NASA

May 14, 2008 -- WASHINGTON -- A new NASA-led study shows human-caused climate change has made an impact on a wide range of Earth's natural systems, including permafrost thawing, plants blooming earlier across Europe, and lakes declining in productivity in Africa.

Shrinking glaciers due to global warming: Photo courtesy NASA

Cynthia Rosenzweig of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Science in New York and scientists at 10 other institutions have linked physical and biological impacts since 1970 with rises in temperatures during that period. The study, to be published May 15 in the journal Nature, concludes human-caused warming is resulting in a broad range of impacts across the globe.    » read more »

May 14, 2008 -- WASHINGTON -- The most recent supernova in our galaxy has been discovered by tracking the rapid expansion of its remains. This result, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array, will help improve our understanding of how often supernovae explode in the Milky Way galaxy.

Chandra uncovers youngest supernova in our galaxy: Photo Credit: X-ray (NASA/CXC/NCSU/S.Reynolds et al.); Radio (NSF/NRAO/VLA/Cambridge/D.Green et al.); Infrared (2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF/CfA/E.Bressert)    » read more »

May 12, 2008 -- HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- International Space Station crews soon will have a new water reclamation system that will recycle wastewater, allowing up to six crew members to live aboard the orbiting laboratory.

The latest addition to the station's life support system departs today from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., for final flight preparations.

On board the International Space Station: NASA photo    » read more »

May 8, 2008 -- STENNIS, Miss. -- NASA engineers Thursday successfully completed the first series of tests in the early development of the J-2X engine that will power the upper stages of the Ares I and Ares V rockets, key components of NASA's Constellation Program.

A historic J2 engine awaits testing on the A-1 Test Stand: NASA's Stennis Space Center. Image courtesy NASA/SSC

Ares I will launch the Orion spacecraft that will take astronauts to the International Space Station and then to the moon by 2020. The Ares V will carry cargo and components into orbit for trips to the moon and later to Mars.    » read more »

May 7, 2008 -- HOUSTON -- Imagine yourself hip-to-hip, shoulder-to-shoulder, inside a room the size of a walk-in closet for eight hours with five people you just met. Does that make you sweat? Or maybe make your breathing a little more animated?

A mock-up of the Orion space capsule heads to its temporary home in a hangar at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.: NASA photo    » read more »

May 3, 2008 -- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- After safely reaching its launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, space shuttle Discovery now awaits its next major milestone for the upcoming STS-124 mission. A launch dress rehearsal, known as the terminal countdown demonstration test, is scheduled to take place at Kennedy from May 6 to 9.

Space Shuttle Discovery on launch pad: Photo courtesy NASA

Discovery arrived at the pad at 4:25 a.m. EDT Saturday on top of a giant crawler-transporter. The crawler-transporter left Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building at 11:47 p.m. Friday, traveling less than 1 mph during the 3.4-mile journey. The shuttle was secured on the launch pad at 6:06 a.m. Saturday.    » read more »

April 24, 2008 -- MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., and m2mi Corp., Moffett Field, Calif., announced Thursday they are taking a revolutionary step forward in improving telecommunications and networking from space.

Under the terms of a cooperative research and development agreement, only the third in NASA's history, NASA Ames and m2mi will work together to develop very small satellites, called nanosats, for the commercialization of space.

"NASA wants to work with companies to develop a new economy in space," said NASA Ames Center Director S. Pete Worden. "m2mi has great technology that fits excellently with our goals, while enhancing the commercial use of NASA-developed technologies."    » read more »

April 20, 2008 -- Billions of years from now, only one of these two galaxies will remain. Until then, spiral galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163 will slowly pull each other apart, creating tides of matter, sheets of shocked gas, lanes of dark dust, bursts of star formation, and streams of cast-away stars.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day - Spiral Galaxies in Collision: Photo by Debra Meloy Elmegreen (Vassar College) et al. & Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI/NASA)

Astronomers predict that NGC 2207, the larger galaxy on the left, will eventually incorporate IC 2163, the smaller galaxy on the right.    » read more »

April 21, 2008 -- WASHINGTON -- Educators soon may be able take the "learning can be fun" adage to another level using computer-simulation games with new technologies created by NASA and a yet-to-be-selected game developer.

NASA Learning Technologies sponsored a workshop today to present its concept of delivering NASA content through a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) educational game to interested development partners. Designed to enhance learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), such an online educational game would draw players into a synthetic environment that can serve as a powerful "hands-on" tool for teaching a range of complex subjects.    » read more »

April 19, 2008 -- HOUSTON – NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, the first female commander of the International Space Station, returned to Earth at approximately 4:30 a.m. EDT Saturday, ending a mission during which she conducted five spacewalks and set a new record in American spaceflight.

Unpiloted Progress supply vehicle on its way to dock with the International Space Station: Photo by NASA    » read more »

April 17, 2008 -- HOUSTON -- Since humans first flew in space, nothing has captivated astronauts more than the view of home out the window of their spacecraft. In honor of Earth Day, April 22, NASA will make those views available to people here on Earth with an event highlighting imagery taken by astronauts and the science behind it.

International Space Station: Photo by NASA

For the first time ever, NASA Television will air a special hour-long broadcast of views of Earth taken in High Definition, or HD, by astronauts on past space shuttle and International Space Station missions.    » read more »

April 16, 2008 -- WASHINGTON -- NASA centers across America will roll out the green carpet April 22 to celebrate Earth Day and reporters are invited to hear first hand about the agency's contributions to understanding and protecting our environment.

NASA Earth research missions study all aspects of our planet, from its oceans, land surfaces and atmosphere, to its biosphere and cryosphere.

Cumulonimbus cloud over Africa: Photo courtesy NASA Earth Observatory    » read more »

April 16, 2008 -- WASHINGTON -- The Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., has not changed its current estimates for the very low probability (1 in 45,000) of an Earth impact by the asteroid Apophis in 2036.

Contrary to recent press reports, NASA offices involved in near-Earth object research were not contacted and have had no correspondence with a young German student, who claims the Apophis impact probability is far higher than the current estimate.

Asteroid Apophis radar detection    » read more »

April 16, 2008 -- GREENBELT, Md. -- Several instruments that will help NASA characterize the moon's surface have been installed on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO. The powerful equipment will bring the moon into sharper focus and reveal new insights about the celestial body nearest Earth.

NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO): Graphic courtesy NASA    » read more »

April 15, 2008 -- WASHINGTON -- NASA has completed the first full-scale rocket motor test for the Constellation Program's Orion spacecraft, a test of a solid rocket that will be used to jettison the craft's launch abort system.

Now under development, Orion will be America's next human spacecraft, designed to fly to the International Space Station and be part of a space flight system to return humans to the moon.

Orion Launch Abort System jettison motor test.: Photo by AeroJet

The Orion jettison motor will separate the craft's launch abort system from the Orion crew module during launch.    » read more »