NASA Installs Heat Shield on First Private Spacecraft Bound for Venus – NASA

NASA Installs Heat Shield on First Private Spacecraft Bound for Venus – NASA

Engineers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, Bohdan Wesely, right, and Eli Hiss, left, complete a fit check of the two halves of a space capsule that will study the clouds of Venus for signs of life. Led by Rocket Lab of Long Beach, California, and their partners at the Massachusetts Institute … Read more

Venus Blows Off Some Steam – NASA

Venus Blows Off Some Steam – NASA

Tall plumes of white vapor rise from the rocky Venusian surface in this April 19, 1977, artist’s concept. A little over a year later, NASA’s Pioneer Venus 1 would launch as the first of a two-spacecraft orbiter-probe combination designed to study the atmosphere of Venus. The first American spacecraft to orbit Venus, Pioneer Venus 1 … 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

Leader of NASA’s VERITAS Mission Honored With AGU’s Whipple Award – NASA

Leader of NASA’s VERITAS Mission Honored With AGU’s Whipple Award – NASA

Suzanne Smrekar, geophysicist and principal investigator of the agency’s upcoming VERITAS mission to Venus, is NASA JPL’s first recipient of the prestigious award. Suzanne Smrekar, a senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, received the Fred Whipple Award on Monday, Dec. 9, in Washington at the fall meeting of the American … Read more

5 Surprising NASA Heliophysics Discoveries Not Related to the Sun – NASA Science

5 Surprising NASA Heliophysics Discoveries Not Related to the Sun – NASA Science

5 min read 5 Surprising NASA Heliophysics Discoveries Not Related to the Sun With NASA’s fleet of heliophysics spacecraft, scientists monitor our Sun and investigate its influences throughout the solar system. However, the fleet’s constant watch and often-unique perspectives sometimes create opportunities to make discoveries that no one expected, helping us to solve mysteries about … Read more

Final Venus Flyby for NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Queues Closest Sun Pass – NASA Science

Final Venus Flyby for NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Queues Closest Sun Pass – NASA Science

The closest approach to the Sun, or perihelion, will occur on Dec. 24, 2024, during which mission control will be out of contact with the spacecraft. Parker will send a beacon tone on Dec. 27, 2024, to confirm its success and the spacecraft’s health. Parker will remain in this orbit for the remainder of its … Read more

Ongoing Venus Volcanic Activity Discovered With NASA’s Magellan Data – NASA

Ongoing Venus Volcanic Activity Discovered With NASA’s Magellan Data – NASA

An analysis of data from Magellan’s radar finds two volcanoes erupted in the early 1990s. This adds to the 2023 discovery of a different active volcano in Magellan data. Direct geological evidence of recent volcanic activity on Venus has been observed for a second time. Scientists in Italy analyzed archival data from NASA’s Magellan mission … Read more

Crescent Moon Over NASA’s Kennedy Space Center – NASA

Crescent Moon Over NASA’s Kennedy Space Center – NASA

The crescent moon, along with Jupiter (top right of Moon) and Venus (below Moon) appeared over the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Feb. 22, 2023, as preparations continued for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission. NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren “Woody” Hoburg, UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos … Read more

Planetary line-up to grace the sky in rare conjunction; Here’s the best time to sky gaze

Planetary line-up to grace the sky in rare conjunction; Here’s the best time to sky gaze

It’s time for stargazers to rejoice! According to Sky & Telescope, if a person has a telescope or binoculars, he/she will be able to catch a rare treat this month as five planets will appear in the night sky aligned in rare conjunction. The planets Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and Saturn will appear in the … Read more