In preparation for Curiosity’s exploration of Mount Sharp on Mars, NASA engineers took a test rover out to the desert for last minute training in the sand dunes. Team members of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission took a test rover to Dumont Dunes in California’s Mojave Desert this week to improve knowledge of the best [...]

To better understand the how star formation and black hole activity are linked, scientists are looking back 8 to 12 billion years, a time when star formation was most vigorous. By comparing infrared readings with X-rays streaming from the active central black holes, the astronomers found that the black holes’ brightness and star formation increased [...]

Launched in 2007, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft began exploring the asteroid Vesta in 2011 and just provided researchers with the first orbital analysis of the giant asteroid. The new data has confirmed Vetsa’s planet-like qualities and has shown Vesta as a layered, planetary building block with an iron core. Pasadena, California – NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has [...]

Over the last two years researchers have been monitoring the sand movement on Mars with the HiRISE camera. They found that even with a thinner atmosphere and less high-speed wind, movement in sand dune fields occurs at about the same rate as in dune fields on Earth. Pasadena, California — NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has [...]

Data captured by NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer and the Pan-STARRS1 telescope show direct evidence of a supermassive black hole using its powerful gravitational forces to rip apart a helium rich star that resides in a galaxy roughly 2.7 billion light-years away. This marks the first time that astronomers have been able to identify a black [...]

A joint effort between NASA and General Motors to improve robotic technology and capabilities for future space exploration platforms has led to Robonaut 2, NASA’s first dexterous humanoid robot. Robonaut 2 was built to work on space stations, assisting astronauts with dangerous or repetitive jobs. Robonaut 2, NASA’s first dexterous humanoid robot, has successfully hitched [...]

Using images from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, scientists were able to locate an aging star releasing large amounts of dust as it begins the “red giant” phase of its life. Scientists know of only one other star currently in this stage, Sakurai’s Object, and state that this is a very rare observation. PASADENA, California [...]

More than 60 moons orbit Saturn and by combining data from NASA’s Cassini mission with modeling techniques, scientists have so far been able to identify one with planet-like qualities. Saturn’s moon Phoebe was believed to be a so-called planetesimal, a remnant planetary building block actively evolving for a time before it stalling out. PASADENA, California [...]

Two new papers published in the Astrophysical Journal describe the process of hydrocarbon creation on Saturn’s moon Titan and predicted how long Titan’s chemical factory has been running by modeling how concentrations of methane on the surface change over time. The papers are backed by data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft and the European Space Agency’s [...]

NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope revealed that the Sombrero galaxy, also known as NGC 4594, is one of the first known galaxies to exhibit dual characteristics, having both a round elliptical galaxy with a thin disk embedded inside. Located 28 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo, scientists’ hope these findings will lead to a better [...]

As scientists continue to research and monitor greenhouse gas emissions, a new source of methane gas has appeared from cracks in Arctic sea ice. Conducted as part of the HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO) airborne campaign, this study was published in Nature Geoscience and describes how the team found increased levels of methane gas while flying [...]

While studying images from the Cassini spacecraft, scientists discovered holes in Saturn’s 550,000 mile F ring. These holes, called “mini-jets” by the scientists, have filled scientists in on the behavior of Saturn’s F ring and show that the F ring region is filled with objects from a half mile in size to a hundred miles [...]