Is There Potential for Life on Europa? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 52 – NASA

Is There Potential for Life on Europa? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 52 – NASA

That’s a great question. And it’s a question that NASA will seek to answer with the Europa Clipper spacecraft. Europa is a moon of Jupiter. It’s about the same size as Earth’s Moon, but its surface looks very different. The surface of Europa is covered with a layer of ice, and below that ice, we … Read more

NASA Awards Planetary Defense Space Telescope Launch Services Contract – NASA

NASA Awards Planetary Defense Space Telescope Launch Services Contract – NASA

NASA has selected SpaceX of Starbase, Texas, to provide launch services for the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission, which will detect and observe asteroids and comets that could potentially pose an impact threat to Earth. The firm fixed price launch service task order is being awarded under the indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity NASA Launch Services II … Read more

How Long Does it Take to Get to the Moon… Mars… Jupiter? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 51 – NASA

How Long Does it Take to Get to the Moon… Mars… Jupiter? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 51 – NASA

So how long does it take to get from Earth to the Moon, to Mars or to Jupiter? As with most things in life, the answer is: it depends. During the Apollo program, when NASA sent humans to the Moon, those missions took several days to reach the Moon. The fastest of these was Apollo … Read more

NASA to Brief Media on Asteroid Sample Mission Findings – NASA

NASA to Brief Media on Asteroid Sample Mission Findings – NASA

NASA will brief media at 11 a.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 29, to provide an update on science results from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer) mission, which delivered a sample of asteroid Bennu to Earth in September 2023. Audio of the media call will stream live on the agency’s … Read more

NASA’s Planetary Defenders Head to the Sundance Film Festival – NASA

NASA’s Planetary Defenders Head to the Sundance Film Festival – NASA

Trailer for NASA’s upcoming documentary, “Planetary Defenders,” which will take audiences inside the high-stakes world of asteroid hunting and planetary defense. NASA is bringing the high-stakes world of planetary defense to the Sundance Film Festival, highlighting its upcoming documentary, “Planetary Defenders,” during a panel ahead of its spring 2025 premiere on the agency’s streaming service. … Read more

Science Done by Volunteers Highlighted at December’s American Geophysical Union Meeting – NASA Science

Science Done by Volunteers Highlighted at December’s American Geophysical Union Meeting – NASA Science

Two dozen scientists at the meeting gathered for lunch in the atrium of the National Portrait Gallery to talk about doing NASA science with volunteers. They discussed projects about asteroids, landslide hazard prediction, solar eclipse science, water quality, martian clouds, and more. Science done with volunteers is often called citizen science or participatory science – … Read more

Jovian Vortex Hunters Spun Up Over New Paper – NASA Science

Jovian Vortex Hunters Spun Up Over New Paper – NASA Science

The catalog reveals distributions of vortex sizes, aspect ratios, and locations on the planet. For example, your work showed that white and dark vortices are preferentially found near the poles. These distributions help researchers derive general parameters about Jupiter’s atmosphere that can give us insights about its internal processes and the atmospheres of other planets. … Read more

NASA DAVINCI Mission’s Many ‘Firsts’ to Unlock Venus’ Hidden Secrets – NASA Science

NASA DAVINCI Mission’s Many ‘Firsts’ to Unlock Venus’ Hidden Secrets – NASA Science

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is the principal investigator institution for DAVINCI and will perform project management for the mission, provide science instruments, as well as project systems engineering to develop the in-situ probe flight system that will enter the atmosphere of Venus. Goddard also leads the overall science for the mission with an external science team from across the … Read more

NASA-Led Team Links Comet Water to Earth’s Oceans – NASA Science

NASA-Led Team Links Comet Water to Earth’s Oceans – NASA Science

Scientists find that cometary dust affects interpretation of spacecraft measurements, reopening the case for comets like 67P as potential sources of water for early Earth.  Researchers have found that water on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko has a similar molecular signature to the water in Earth’s oceans. Contradicting some recent results, this finding reopens the case that Jupiter-family … Read more

How NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer Could Decipher the Moon’s Icy Secrets – NASA

How NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer Could Decipher the Moon’s Icy Secrets – NASA

There’s water on the Moon, but scientists only have a general idea of where it is and what form it is in. A trailblazing NASA mission will get some answers. When NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer begins orbiting the Moon next year, it will help resolve an enduring mystery: Where is the Moon’s water? Scientists have seen … Read more