NASA

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Mars Rover Drills Into Planet for First Time

Curiosity's successful test paves way for bigger projects

(Newser) - NASA's Mars rover has busted out a new tool to pry into the planet's secrets. Curiosity used a drill at the top of one of its arms to make a small hole in Martian rock, reports LiveScience . It was just a test, the first of its kind, but...

Asteroid Bound for Close Call With Earth

But DA14 definitely won't hit us, NASA says

(Newser) - An asteroid big enough to flatten a city will zip closer to Earth than any previously observed space object its size on Feb. 15, but astronomers say there is zero chance of 2012 DA14 squishing any Earthlings this time around. With a 148-foot diameter and the mass of a cruise...

NASA Balloon Gobbles Antarctic Data, Records

Cosmic ray detector spends 55 days aloft

(Newser) - A NASA scientific balloon on a mission over the Antarctic to detect cosmic rays has completed a record-breaking flight. The Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder—"Super-TIGER"—broke the record for longest flight by a balloon of its size 46 days into its mission and landed after 55 days,...

NASA Fires Up Apollo-Era Engine to Learn Old Tricks

Unit from late 1960s taken out of storage for tests

(Newser) - A vintage rocket engine built to blast the first US lunar mission into Earth's orbit more than 40 years ago is again rumbling across the Southern landscape. The engine, known to NASA engineers as No. F-6049, was supposed to help propel Apollo 11 into orbit in 1969, when NASA...

Mars Crater Points to Water ... and Life?

Scientists find evidence of long-dry lake

(Newser) - Photos of an enormous crater on Mars indicate possible underground water—water that could have supported life, and could still be doing so. Images taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show the 57-mile-wide McLaughlin Crater, which is now dry. It's one of the planet's deepest spots at...

Mona Lisa Sent to Outer Space via Laser

Feat represents a major advancement in laser communication

(Newser) - Outer space just got a little more cultured. NASA scientists have successfully beamed an image of the Mona Lisa to its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter using a special laser signal, a feat that represents a major leap in laser communication technology, Space.com reports. "This is the first time anyone...

Latest Task for Drones: Study Earth's Ozone Layer

Global Hawk will survey the tropopause

(Newser) - Today's science vocab lesson: tropopause. It's the atmospheric boundary between the troposphere, where ozone exists as a harmful greenhouse gas, and the higher-up stratosphere, where the same gas plays an important role in protecting the Earth from the sun's UV rays. And that boundary region is about...

For Sale: Space Shuttle Launch Pad, Slightly Used

NASA selling off pieces of Kennedy Space Center

(Newser) - If you've been looking for a place to park your spaceship, then NASA has got a deal for you. With the space shuttle program on ice, Uncle Sam is hoping to sell or lease its Kennedy Space Center facilities, including its 15,000-foot landing strip, its launchpad, its rocket...

1K Arrested in China as &#39;Doomsday&#39; Approaches
1K Arrested in China as 
'Doomsday' Approaches
12/21 roundup
Dec 20, 2012 6:30 AM CST

1K Arrested in China as 'Doomsday' Approaches

NASA gets hundreds of worried calls daily

(Newser) - With just hours left before the apparent end of the world, people are making final preparations—while others are squashing rumors of our imminent demise like there's no tomorrow. In China, that means arresting hundreds more members of a cult that claims the so-called Mayan doomsday is the real...

NASA to Send 2 Probes Crashing Into Moon

Probes are out of fuel, and not expected to explode

(Newser) - NASA is set to crash a pair of washing machine-sized probes into the moon on Monday, after months spent examining and gathering data about the moon's surface, reports AFP . Though Ebb and Flow will hit the surface at a speedy 3,760mph, they'll be out of fuel when...

Earth at Night: Satellite Sends Awesome Images

NASA's Suomi craft captures composite images

(Newser) - NASA has released new composite images of the Earth at night, courtesy of a satellite launched last year, reports the BBC . The Suomi satellite's main goal is to gather meteorological data, and it's specially equipped to view the planet, complete with city lights, at night, notes AP .

NASA: We're Sending a New Rover to Mars

Modeled after Curiosity, it should launch in 2020

(Newser) - NASA is headed to Mars—again. The space agency said today it plans to launch another mega-rover to Mars in 2020 that will be modeled after the wildly popular Curiosity. To keep costs down, engineers will borrow Curiosity's blueprints, build from spare parts where possible, and use proven technology...

Rover's Mars Find: Carbon or Contamination?

Nothing definitive yet, scientists say

(Newser) - Don't get too excited about life on Mars just yet: Though NASA's Curiosity rover did find a simple carbon compound on the planet, the team has yet to determine whether the compound actually came from Mars or was transported there on Curiosity itself. And the scoop of soil...

NASA Taps Astronaut for Longest US Space Mission

Scott Kelly to spend a year in space

(Newser) - His twin brother may be the bigger household name , but that could change come 2015. Capt. Scott Kelly, who claims Mark Kelly and wife Gabby Giffords among his family members, is scheduled to blast off on a one-year mission to the International Space Station in the spring of that year....

Mars Scoop May Not Be So 'Earth-Shaking' After All

But it will be 'interesting,' spokesman promises

(Newser) - An NPR story about NASA's Mars mission generated lots of attention today because of a big tease from a lead scientist looking at soil samples taken by the Curiosity rover:
  • "This data is gonna be one for the history books. It's looking really good."
But NASA'...

Now We Know the Distance Between Stars

Measurement of cosmic 'fog' reveals it to be 4,150 light-years

(Newser) - Here's an astronomer's quote to try to wrap your head around, courtesy of PhysOrg : "The optical and ultraviolet light from stars continues to travel throughout the universe even after the stars cease to shine, and this creates a fossil radiation field we can explore using gamma rays...

Martian Soil Is a Lot Like ... Hawaii's?

Curiosity scans soil sample

(Newser) - Aloha, Mars! The Curiosity rover has scanned a sample of Martian soil, and the ground composition on the Red Planet isn't all that unlike Hawaii's, reports the BBC . It's not a huge surprise to NASA scientists, who theorized that the soil would be comprised of "materials...

Our Aging Weather Satellites Put Us at Risk

We almost went 'partly blind' just before Sandy hit: Jeffrey Kluger

(Newser) - With Hurricane Sandy upon us, it's time to take a hard look at our weather-predicting capabilities and the aging satellites that we depend on, writes Jeffrey Kluger in Time . Just last month—shortly before Sandy developed—one such satellite, dubbed GOES-East, began sending out a weak signal. NASA and...

Bezos Firm Tests Escape Pod for Rocket

Launch is another success for Blue Origin's space plans

(Newser) - Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has hit another milestone in helping NASA develop safe and affordable private space travel . His Blue Origin company successfully tested the launch of a new crew-escape system, and Space.com has a video of the unmanned pod's gentle return to solid ground. It uses a...

NASA Want to Cure Your Car Sickness
NASA Want to Cure
Your Car Sickness
Oct 13, 2012 9:54 AM CDT

NASA Want to Cure Your Car Sickness

It's working on a nasal spray for motion sickness

(Newser) - Soon you'll be able to fight motion sickness just like an astronaut. NASA is teaming up with pharmaceutical company Epiomed Therapeutics to develop and market a nasal spray for queasy travelers, reports Scientific American . The spacy agency is something of an expert on the subject, and it's found...

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