NASA

Read the latest NASA news today on Newser.com

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5 Weird Examples of Space Junk Hitting Earth

Meanwhile, expect falling satellite next Friday

(Newser) - The 6-ton satellite about to fall on Earth is coming faster than expected, and NASA now thinks it will arrive next Friday, give or take a day, reports Space.com . NASA still isn't sure where the defunct UARS satellite will land, but it thinks the odds of it hurting...

Mysterious Light Dazzles Southwest

Object streaking across sky probably a fireball, NASA says

(Newser) - A mysterious blue-green streak of light was spotted moving across the sky over the US Southwest last night, prompting a flood of 911 calls from Phoenix to Los Angeles, CNN reports. There were no reports of impact or damage and NASA says it believes the object was probably a fireball...

NASA Reveals Massive Mars Rocket Plans

New $35B project could launch up to 165 tons into space

(Newser) - NASA today unveiled plans for a rocket that will power the next generation of space exploration, designed to take manned missions to distant asteroids and eventually Mars, Space.com reports. The uncreatively named “Space Launch System,” or SLS, uses bits of technology from the defunct space shuttle and...

NASA Heads to Moon Today
 NASA Heads Back to Moon 
Sep 10, 2011 6:39 AM CDT

NASA Heads Back to Moon

... But it's an unmanned mission to explore the lunar gravity field

(Newser) - NASA's not done with the moon yet. It launched two unmanned spacecraft today (Grail A and Grail B) to study the lunar gravitational field and interior, reports Space.com . The $496 million mission has an interesting twist, notes the PopSci blog: a MoonKAM that will allow students to log...

NASA: Watch Out for Falling Satellite

Half-ton of metal on its way to Earth

(Newser) - We’ve heard that quantities of space junk are past the “tipping point” ; now NASA tells us pieces of a “dead” satellite will soon plummet to Earth. But don’t worry—there’s only a one-in-3,200 chance a chunk will hit somebody, the Telegraph reports. The Upper...

NASA Clip Shows 9/11 From Space

Smoke rises from New York in ISS video

(Newser) - As the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaches, NASA has provided a stunning new look at the tragedy—which was visible all the way from the International Space Station. American astronaut Frank Culbertson and two Russians were orbiting the earth in the ISS when they caught video of smoke...

New Moon Images Show Astronaut Tracks

They also show debris left behind from Apollo missions

(Newser) - NASA today released a batch of high-resolution images of the moon that show close-ups of landing sites from three Apollo missions, reports Space.com . (NASA has labeled and unlabeled versions of the images, taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, here .) They show astronauts' footprints, the tracks of their lunar...

New Mars Sample Astounds Scientists, Hints at Water

Rocks may contain clay minerals that form in wet conditions

(Newser) - Scientists are marveling over the latest discovery by the Mars rover Opportunity, which seems to suggest that the red planet may be more hospitable to life than previously believed. The venerable robot—now 7.5 years into its exploration of the planet—has found a lighter-colored rock that “is...

Space Junk Passes 'Tipping Point'

Report urges NASA to ramp up efforts quickly

(Newser) - Astronauts on the International Space Station had a close call with space debris in June, and things are only going to get worse from here on out, warns a new report. In fact, the amount of junk orbiting earth has now passed the "tipping point," says the National...

Space Station May Be Forced to Go Unmanned

Would be first time in a decade

(Newser) - The failure of a Russian spaceship, which crashed back to Earth shortly after its launch last week, could lead to the International Space Station being unmanned for the first time since 2001. Russian engineers are trying to determine why the unmanned ship crashed, but they only have a short time...

Russian Spaceship Fails to Orbit, Crashes to Earth

Unmanned craft caused thunderous boom in Siberia

(Newser) - A Russian space station supply ship failed to reach orbit and crashed with a thunderous boom into Siberia today, rattling NASA and others in this new era without any shuttles to bail out the orbiting outpost. The Soyuz rocket soared right on time from Kazakhstan, and everything seemed to be...

Thank Meteorites for Life on Earth?

Space rocks hold elements of DNA

(Newser) - The ingredients for DNA aren’t just here on Earth—they can develop in space, too, a study suggests. Scientists with NASA and the Carnegie Institution analyzed 12 meteorites and found that 11 of them contained nucleobases, the rings in the middle of DNA molecules. That means the space rocks...

NASA Probe to Blast Off, Destination: Jupiter

Juno to explore origins of the solar system; liftoff scheduled for 11:34am ET

(Newser) - Today NASA will launch a spacecraft that they're hoping will pry the secrets of the solar system from Jupiter. Dubbed "Juno" (Jupiter’s wife in Roman mythology, get it?), the probe will take five years to travel to Jupiter, arriving on July 4, 2016, the New York Times...

NASA Photos Point to Flowing Water on Mars

Mud 'tendrils' flow downhill, suggesting 'briny water'

(Newser) - New NASA images show “tendrils” of what appears to be mud flowing down hillsides, researchers say. “It's hard to imagine they are formed by anything other than fluid seeping down slopes,” notes one scientist. The cold temperatures when the tendrils appear suggest they aren’t fresh...

Oxygen Molecules Detected in Deep Space for 1st Time

Elusive molecule spotted in Orion nebula

(Newser) - Breathe easier, budding astronauts, it turns out there are oxygen molecules in space. In fact, there are some just 1,500 light-years away, in a star-forming region of the Orion nebula, reports Live Science . Researchers think the oxygen comes from water molecules that coat tiny grains of space dust; when...

Piece of Shuttle Columbia Found in Texas Lake

Drought lowered lake level to reveal part of destroyed ship

(Newser) - A piece of the space shuttle Columbia has been discovered in an east Texas lake, report CNN and Space.com . The shuttle broke up when re-entering the atmosphere in 2003, killing its seven-person crew. The newly-discovered part is a tank 4 feet in diameter that contributed power and water to...

NASA May Have Found Lost Lunar Probe

Lunar Orbiter 2 crashed on dark side of the moon

(Newser) - NASA may have found a lost spaceship on the dark side of the moon. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a ship designed to map the surface of the moon, has spotted a butterfly-shaped pattern that Fox News speculates might be the probe’s predecessor, the Lunar Orbiter 2. The craft, launched...

Asteroid Has Been Following Us for Thousands of Years

So-called trojan asteroid discovered in Earth's orbit

(Newser) - It turns out that Earth has another neighbor besides the moon: a so-called Trojan asteroid that has been traveling with us around the sun for thousands of years, reports the Los Angeles Times . Plenty of other planets have their own asteroids—there are at least 4,000 in Jupiter's...

Private Companies Shoot for the Moon

About 30 companies vying for Google's big prize

(Newser) - The space shuttle is gone, but worry not. Private industry is coming to the rescue, and fast. Inspired by a $30 million prize put up by Google, 29 entrepreneur/engineer teams are out to prove they have what it takes to win the kitty and become the first private enterprise to...

Atlantis Makes Final Landing
 Atlantis Makes Final Landing 
Jul 21, 2011 7:59 AM CDT

Atlantis Makes Final Landing

30-year shuttle program ends smoothly

(Newser) - The very last space shuttle landing was as smooth as they come. NASA's 30-year space shuttle program came to end just before sunrise as Atlantis landed safely in Florida, the AP reports. The shuttle, which performed perfectly during its final mission to resupply the International Space Station, is home...

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