found in meteorites were created in space, lending credence to the idea that life is not homegrown but was seeded here by asteroids, meteorites, or comets …Continue Reading
A Jupiter-sized gas planet is being described by Astronomers as the darkest known extrasolar planet (exoplanet). Known as TrES-2b, astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) have concluded that the gas giant reflects less than one percent of the sunlight falling on it, making it blacker than coal or any planet or moon in …Continue Reading
Scientists have found evidence of flowing salt water on mars, which has again sparked the debate of possible alien life on the red planet. The images that were sent from NASA’s orbiter show briny salt water falling from rocky slopes. “NASA’s Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form …Continue Reading
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has recently predicted that a massive solar storm could create global disruptions in power grids, satellite communication, airline communication and even in GPS systems. With Solar activity expected to peak at around 2013, the sun is entering a very active time, and these solar flares previously described will be common in the next …Continue Reading
According to scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the University of Bern in Switzerland, two moons merged in a very slow collision more than 4 billion years ago to create the one that lights up the night sky. The theory says a collision would explain the vast differences in the lunar landscape. The moon’s far side has …Continue Reading
The US space agency says its Dawn probe should go into orbit around the Asteroid Vesta early on Saturday The robotic satellite will be spending a year at the 530km-wide body before moving on to the “dwarf planet” Ceres.
Space shuttle Atlantis displayed its power and majesty one final time, rocketing into space from Kennedy Space Center at 11:26 a.m. ET Friday morning despite threatening weather — marking the final launch after 30 years for NASA’s storied fleet of shuttles. Seven million pounds of thrust from the shuttle’s rocket booster carried the vehicle into orbit one last time, at …Continue Reading
Record snowfall, killer tornadoes, devastating floods: There’s no doubt about it. Since Dec. 2010, the weather in the USA has been positively wild. But why? Some recent news reports have attributed the phenomenon to an extreme “La Niña,” a band of cold water stretching across the Pacific Ocean with global repercussions for climate and weather. But NASA climatologist Bill Patzert …Continue Reading
The European Space Agency says it has completed what it calls the largest digital camera ever built for a space mission – a one billion pixel array camera that will help create a three-dimensional picture of the Milky Way Galaxy. Read more here