On its way to higher layers of the mountain where it is investigating how Mars’ environment changed billions of years ago, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover will take advantage of a chance to study some modern Martian activity at mobile sand dunes. The dark band in the lower portion of this Martian scene is part of Read More
Category: Space Technology
Dark Matter and Particle Acceleration in Near Space
Peering into darkness can strike fear into the hearts of some, but a new space telescope will soon peer into the darkness of “near space” (within a few thousand light years of Earth). Scientists are using the telescope to seek answers related to the field of high-energy astrophysics. The CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) investigation will Read More
Dawn Heads Toward Final Orbit
Mission Status Report NASA’s Dawn spacecraft fired up its ion engine on Friday, Oct. 23, to begin its journey toward its fourth and final science orbit at dwarf planet Ceres. The spacecraft completed two months of observations from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers) and transmitted extensive imagery and other data to Earth. The Read More
NASA’s K2 Finds Dead Star Vaporizing a Mini “Planet”
Scientists using NASA’s repurposed Kepler space telescope, known as the K2 mission, have uncovered strong evidence of a tiny, rocky object being torn apart as it spirals around a white dwarf star. This discovery validates a long-held theory that white dwarfs are capable of cannibalizing possible remnant planets that have survived within its solar system. Read More
Mars Panorama from Curiosity Shows Petrified Sand Dunes
Some of the dark sandstone in an area being explored by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover shows texture and inclined bedding structures characteristic of deposits that formed as sand dunes, then were cemented into rock. A panorama from Curiosity’s Mast Camera (Mastcam) that includes a ridge made of this sandstone is online at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA19818 This sandstone Read More
New Horizons Finds Blue Skies and Water Ice on Pluto
The first color images of Pluto’s atmospheric hazes, returned by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft last week, reveal that the hazes are blue. “Who would have expected a blue sky in the Kuiper Belt? It’s gorgeous,” said Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), Boulder, Colorado. The haze particles themselves are likely Read More
Real Martians: How to Protect Astronauts from Space Radiation on Mars
On Aug. 7, 1972, in the heart of the Apollo era, an enormous solar flare exploded from the sun’s atmosphere. Along with a gigantic burst of light in nearly all wavelengths, this event accelerated a wave of energetic particles. Mostly protons, with a few electrons and heavier elements mixed in, this wash of quick-moving particles Read More
Hubble Shears a “Woolly” Galaxy
This new image of the spiral galaxy NGC 3521 from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is not out of focus. Instead, the galaxy itself has a soft, woolly appearance as it a member of a class of galaxies known as flocculent spirals. Like other flocculent galaxies, NGC 3521 lacks the clearly defined, arcing structure to Read More
NASA’s New Horizons Team Selects Potential Kuiper Belt Flyby Target
This remote KBO was one of two identified as potential destinations and the one recommended to NASA by the New Horizons team. Although NASA has selected 2014 MU69 as the target, as part of its normal review process the agency will conduct a detailed assessment before officially approving the mission extension to conduct additional science. Read More
Hubble Finds a Little Gem
This colorful bubble is a planetary nebula called NGC 6818, also known as the Little Gem Nebula. It is located in the constellation of Sagittarius (The Archer), roughly 6,000 light-years away from us. The rich glow of the cloud is just over half a light-year across — humongous compared to its tiny central star — Read More