NASA

Read the latest NASA news today on Newser.com

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NASA Unveils Next Mars Mission

InSight lander will look deep inside red planet

(Newser) - As Curiosity begins its work on the surface of Mars , NASA has unveiled plans to study the red planet's interior. The agency aims to send the InSight robotic lander to Mars in 2016 to detect "marsquakes," determine whether the planet's core is solid or liquid, and...

Family of 5 Switches to Martian Time

Because dad is NASA land rover's flight director

(Newser) - Imagine perpetual jet lag that gets a little worse every day, and you'll understand life in the Oh family. They're on Martian time, which makes each day 40 minutes longer than the one before. "We all feel a little sleepy, a little jet-lagged all day long, but...

NASA So Cool, It Has Own LMFAO Spoof

Of course, the coolest kids work for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

(Newser) - They sport mohawks. President Obama called them cool . And now they're the subject of an MTV-worthy video. The polo-shirted crew at California's Jet Propulsion Laboratory found quick fame after Curiosity's victorious landing, following its famed seven minutes of terror on Aug. 5, in part "because they...

Rover to Zap Martian Rock Tonight

NASA's 'curiosity' will test one of its tools

(Newser) - Ready, set, fire. The NASA Mars rover Curiosity is preparing for its first laser target practice—zapping a Martian rock 10 feet away tonight. Since landing in an ancient crater Aug. 5, the car-size Curiosity has been getting a full health checkup. Scientists said yesterday they have chosen a generic-looking...

Mars Rover Gets 'Brain Transplant'

Will allow Curiosity to start driving

(Newser) - Mars rover Curiosity has gotten a new brain. NASA scientists just spent four days changing Curiosity's software, swapping out programs it needed for its complicated landing on Mars and replacing them with software that will enable it to drive, operate its robot arm, and analyze soil samples, reports NASA...

Obama Tells NASA: I've Considered Getting a Mohawk

NASA's Bobak Ferdowski inspires amusing riff from the prez

(Newser) - President Obama had mohawks and Martians on his mind today when he called NASA to congratulate them on Curiosity's safe (and serendipitous ) touchdown on Mars, Huffington Post reports. "I understand there's a special Mohawk Guy that's working on the mission," said Obama, referring to...

Mars Rover Landed in 'Area 51' ... Kind Of

NASA has dubbed landing region 'Yellowknife'

(Newser) - Cue the tinfoil hats. Area 51 is the Nevada military base famous among conspiracy buffs for its alleged alien secrets, but the Mars probe Curiosity landed in a part of the Red Planet called ... Quad 51. Coincidence? Well, yes, it's totally a coincidence, reports Florida Today . The Gale Crater...

Prototype NASA Moon Lander Explodes

Morpheus a write-off after test flight failure

(Newser) - After NASA's amazing success with its Mars rover this week comes a setback. Morpheus, a prototype lander under development for missions to the moon and beyond, crashed and blew up during a test at Kennedy Space Center yesterday, reports CNN . Nobody was injured, but the $500,000 unmanned test...

Curiosity Sends Back First Color Photo

Martian rover's key camera 'working and awesome,' team says

(Newser) - NASA's Curiosity rover is feeding scientists with a steady stream of images, including the first one in color. The color photo shows the north wall and rim of the ancient crater where the rover made its amazing landing earlier this week, Reuters reports. The image, which appears fuzzy because...

Mars Rover Sends Back First Video

Curiosity captures landing, images of Martian surface

(Newser) - NASA has released a rover's-eye view of Curiosity's nail-biting landing on Mars yesterday. The video, which captures a minute of what engineers described as "seven minutes of terror," begins as the rover's heat shield falls away, and ends with dust being kicked up as Curiosity...

Mars Rover Coming in for a Landing

 Mars Touchdown Confirmed 
UPDATED
Aug 6, 2012 7:00 AM CDT

Mars Touchdown Confirmed

Curiosity beaming pics after '7 minutes of terror'

(Newser) - The Curiosity rover landed safely on Mars early this morning, prompting whoops of joy and relief in NASA's mission control center, reports the New York Times . The rover quickly beamed back a picture of its own shadow cast on the surface of the Red Planet. "Touchdown confirmed. We...

NASA Bites Nails: '7 Minutes of Terror' Loom on Mars

Curiosity to land at 1:31am ET ... hopefully

(Newser) - Olympic feats have ruled the press over the last week, but a scientific feat may be the one stealing headlines tomorrow. The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal are among just a few news outlets previewing the upcoming "seven minutes of terror"—that's how NASA officials are...

NASA Enlists Shatner to Explain Risky Mars Landing

Rover Curiosity arrives late tomorrow

(Newser) - NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is scheduled to touch down tomorrow night on a two-year mission, and who better than Captain Kirk to explain all? The space agency has William Shatner detail what it expects to happen, including the Hollywood-esque "seven minutes of terror" that precedes the landing, reports...

NASA: We'll Launch Astronauts in 5 Years

Three commercial companies will build new crafts

(Newser) - NASA is gearing up to again launch humans into space ... within five years. The agency retired its fleet of shuttles last summer, and this morning it announced a deal worth about $1 billion with three American companies to design and construct the next generation of rocket ships to take off...

Man's Ticket to Mars: Inflatable Heat Shield?

Device inflates to deflect heat and force

(Newser) - It sounds like something out of an HG Wells novel, but NASA's newest innovation may pave the way to getting humans on Mars. The agency successfully tested a $17 million inflatable heat shield yesterday, reports Space.com . The Inflatable Re-Entry Vehicle Experiment 3 (IRVE-3) blasted off from a NASA...

On NASA's Mars Menu: Thai Pizza, Martian Veggies

Astronauts on the 3-year mission could grow some of their own produce

(Newser) - Here's a real head scratcher: How do you feed a crew of six to eight astronauts on a mission to Mars that will last almost three years? It's a question NASA is working at already, even though the mission won't happen for at least another 10 to...

Mars Rover Offers Sweeping View

NASA creates composite image from 817 photos

(Newser) - It's Mars as you've never seen it: NASA released a panoramic image this week of the planet's landscape, notes Wired . The rover Opportunity took 817 images from late 2011 until May 2012 as it sat parked for the winter, and the space agency used them to create...

Ex-Astronaut Killed When Son Crashes Into His Jet Ski

NASA mourns Capt. Alan Poindexter

(Newser) - NASA is mourning former astronaut Alan Poindexter, who died in a jet ski accident in Florida over the weekend. Poindexter, 50, was on a jet ski with his 22-year-old son when his older son, 26, crashed into them on another jet ski, sending both men into the water, reports the...

Private Mission Planned to Save Earth From Asteroids

With thousands of asteroids lurking, 'time's a wastin',' says B612 chairman

(Newser) - A California-based nonprofit group seeking to prevent the Earth from being struck by killer asteroids has announced plans to send an infrared telescope into space to hunt for dangerous near-Earth objects, reports Wired . The B612 Foundation's Sentinel Mission would be the first privately funded deep-space mission, aiming to put...

Scientists Turn Star Data Into Reggae

Reggae-rock group Echo Movement composes astral melody

(Newser) - What do stars in outer space sound like? Try listening to the 6-second melody (note: that's a .wav file) that will be used on a track due this fall by the reggae-rock group Echo Movement. The band wanted to create its own space jam, so it asked researchers at...

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