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December 29, 2006 Year-End Greetings From SaturnTo cap off this past year at the Saturnian frontier, the Cassini imaging team is releasing a smorgasbord of imagery showing heavenly bodies big and small, in motion, and in 3D. |
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December 28, 2006 NASA Mars Team Teaches Old Rovers New Tricks to Kick Off Year FourNASA's twin Mars rovers, nearing the third anniversary of their landings, are getting smarter as they get older. |
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December 22, 2006 NASA Names New Manager for Mars Reconnaissance OrbiterNASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has a new project manager. |
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December 20, 2006 Cassini at Saturn: A Photo ContestCast your vote for one of many breathtaking views captured by the Cassini spacecraft of Saturn, its rings and its moons. |
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December 19, 2006 Radar Love: Asteroid Detection and ScienceThey are the celestial equivalent of sonograms. But their hazy outlines and ghostly features do not document the in-vivo development of a future taxpayer. |
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December 18, 2006 NASA Telescope Picks Up Glow of Universe's First ObjectsNew observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope strongly suggest that infrared light detected in a prior study originated from clumps of the very first objects of the universe. |
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December 14, 2006 NASA Tropical Ozone Studies Yield SurprisesTwo new NASA-funded studies of ozone in the tropics using NASA satellite data not previously available are giving scientists a fuller understanding of the processes driving ozone chemistry and its impacts on pollution and climate change. |
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December 14, 2006 NASA Study Finds New Kind of Organics in Stardust MissionA team of scientists found a new class of organics in comet dust captured from Comet Wild 2 in 2004 by NASA's Stardust spacecraft. |
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December 14, 2006 Comets as Toolkits for Jump-Starting LifeJust as kits of little plastic bricks can be used to make everything from models of the space shuttle to the statue of liberty, comets are looking more and more like one of nature's toolkits for creating life. |
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December 14, 2006 Stardust Findings Suggest Comets More Complex Than ThoughtComets may be more than just simple conglomerations of ice, dust and gases. Some may be important windows on the early solar system. |
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December 13, 2006 Geologists Finding a Different Mars UnderneathMars is showing scientists its older, craggier face buried beneath the surface, thanks to a pioneering sounding radar co-sponsored by NASA aboard the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter. |
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December 13, 2006 NASA Spacecraft Read Layered Clues to Changes on MarsLayers on Mars are yielding history lessons revealed by instruments flying overhead and rolling across the surface. |
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December 12, 2006 Massive Mountain Range Imaged on Saturn's Moon TitanThe tallest mountains ever seen on Titan -- coated with layers of organic material and blanketed by clouds -- have been imaged by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. |
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December 12, 2006 NASA Outlines Recent Changes in Earth's Freshwater DistributionRecent space observations of freshwater storage by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment are providing a new picture of how Earth's most precious natural resource is distributed globally and how it is changing. |
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December 11, 2006 Moulin 'Blanc': NASA Expedition Probes Deep Within a Greenland GlacierJPL Research scientist Dr. Alberto Behar took in the "show" at the moulin this summer. But unlike Paris' famous Moulin Rouge, the star of this moulin was Mother Nature herself, presenting a dazzling display of moving water and ice. |
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December 7, 2006 Jason Ocean Mapping Mission Turns FiveFive years after launch, the joint NASA/French space agency Jason mission continues precisely measuring the hills and valleys of the ocean surface, expanding our knowledge of ocean circulation, monitoring global sea level variations, improving weather and climate predictions and much more. |
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December 7, 2006 NASA Study Suggests Quake Forecasts May Be on the HorizonA new university study funded in part by NASA's QuakeSim project finds that large earthquakes in California tend to cluster in time and could potentially be forecast within a window of two to three years. |
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December 6, 2006 NASA Images Suggest Water Still Flows in Brief Spurts on MarsNASA photographs have revealed bright new deposits seen in two gullies on Mars that suggest water carried sediment through them sometime during the past seven years. |
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December 6, 2006 Tennis Meets High Tech at JPLUnique contraptions replaced traditional rackets during JPL's 'Launch a Tennis Ball' Invention Challenge on Friday, Dec. 1. Teams of engineers and middle and high school students, including this winning La Canada High School group, used their creations to launch tennis balls into a trash can more than 16 feet away. |
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December 5, 2006 NASA Telescope Sees Black Hole Munch on a StarA giant black hole has been caught red-handed dipping into a cosmic cookie jar of stars by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. |
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December 4, 2006 NASA Mars Orbiter Photographs Spirit and Vikings on the GroundNew images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show three additional NASA spacecraft that have landed on Mars: the Spirit rover active on the surface since January 2004 and the two Viking landers that successfully reached the surface in 1976. |
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November 30, 2006 Purveyors of the Cosmic 'Occult'To a non-scientist, the words 'radio occultation' might sound a little spooky. But this relatively simple NASA-developed technology at the heart of a new satellite network named Cosmic is proving to be a powerful new tool for weather and climate forecasting. |
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November 29, 2006 New Images From Mars Reconnaissance OrbiterSome new, high-resolution images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show channels in a fossil delta, troughs in sand dunes and hardware from the landing of the rover Opportunity. |
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November 29, 2006 Saturn Mission Takes Starring RoleThe science highlights and dazzling images of the Cassini-Huygens mission are featured in the December issue of National Geographic Magazine on the cover and in a 20-page story. |
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November 21, 2006 NASA's Mars Global Surveyor May be at Mission's EndPasadena, Calif. - NASA's Mars Global Surveyor has likely finished its operating career. The spacecraft has served the longest and been the most productive of any mission ever sent to the red planet. |
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November 20, 2006 Genesis Findings Solve Apollo Lunar Soil MysteryEver since astronauts returned from another world, scientists have been mystified by some of the moon rocks they brought back. Now one of the mysteries has been solved. |
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November 17, 2006 Ulysses Starts New Journey Around the Sun's PolesNASA's Ulysses spacecraft has begun its third voyage around the sun's poles, in a quest to learn how the sun affects weather in space, plus cellphones, satellites and electricity on Earth. Hear more from the Ulysses project scientist. |
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November 17, 2006 NASA's Newest Mars Orbiter Passes Communications Relay TestAn orbiting NASA spacecraft just starting to study Mars with six science instruments has successfully tested another key part of its payload, a versatile radio for relaying communications with robots on the surface of Mars. |
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November 15, 2006 Comet-Chaser Mission HonoredNASA's Stardust mission received the 2006 Aviation Week and Space Technology Program Excellence Award. In January, Stardust successfully completed a seven-year, 2.8 billion mile journey to fly by a comet and return samples to Earth. |
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November 9, 2006 NASA Sees into the Eye of a Monster Storm on SaturnNASA's Cassini spacecraft has seen something never before seen on another planet -- a hurricane-like storm at Saturn's south pole with a well-developed eye, ringed by towering clouds. |
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November 9, 2006 Esperanza Fire Near Palm SpringsThe Esperanza fire started on October 26 in the dry brush near Palm Springs, Calif. By the time it was contained 6 days later, the fire had consumed 40,200 acres, and destroyed 34 homes and 20 outbuildings. Five firefighters died trying to protect homes. |
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November 7, 2006 Spitzer and Hubble Create Colorful MasterpieceA new image from NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes looks more like an abstract painting than a cosmic snapshot. |
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November 7, 2006 Ground Team Stays Busy on 10th Anniversary of NASA Mars LaunchEngineers are striving to restore full communications with NASA's Mars Global Surveyor on the 10th anniversary of the spacecraft's Nov. 7, 1996, launch. |
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November 6, 2006 Mercury Transit Foreshadows Future Planet HuntOn Wednesday, the planet Mercury will cover part of the sun, a phenomenon that demonstrates the method that a future mission will use to find planets around other stars. |
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November 2, 2006 Earth: The Lone Pale Blue Dot?A recent photo from the Cassini spacecraft shows the mighty planet Saturn, and if you look very closely between its wing-like rings, a faint pinprick of light. That tiny dot is Earth bustling with life as we know it. |
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October 31, 2006 New JPL Site Takes a Step Back in TimeJPL's new history site spans 70 years of exploration, from early rocket motor tests and the first U.S. satellite to present-day space exploration pursuits. |
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October 30, 2006 Last Chance for Your Name to Rise With the DawnNASA's campaign to send the nom de plumes of people from around the world into the heart of the asteroid belt ends Sat., Nov. 4. |
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October 30, 2006 Discovery Program SelectionsNASA has selected several mission concepts for further study. The selections include a JPL-managed mission to study our moon and new mission concepts for the Deep Impact and Stardust spacecraft. |
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October 27, 2006 Snake on a Galactic Plane!Something scary appears to be slithering across the plane of our Milky Way galaxy in this new Halloween image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. |
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October 26, 2006 NASA's Spitzer Peels Back Layers of Star's ExplosionAstronomers using NASA's infrared Spitzer Space Telescope have discovered that an exploded star, named Cassiopeia A, blew up in a somewhat orderly fashion, retaining much of its original onion-like layering. |
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October 25, 2006 NASA Posts Panorama to Celebrate Rover's 1,000th Martian DayNASA's long-lived Mars Exploration Rover Spirit will finish its 1,000th Martian day Thursday, continuing a successful mission originally planned for 90 Martian days. |
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October 25, 2006 JPL and UCLA Team to Study Southern California's Weather, Climate, EnvironmentA new JPL-UCLA Joint Institute will strive to better understand and predict regional environmental and climate change and support future space missions. |
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October 25, 2006 The Spark of a New EraSeventy years ago this Halloween, a group of young men clambered out of a truck and carried their cumbersome test equipment into the dirt and scruffy brush of Pasadena's Arroyo Seco. |
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October 23, 2006 JPL Director Named One of 'America's Best Leaders'Dr. Charles Elachi, director of JPL, is being honored as one of "America's Best Leaders" by U.S. News & World Report, in collaboration with the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. |
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October 23, 2006 During Solar Conjunction, Mars Spacecraft on AutopilotFor a brief time, the sun will get in the way of communications between Earth and Mars spacecraft, but mission teams are well prepared for this natural event called solar conjunction. |
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October 20, 2006 JPL Innovation HonoredJPL has been honored for a research and development innovation -- an untethered, self-powered robotic system to visually inspect gas pipelines. |
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October 19, 2006 2006 Antarctic Ozone Hole Largest On RecordNew NASA and NOAA data, including chemical maps from JPL's Microwave Limb Sounder, confirm that this year's Antarctic ozone hole is the largest on record. |
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October 18, 2006 Planet-Finding by NumbersScientists with NASA's SIM PlanetQuest mission, scheduled to launch in the next decade, have calculated how many potentially habitable planets the mission might detect around other stars. |
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October 18, 2006 Busted! Spitzer Nabs Culprit in Galactic Hit-and-RunOur neighboring Andromeda galaxy appears tranquil, but there's new evidence from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope that it collided head-on with a dwarf galaxy more than 200 million years ago. |
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October 16, 2006 NASA Orbiter Reveals New Details of Mars, Young and OldDuring its first week of observations from low orbit, NASA's newest Mars spacecraft is already revealing new clues about both recent and ancient environments on the red planet. |
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October 13, 2006 NASA Says: 'Build It and Infrared Surprises Will Come'Engineers are rolling up their sleeves in preparation for building a telescope that will find the nearest star-like objects and the brightest galaxies. |
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October 13, 2006 On the Trail of Other EarthsWhere are other Earths? According to JPL's Dr. Wes Traub, answering that question is the first step in NASA's long-range quest for life around stars beyond our solar system. |
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October 12, 2006 NASA'S Spitzer Sees Day and Night on Exotic WorldNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has made the first measurements of the day and night temperatures of a planet outside our solar system. |
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October 12, 2006 Does Your Ocean Have a Fever?A new NASA website provides up-to-date information on global sea surface temperatures, used to monitor ocean currents, climate change and hurricane development. |
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October 11, 2006 Saturn's Rings Show Evidence of a Modern-Day CollisionScientists with NASA's Cassini mission have spied a new, continuously changing feature that provides circumstantial evidence that a comet or asteroid recently collided with Saturn's innermost ring, the faint D ring. |
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October 11, 2006 NASA Finds Saturn's Moons May be Creating New RingsCassini scientists are on the trail of the missing moons of Saturn. A recent observation by the spacecraft leads them to believe that they will find the moons near newly discovered rings around the planet. |
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October 11, 2006 Cassini Image Shows Saturn Draped in a String of PearlsSaturn appears dressed to the nines, "wearing" a strand of "pearls" in a stunning infrared image from the Cassini spacecraft that showcases a meteorological phenomenon. |
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October 10, 2006 JPL's Gentry Lee Honored With Masursky AwardGentry Lee, Chief Engineer for the Planetary Flight Systems Directorate of JPL has been awarded the prestigious Harold Masursky Award, presented by the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences. |
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October 10, 2006 Asteroids, Comets, Planets: Cut From Same Cloth?Could all of the asteroids, comets, and planets in our Milky Way galaxy be made of a similar mix of dusty components? |
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October 9, 2006 Stardust Wins 'Popular Mechanics' AwardNASA's Stardust mission received Popular Mechanics' Breakthrough Award 2006 for innovative spacecraft design, mission planning and execution, and scientific achievement. JPL's Tom Duxbury, Stardust project manager, was on hand to receive the award. |
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October 6, 2006 NASA's Mars Rover and Orbiter Team Examines Victoria CraterNASA's long-lived robotic rover Opportunity is beginning to explore layered rocks in cliffs ringing the massive Victoria crater on Mars. |
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October 5, 2006 Student Telescope Program at Goldstone Turns 10The Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope Program in California's Mojave Desert celebrates its 10th anniversary this month. |
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October 5, 2006 'Chinese Lantern' Technique Helps Track Clouds at SaturnA new image of Saturn demonstrates a technique that creates a 'Chinese lantern' effect, showing Saturn's deep clouds silhouetted against the planet's warm, glowing interior. |
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October 5, 2006 In the Pacific, 'The Child' AwakensEl Nino, a cyclical warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean that can profoundly affect weather worldwide, appears to be in its early stages of development, according to scientists at NASA and NOAA. |
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October 3, 2006 Amazing Andromeda GalaxyThe many "personalities" of our great galactic neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, are exposed in this new composite image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer and the Spitzer Space Telescope. |
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October 3, 2006 JPL Instrument Sees 'Day' FireThis infrared image of the Day fire burning in Southern California was acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA's Terra satellite at 10 p.m. Pacific Time, Sept. 28. |
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September 29, 2006 NASA's New Mars Camera Gives Dramatic View of PlanetMars is ready for its close-up. The highest-resolution camera ever to orbit Mars is returning low-altitude images to Earth from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. |
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September 29, 2006 New Spectrometer Begins Its Global Map of MarsThe Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, a mineral mapping instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, began observing Mars after its lens cover was opened on Sept. 27, 2006. |
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September 27, 2006 NASA Mars Rover Arrives at Dramatic Vista on Red PlanetNASA's Mars Rover Opportunity has arrived at the rim of a crater approximately five times wider than a previous stadium-sized one it studied for half a year. |
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September 27, 2006 Mars Mineral Mapper Ready for ActionThe mineral-mapping instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has successfully removed its lens cover and is ready to start observing the planet. The cover protected the lens of the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars while the spacecraft was shrinking its orbit by repeatedly dipping into Mars' atmosphere. |
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September 25, 2006 NASA Mars Spacecraft Gear Up for Extra WorkNASA's Mars robotic missions are performing so well, they are being prepared for additional overtime work. |
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September 25, 2006 NASA Study Tracks Global Sources, Transport of Air PollutionA NASA and university study of ozone and carbon monoxide pollution in Earth's atmosphere is providing unique insights into the sources of these pollutants and how they are transported around the world. |
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September 25, 2006 Cassini Aimed High During Titan FlybyCassini successful flew by Titan on Saturday, Sept. 23. Data collected will help scientists study the composition at the very highest levels of Titan's atmosphere. |
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September 22, 2006 JPL Presents Workshop to Assist Small BusinessesNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., will host a workshop to assist small businesses on Oct. 10 at the Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego's Mission Valley. |
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September 22, 2006 Cassini Aims High in Upcoming Titan FlybyCassini's next close flyby of Titan will be on Saturday, Sept. 23. This will be one of Cassini's closest flybys yet of Titan, at just 960 kilometers (600 miles) above the surface. Scientists will use the observations to study the composition at the very highest levels of Titan's atmosphere. |
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September 21, 2006 Short-Term Ocean Cooling Suggests Global Warming 'Speed Bump'The average temperature of the water near the top of Earth's oceans has significantly cooled since 2003. New research suggests global warming trends are not always steady in their effects on ocean temperatures. |
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September 21, 2006 Balloon Researchers Receive International HonorTwo researchers who led the Boomerang Antarctic balloon experiment, using JPL-developed detectors, have been awarded the 2006 Balzan Prize in Astrophysics. The balloon mission captured the first resolved images of the early universe. |
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September 20, 2006 JPL Says Thanks and Farewell to BaltimoreJPLers turned out Monday to give a sendoff to Nobel laureate Dr. David Baltimore, who retired this month as president of the California Institute of Technology, the Laboratory's parent institution, after nine years in that post. |
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September 19, 2006 NASA Rover Opportunity Takes First Peek Into Victoria CraterOn Monday, NASA's Mars rover Opportunity got to within about 160 feet of the rim of the half-mile-wide Victoria Crater, the rover's destination since late 2004. |
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September 19, 2006 Scientists Discover New Ring and Other Features at SaturnSaturn sports a new ring in an image taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Sunday, Sept. 17, during a one-of-a-kind observation. |
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September 19, 2006 Ground-Piercing Radar on NASA Mars Orbiter Ready for WorkNASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has extended the long-armed antenna of its radar, preparing the instrument to begin probing for underground layers of Mars. |
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September 15, 2006 JPL Rover Stretches Its LegsJPL engineers test Athlete, an All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer vehicle, in the Arizona desert. The robotic vehicle is capable of "walking" over extremely rough or steep terrain. |
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September 14, 2006 Puffed-Up Planet Spied at Double StarUsing a network of small, automated telescopes, NASA-funded astronomers have found an odd, bloated planet orbiting one member of a pair of distant stars. |
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September 14, 2006 New Roadmap in Hunt for Alien LifeNASA-funded researchers, including JPL's Wes Traub, have outlined six stages of Earth's life history, which might help identify life elsewhere in the universe. |
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September 14, 2006 Hotly-Debated Solar System Object Gets a NameA new name has been bestowed on the "dwarf planet" whose discovery in 2005 rocked the solar system. |
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September 14, 2006 Cassini Detects Vast Ethane Cloud on TitanCassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer has detected what appears to be a massive ethane cloud surrounding Titan's north pole. |
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September 13, 2006 NASA Sees Rapid Changes in Arctic Sea IceNASA data show that Arctic perennial sea ice, which normally survives the summer melt season and remains year-round, shrunk abruptly by 14 percent between 2004 and 2005. |
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September 12, 2006 NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Reaches Planned Flight PathNASA's newest spacecraft at Mars has completed the challenging half-year task of shaping its orbit to the nearly circular, low-altitude pattern from which it will scrutinize the planet. |
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September 12, 2006 'Sleuth' Telescope Snags a Rare Planet TypeA rare planet circling a star 500-light years away has been spotted by astronomers using a telescope whose development was funded by NASA. |
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September 11, 2006 Titan Comes Under Cassini's Watchful GazeCassini flew by Saturn's moon Titan on Sept. 7, 2006, studying its atmosphere and surface. |
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September 8, 2006 Story of Stellar BirthThis image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveals the complex life cycle of young stars |
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September 8, 2006 Exploring Europa by Way of the ArcticThis summer, a science team set out on a two-week expedition of Earth's own little version of Jupiter's moon Europa |
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September 8, 2006 Animated Elevation Model of 'Victoria Crater'After driving more than 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) from the site where it landed in January 2004, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity approached "Victoria Crater" in September 2006. |
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September 6, 2006 NASA Rover Nears Martian Bowl GoalNASA's Mars rover Opportunity is closing in on what may be the grandest overlook and richest science trove of its long mission. |
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September 6, 2006 Smoke Plume Dispersal from the World Trade Center DisasterThe collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and the fires that followed produced a noxious smoke plume, a complex mixture of tiny airborne particles and gases. |
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September 5, 2006 Cassini to Fly by TitanAfter revealing a land of bountiful lakes on Cassini's last flyby of Saturn's moon Titan, the journey continues during a flyby on Sept. 7, 2006. |
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August 31, 2006 The Eternal Life of Stardust Portrayed in New NASA ImageA new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is helping astronomers understand how stardust is recycled in galaxies. |
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August 30, 2006 NASA, NOAA Data Indicate Ozone Layer is RecoveringA new study using NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data finds consistent evidence that Earth's ozone layer is on the mend. |
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August 25, 2006 CloudSat Catches Eye of IleanaThese two images are from two different satellites, giving a top-down and sideways view of Hurricane Ileana as she spins in the eastern Pacific on Aug. 23, 2006. The bottom view is from the JPL-managed CloudSat mission. |
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August 24, 2006 Honey, I Shrunk the Solar SystemIf you woke up Thursday morning and sensed something was different about the world around you, you're absolutely right. Pluto is no longer a planet. |
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August 23, 2006 NASA Galaxy Hunter: Huge Black Holes Stifle Star FormationSupermassive black holes in some giant galaxies create such a hostile environment, they shut down the formation of new stars, according to NASA Galaxy Evolution Explorer findings published in the August 24 issue of Nature. |
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August 18, 2006 Rise and Shine With the PlanetsStep outside 45 minutes before sunrise Aug. 20 to 22. The celestial view is well worth an early wake up. |
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August 18, 2006 JPL Science Team Members Win Top Cosmology PrizeThe 2006 Gruber Cosmology Prize has been awarded to Dr. John Mather and the Cosmic Background Explorer science team, which includes two scientists from JPL. The team is being honored for their groundbreaking studies confirming that our universe was born in a hot Big Bang. |
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August 18, 2006 Back to School With JPLDo you know someone who is into science and math? JPL's Education Office has a "backpack" full of resources to encourage students to pursue these interests -- so they may one day come to work for NASA and JPL. |
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August 16, 2006 NASA Findings Suggest Jets Bursting From Martian Ice CapEvery spring brings violent eruptions to the south polar ice cap of Mars, according to researchers interpreting new observations by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. |
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August 16, 2006 Cosmic Debate: What's Up With the Planets?When kids head back to school this fall, they might have some brand new planets to memorize. The International Astronomical Union, currently meeting in Prague, is expected to vote on the definition of a planet. |
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August 15, 2006 Voyager 1: 'The Spacecraft That Could' Hits New MilestoneVoyager 1, already the most distant human-made object in the cosmos, reaches 100 astronomical units from the sun on Tuesday, August 15 at 5:13 p.m. Eastern time (2:13 p.m. Pacific time). |
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August 14, 2006 Spitzer Digs Up Troves of Possible Solar Systems in OrionAstronomers have long scrutinized the vast and layered clouds of the Orion nebula, an industrious star-making factory visible to the naked eye in the sword of the famous hunter constellation. Yet, Orion is still full of secrets. |
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August 14, 2006 Blind JPL Student Intern Works on Mars-Bound InstrumentNot many teenagers can say they've worked on an instrument that will fly in space. |
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August 11, 2006 Typhoon Saomai Seen by Atmospheric Infrared SounderThis is an infrared image of Typhoon Saomai taken by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on NASA's Aqua satellite on August 10, 2006. This image shows the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. |
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August 9, 2006 U.S. Space Pioneer DiesDr. James Van Allen, who helped usher in the space age as the scientist in charge of the instrument on JPL's Explorer 1 satellite in 1958, died Wednesday, August 9, at the age of 91. On the left, Dr. Van Allen (image courtesy Univ. of Iowa); on the right, a model of Explorer 1, held by JPL's Director William Pickering, scientist James Van Allen and rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun. |
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August 9, 2006 NASA Astronauts Visit JPLMission specialists Stephanie Wilson and Piers Sellers spoke at JPL about their recent shuttle mission to the International Space Station. |
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August 1, 2006 Man of Many Hats Not Ready to Hang Any UpKerry Erickson is mission operations and project manager for the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, which is on a mission to do a nearly complete sky survey. |
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July 31, 2006 Galaxy Evolution Explorer Scoops Up Galactic GoodiesNASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer dishes up a feast of cool cosmic treats from its first three years in orbit. |
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July 27, 2006 Cassini Finds Lakes on Titan's Arctic RegionNASA's Cassini spacecraft has found lakes on Saturn's moon Titan. The lakes are most likely the source of hydrocarbon smog in the frigid moon's atmosphere. |
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July 26, 2006 NASA Africa Mission Investigates Origin, Development of HurricanesScientists from NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, universities and international agencies will study how winds and dust conditions from Africa influence the birth of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean. |
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July 25, 2006 JPL Business Opportunities Manager Receives Minority AwardThomas H. May, manager of the Business Opportunities Office and Supplier Diversity Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., has been selected as one of this year's 50 influential minorities in business by the Minority Business and Professional Network, Incorporated. |
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July 25, 2006 NASA's CloudSat Captures Hurricane Daniel's TransformationHurricane Daniel intensified between July 18 and July 23rd. NASA's new CloudSat satellite was able to capture and confirm this transformation in its side-view images of Hurricane Daniel as seen in this series of images. |
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July 24, 2006 Planet-Forming Disks Might Put the Brakes on StarsAstronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have found evidence that dusty disks of planet-forming material tug on and slow down the young, whirling stars they surround. |
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July 24, 2006 Cassini's Radar Spots 'Great Lakes' on TitanCassini's radar instrument has discovered patches of lakes scattered over the high latitudes near Titan's north pole. These lakes appear to be filled with hydrocarbon liquids, possibly making Titan the only place other than Earth known to contain lakes. |
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July 21, 2006 Black Hole Spills Kaleidoscope of ColorA new false-colored image from NASA's Hubble, Chandra and Spitzer space telescopes shows a giant jet of particles that has been shot out from a quasar. |
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July 19, 2006 Cassini Reveals Titan's Xanadu Region to Be an Earth-Like LandNew radar images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft revealed geological features similar to Earth on Xanadu, an Australia-sized, bright region on Saturn's moon Titan. |
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July 19, 2006 JPL and Partners Study Device to Help Spinal Cord InjuriesTechnology developed to help build better batteries for space missions is also being used to create a device that might one day help people living with spinal cord injuries. |
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July 14, 2006 NASA Marks 30th Anniversary of Mars Viking MissionThirty years after the first successful landing on Mars by NASA's Viking spacecraft, the ambitious mission continues to evoke pride and enthusiasm for future space exploration. |
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July 14, 2006 CloudSat Gets Acquainted With BudHurricane Bud, churning in the Pacific off the western coast of Mexico, was captured in this July 12 image from NASA's CloudSat satellite (lower panel). The top image is from a geostationary imager. The red and purple areas in the CloudSat image indicate the presence of large amounts of cloud water or precipitation. |
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July 10, 2006 Spirit Finds Possible Meteorites in the Martian HillsThe two larger, light-colored rocks seen by the Spirit rover at "Low Ridge" have unusual morphologies. Miniature thermal emission spectrometer signatures of the rocks resemble those of a rock explored by Spirit's twin, Opportunity. The rock analysed by Opportunity revealed it to be an iron meteorite. |
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July 5, 2006 NASA Satellites Find Balance in South America's Water CycleFor the first time, NASA scientists using space-based measurements have directly monitored and measured the complete cycle of water movement for an entire continent. |
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July 5, 2006 Cassini Flies by Titan: Looks In, Out and OverThe Cassini mission marked its second anniversary at Saturn on June 30th and celebrated with a successful flyby of Saturn's moon Titan on July 2. During this halfway point event, Cassini focused on the interactions between Titan's atmosphere and the big bubble that surrounds Saturn, called the magnetosphere. |
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June 30, 2006 To Inspire, Be InspiredIf you want to be an inspirational teacher, it's not hard: You have to be inspired yourself. |
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June 29, 2006 Enceladus Exudes an Air of MysteryJust as perfume lingering in the air of an empty room offers hints about a previous occupant, the cloud of oxygen the Cassini spacecraft encountered as it first approached Saturn turned out to be a calling card from another celestial presence, the tiny moon Enceladus. |
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June 28, 2006 NASA Satellite Positioning Software May Aid in Tsunami WarningsUniversity scientists using Global Positioning System (GPS) software developed by JPL have shown that GPS can determine, within minutes, whether an earthquake is big enough to generate an ocean-wide tsunami. |
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June 27, 2006 NASA's Cassini Spacecraft Marks Mission Halfway PointAs the Cassini spacecraft reaches the halfway mark in its four-year tour of the Saturn system, discoveries made during the first half of the mission have scientists revved up to find out what’s in store for the second act. |
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June 21, 2006 NASA's Cassini Spacecraft Captures Saturnian Moon BalletThe cold, icy orbs of the Saturn system come to life in a slew of new movie clips from the Cassini spacecraft showing the ringed planet's moons in motion. |
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June 19, 2006 Mars Atmosphere Researcher McCleese Named JPL Chief ScientistThe director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has appointed Dr. Daniel J. McCleese as the laboratory's chief scientist. |
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June 19, 2006 Pace Quickens for NASA Spacecraft Orbiting MarsNASA's newest spacecraft at Mars has already cut the size and duration of each orbit by more than half, just 11 weeks into a 23-week process of shrinking its orbit. |
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June 15, 2006 How to Bake a GalaxyStart with lots and lots of dark matter, then stir in gas. Let the mixture sit for a while, and a galaxy should rise up out of the batter. |
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June 14, 2006 NASA Missions Help Dissect Sea Level RiseSea level isn't, well, level. Nor is the rate by which sea level has been rising over the past few decades, but the trend is clearly up. |
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June 12, 2006 Spirit Rover Spies Possible Meteorite on MarsThe large rock in the center foreground of this picture is suspected of being an iron meteorite. The rock, informally named "Allan Hills," has a smoother texture and lighter tone than other rocks in the area. |
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June 12, 2006 CloudSat Peers Inside Tropical Storm AlbertoTropical Storm Alberto is dissected in this June 12 image (top) from NASA's new CloudSat satellite. In comparison to two views from National Weather Service tools (lower images), CloudSat saw a broader and more vertical view of the the storm. Heavy rainfall is seen where the horizontal green line at the bottom of the CloudSat image disappears. |
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June 8, 2006 Spitzer Helps Solve Mystery of Space DustAstronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and other telescopes think they've found the source of the dust that permeates the universe. New observations indicate the dust comes from supernovas, violent explosions of massive stars. |
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June 6, 2006 First Images From NASA'S Cloudsat Have Scientists Sky-HighThe first images from NASA's new CloudSat satellite are already revealing never-before-seen 3-D details about clouds. |
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June 5, 2006 Andromeda Adrift in Sea of Dust in New NASA ImageThe Andromeda galaxy, named for the mythological princess who almost fell prey to a sea monster, appears tranquil in a new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. |
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June 5, 2006 Astronomers Find Ancient 'Cities' of GalaxiesNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered a grand total of nearly 300 clusters of galaxies, with close to one-third of them as far as 8 to 10 billion light-years away. |
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June 5, 2006 Collaboration Finds a Rolling MoonBob Pappalardo gets by with a little help from his friends. Pappalardo is a newly hired JPL planetary scientist who credits a collaborative effort with colleagues for a recent unusual discovery based on images from Cassini. |
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June 1, 2006 Jason Satellite Shows Calm PacificThe latest remote sensing data from the NASA/French Jason satellite show near normal conditions across the equatorial Pacific Ocean. As we enter the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season, there are currently no visible signs in sea surface height of either El Niño or La Niña. |
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May 31, 2006 NASA-Funded Study Says Saturn's Moon Enceladus Rolled OverSaturn's moon Enceladus - an active, icy world with an unusually warm south pole - may have performed an unusual trick for a planetary body. New research shows Enceladus rolled over, literally, explaining why the moon's hottest spot is at the south pole. |
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May 30, 2006 Cassini Spacecraft Snaps Titan and Saturn's RingsSaturn's largest moon, Titan, peaks out from under the planet's rings of ice in this natural-color view taken by the Cassini spacecraft. This view looks toward Titan from slightly beneath the ringplane. |
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May 25, 2006 JPL Announces New Explorer School PartnershipsStudents from two San Diego schools will expand their knowledge of science and space, thanks to a new partnership with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. |
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May 23, 2006 Voyager: Living on the Edge of the Solar SystemNASA's twin Voyager spacecraft are beaming back new information about the final frontier of our solar system, including evidence of "potholes" in the turbulent zone near the edge. New findings are being presented this week at the American Geophysical Union conference in Baltimore. |
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May 22, 2006 NASA Instrument Provides New Data on Floods and DroughtsA NASA instrument designed primarily to measure winds on the ocean surface is turning out to have other abilities over land that may help in both flood and drought situations. |
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May 22, 2006 Pursuing the Invisible With Einstein's LensUsing NASA's future Space Interferometry Mission PlanetQuest space telescope, scientists will use a gravitational effect predicted by Albert Einstein to attempt the first real "sighting" of dark matter. This mysterious stuff is thought to constitute 90 percent of the galaxy. |
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May 22, 2006 Astronomy Honor for Twin TelescopesThe Two Micron All-Sky Survey, twin ground-based telescopes that completed the first high-resolution digital survey of the infrared sky, is being honored by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. The survey was primarily funded by NASA. |
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May 18, 2006 JPL to Hold Small Business Symposium in Nation's CapitalNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., will host the 9th Space Science Symposium for Small Business on Monday, June 5, at the Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington, Va. |
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May 18, 2006 JPL Instrument Tracks Dust From China Dust StormLarge dust storms emanating from northwestern China's Inner Mongolia region traveled eastward and caused the worst period of air pollution in six years in Beijing. JPL's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder aboard NASA's Aqua satellite helped track the dust. |
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May 12, 2006 Spitzer Spies Remnants of a Shy StarBig stars usually aren't shy about anything, not even death. At the end of their lives, they throw explosive tantrums, called supernovae, flinging abundant amounts of hot gas and radiation into space. |
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May 11, 2006 Limber Robot Might Hitchhike to SpaceLemurs, those wide-eyed, active, monkey-like animals running around the island in the movie "Madagascar," are known for their ability to leap. A robotic lemur being tested at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory moves more slowly, but might someday take its own giant leap - by going into space with astronauts. |
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May 10, 2006 Spitzer Telescope Sees Trail of Comet CrumbsNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has snapped a picture of the bits and pieces making up Comet 73P/Schwassman-Wachmann 3, which is continuing to break apart on its periodic journey around the sun. |
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May 9, 2006 Tibet Provides Passage for Chemicals to Reach the StratosphereNASA and university researchers have found that thunderstorms over Tibet provide a main pathway for water vapor and chemicals to travel from the lower atmosphere, where human activity directly affects atmospheric composition, into the stratosphere, where the protective ozone layer resides. |
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May 9, 2006 Spitzer Scientist to Give Prestigious Darwin LectureDr. Michael Werner, project scientist of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, has been selected to give the Royal Astronomical Society's distinguished 2006 George Darwin Lecture. |
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May 9, 2006 JPL Open House: A Kid's PerspectiveMy name is Raina Wessen and I'm a 12-year-old who has been to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Open House at least six times so I'm an expert on all the cool stuff that happens at the lab on those two days. |
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May 8, 2006 JPL Open House: An Invitation to Explore New WorldsNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., invites the public to "Explore New Worlds" without leaving Southern California. |
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May 4, 2006 Cassini Offers New Hints on Length of Saturn DayWe all know Earth rotates every 24 hours, but scientists have long had difficulty pinpointing how long the day is on Saturn. |
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May 4, 2006 NASA and Partners Release New Movies Of TitanNew views of the most distant touchdown ever made by a spacecraft are being released today by NASA, the European Space Agency and the University of Arizona. |
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May 4, 2006 La Niña Not Expected To Affect 2006 Atlantic Hurricane SeasonNASA oceanographers concur that the recent La Niñ a in the Pacific Ocean is not expected to have an effect on the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, which starts June 1. Normally, a La Niña tends to increase Atlantic hurricane activity and decrease Pacific Ocean hurricanes. |
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May 3, 2006 Cassini Flies by Titan, Sees More CratersSaturn's moon Titan continued to surprise scientists during a flyby that took Cassini into regions previously unexplored by radar. |
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May 1, 2006 Rolling RippleNASA's Opportunity rover continues to cut southward across a plain marked by large sand ripples and a pavement of outcrop rock. |
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April 28, 2006 NASA Launches Satellites for Weather, Climate, Air Quality StudiesTwo NASA satellites were launched Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on missions to reveal the inner secrets of clouds and aerosols, tiny particles suspended in the air. |
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April 28, 2006 Take Our Child to Work DayMore than 600 children accompanied their parents to work today during JPL's annual event. Children tagged along for an on-the-job perspective of robotics labs, science and mission planning, web publishing and more. Kids also created their own constellations and saw a demonstration of the Mars rovers. |
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April 27, 2006 NASA's CloudSat and Calipso Launch Rescheduled for FridayThe launch of NASA's CloudSat and Calipso satellites from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., has been rescheduled for Friday morning, April 28, at 3:02 a.m. PDT. Weather is not expected to be a concern for Friday's launch. |
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April 26, 2006 Pieces of NASA's Next Mars Mission are Coming TogetherNASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, the next mission to the surface of Mars, is beginning a new phase in preparation for a launch in August 2007. |
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April 26, 2006 Galaxies Don Mask of Stars in New Spitzer ImageA pair of dancing galaxies appears dressed for a cosmic masquerade in a new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. |
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April 25, 2006 NASA's CloudSat and Calipso Launch PostponedNASA's CloudSat and Calipso launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., was scrubbed Tuesday shortly before 3 a.m. PDT due to higher than allowable upper level wind conditions. The next launch attempt is tentatively set for Wednesday, April 26, at 3:02 a.m. PDT. Weather is a concern for Wednesday's launch attempt. The forecast calls for a 40 percent probability of acceptable weather conditions. |
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April 23, 2006 CloudSat and Calipso Sunday Morning Launch PostponedThe Sunday morning launch of NASA's CloudSat and Calipso from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., has been postponed. Mission managers are reviewing the next available launch opportunity. The refueling aircraft required to maintain the radar tracking plane was unavailable to support a launch attempt on Sunday. Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls |
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April 23, 2006 CloudSat and Calipso Launch Rescheduled for April 25The launch of NASA's CloudSat and Calipso has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 25. Launch is set for 3:02 a.m. Pacific, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The current weather forecast calls for a 90 percent probability of acceptable weather conditions. Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls |
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April 21, 2006 NASA's CloudSat and Calipso Launch Postponed to SundayThe launch of NASA's CloudSat and Calipso spacecraft has been rescheduled for Sunday, April 23, at 3:02 a.m. PDT from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The current weather forecast calls for an 80 percent probability of acceptable weather conditions. |
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April 21, 2006 NASA's CloudSat and Calipso Launch RescheduledThe launch of NASA's CloudSat and Calipso satellites is rescheduled for Saturday, April 22. Launch is set for 3:02 a.m. PDT. Today's launch was scrubbed at T-48 seconds due to loss of the primary and backup phone communications between the Mission Directors' Center at Vandenberg and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales Space Command in Toulouse, France. The communications loss is being evaluated. |
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April 19, 2006 Saturn's Storms Run Rings Around Earth'sOn Saturn, it may be a very long wait for the calm after a storm. As big and destructive as hurricanes on Earth can be, at least they don't last long. |
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April 19, 2006 Cloud-Observing Missions Prep for April 21 LaunchNASA's CloudSat and Calipso spacecraft prepare for launch on Apr. 21, 3:02 a.m. Pacific, aboard the same Boeing Delta rocket. After achieving orbit, the two craft will separate. CloudSat, managed by JPL, and Calipso will study the role that clouds and aerosols play in regulating Earth's weather, climate and air quality. |
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April 17, 2006 A Century of Quake ResearchIn the early morning hours of April 18, 1906, a violent earthquake shook San Francisco and the surrounding area. A new interactive Flash feature, video and podcast explore the impact this quake has had on current earthquake research. |
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April 15, 2006 U.S.-Taiwan Satellite Constellation LaunchesA globe-spanning constellation of six weather and climate research satellites based on global positioning system occultation technology developed at JPL successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., Friday, April 14. |
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April 13, 2006 NASA Technology Spawns Weather, Climate Satellite ConstellationA globe-spanning constellation of six weather and climate research satellites based on a novel application of NASA-developed technology is set to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., Friday, April 14. |
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April 13, 2006 Mars Cameras Debut as NASA Craft Adjusts OrbitResearchers today released the first Mars images from two of the three science cameras on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. |
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April 13, 2006 Cloud-Observing Missions Prep for April 21 LaunchNASA's CloudSat and CALIPSO spacecraft are lifted at Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., in preparation for integration with the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle. The spacecraft will study the role that clouds and aerosols play in regulating Earth's weather, climate and air quality. |
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April 12, 2006 NASA Mars Rovers Head for New Sites After Studying LayersNASA's Mars rover Spirit has reached a safe site for the Martian winter, while its twin, Opportunity, is making fast progress toward a destination of its own. |
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April 11, 2006 NASA Joins Partners for Ocean Surface Topography MissionNASA has signed an agreement with other U.S. and international agencies to launch the Ocean Surface Topography Mission in 2008. |
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April 10, 2006 Cassini-Huygens Team Receives Space AwardThe Cassini-Huygens mission team, which has captured the most detailed views ever of Saturn and its myriad of moons, was honored with an Aerospace Laurel award by the editors of Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine. |
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April 7, 2006 Mars Orbiters Achieve MilestonesThe red planet's newest observer, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and 2001 Mars Odyssey have achieved milestones. Reconnaissance Orbiter's high resolution camera took its first color image, seen on the left, and Odyssey marks five years of exploration with a spectacular image of a sun-bathed Martian surface, seen on the right. |
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April 7, 2006 Robotics Technology HonoredA robot using technology developed at JPL was inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame. The robot's twin at JPL is called an urban robot, or Urbie. |
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April 6, 2006 NASA Picks Contractor to Chill Space Telescope InstrumentNASA has awarded a subcontract to Northrop Grumman Space Technology in Redondo Beach, Calif., to develop an ultra-cold mechanical helium cryocooler for the Mid-Infrared Instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope. |
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April 5, 2006 NASA's Spitzer Finds Hints of Planet Birth Around Dead StarNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has uncovered new evidence that planets might rise up out of a dead star's ashes. |
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March 31, 2006 NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Craft Begins Adjusting OrbitNASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter yesterday began a crucial six-month campaign to gradually shrink its orbit into the best geometry for the mission's science work. |
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March 29, 2006 Cassini Finds 'Missing Link' Moonlet Evidence in Saturn's RingsScientists with NASA's Cassini mission have found evidence that a new class of small moonlets resides within Saturn's rings. There may be as many as 10 million of these objects within one of Saturn's rings alone. |
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March 28, 2006 Students Win Robotics Basketball TournamentIt may not be the final four, but it's definitely an exciting time for some Southern California high school students who won a regional game of robotics basketball. |
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March 28, 2006 Forty Years of Space Talk"That's one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind." That famous communique from Apollo 11 during the historic first-ever moon walk was brought to you by the 64-meter antenna at NASA's Deep Space Network in Goldstone, Calif. |
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March 24, 2006 NASA's New Mars Orbiter Returns Test ImagesThe first test images of Mars from NASA's newest spacecraft provide a tantalizing preview of what the orbiter will reveal when its main science mission begins next fall. |
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March 24, 2006 Happy Mars-Camera TeamTeam members for the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter enjoy seeing the first Mars images from the camera, at the instrument's operations center on the University of Arizona campus, Tucson. Images will be released later today. |
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March 22, 2006 Space Technology 5 LaunchesA Pegasus rocket carrying three Space Technology 5 micro-satellites successfully dropped from its carrier jet. All three satellites are now orbiting Earth. The mission, part of the New Milllennium Program, will test and validate new technologies for future science missions. JPL manages the New Millennium Program for NASA. |
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March 21, 2006 Spitzer Goes on a Cosmic SafariAstronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have conducted a cosmic safari to seek out a rare galactic species. Ultimately, the expedition resulted in quite a catch - the most distant galaxy cluster ever seen, located 9 billion light-years away. |
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March 21, 2006 JPL Performs First Two-Antenna Uplink ExperimentFor the first time ever, NASA's Deep Space Network has used a pair of smaller antennas to successfully send two simultaneous signals to a spacecraft in deep space that were combined at the spacecraft to yield greater signal power. |
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March 20, 2006 Scientists Use Satellites to Help Detect Deep-Ocean WhirlpoolsMarine scientists have figured out a way to see through the ocean's surface and detect what's below, with the help of satellites. |
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March 17, 2006 Mars Rovers Get New Manager During Challenging PeriodNASA's long-lived Mars rovers demand lots of care as they age and the Martian winter approaches. |
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March 16, 2006 Galaxy on Fire! NASA's Spitzer Reveals Stellar SmokeWhere there's smoke, there's fire - even in outer space. |
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March 15, 2006 NASA Announces Solar System Ambassadors Class of 2006Solar System Ambassadors are JPL-trained volunteers who share the wonders of space exploration with their communities. Each ambassador agrees to conduct at least four public outreach events during the year. |
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March 15, 2006 Odd Twist Near Milky Way CenterAstronomers report an unprecedented elongated double helix nebula near the center of our Milky Way galaxy, using observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The part of the nebula the astronomers observed stretches 80 light years in length. |
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March 14, 2006 Rover Team HonoredThe team responsible for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover missions has received the National Air and Space Museum Trophy, the museum's highest honor. |
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March 13, 2006 Years of Observing Combined Into Best-Yet Look at Mars CanyonA new view of the biggest canyon in the solar system, merging hundreds of photos from NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter, offers scientists and the public an online resource for exploring the entire canyon in detail. |
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March 13, 2006 Stardust Findings May Alter View of Comet FormationSamples from comet Wild 2 have surprised scientists, indicating the formation of at least some comets may have included materials ejected by the early sun to the far reaches of the solar system. |
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March 10, 2006 Robotic NASA Craft Begins Orbiting Mars for Most-Detailed ExamWith a crucially timed firing of its main engines today, NASA's new mission to Mars successfully put itself into orbit around the red planet. |
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March 9, 2006 NASA's Cassini Discovers Potential Liquid Water on EnceladusNASA's Cassini spacecraft may have found evidence of liquid water reservoirs that erupt in Yellowstone-like geysers on Saturn's moon Enceladus. |
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March 8, 2006 Fast-Talking NASA Spacecraft Starts Final Approach to MarsNASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has begun its final approach to the red planet after activating a sequence of commands designed to get the spacecraft successfully into orbit. |
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March 7, 2006 An Engineer's First Trip to MarsTracy Drain ticks off the complex chain of mission planning and software programming required for NASA's latest Mars orbiter to reach its destination. |
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March 3, 2006 Engineers Exercise for Martian MatchupThe Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter team that has been working furiously during the orbiter's cruise is now preparing for a big moment at Mars: the mission-critical Mars orbit insertion. |
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March 2, 2006 NASA Mission Detects Significant Antarctic Ice Mass LossThe first-ever gravity survey of the entire Antarctic ice sheet, conducted using data from the NASA/German Aerospace Center Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace), concludes the ice sheet's mass has decreased significantly from 2002 to 2005. |
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March 1, 2006 Tsunami Disaster Studies Force Rethinking of QuakesTwo newly published studies of the December 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake shed new insights on the fault rupture that caused the quake and have implications for where such giant quakes are likely to occur in the future. |
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February 24, 2006 NASA's Next Leap in Mars Exploration Nears ArrivalAs it nears Mars on March 10, a NASA spacecraft designed to examine the red planet in unprecedented detail from low orbit will point its main thrusters forward, then fire them to slow itself enough for Mars' gravity to grab it into orbit. |
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February 22, 2006 Future Space Telescope Will Build a Better Guide to the GalaxyHow big is our galaxy? Where, exactly, are we located? NASA's future SIM PlanetQuest space telescope will help answer these and other fundamental questions, laying the foundation for a real-life guide to the galaxy. |
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February 22, 2006 Closest Alien World to Be Directly DetectedAstronomers have used NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to detect a strong flow of heat radiation from a toasty planet orbiting a nearby star. |
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February 21, 2006 Stardust Team Finds Gem of a Comet ParticleThis two-micrometer comet particle, collected by the Stardust spacecraft, is made up of the silicate mineral forsterite, which can be found on Earth in gemstones called peridot. |
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February 17, 2006 A Conversation With JPL Engineer Norman AhmadNorman Ahmad is a mechanical engineer working in the Robotics division at JPL. He's inspecting the ATHLETE rover, a vehicle being developed to travel on a lunar mission and one that is capable of rolling over extremely rough or steep terrain. |
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February 16, 2006 Greenland Ice Loss Doubles in Past Decade, Raising Sea Level FasterThe loss of ice from Greenland doubled between 1996 and 2005, as its glaciers flowed faster into the ocean in response to a generally warmer climate, according to a NASA/University of Kansas study. |
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February 15, 2006 NASA's Spitzer Finds Violent Galaxies Smothered in 'Crushed Glass'NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has observed a rare population of colliding galaxies whose entangled hearts are wrapped in tiny crystals resembling crushed glass. |
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February 14, 2006 Local Teachers Fly Experiments on NASA's 'Weightless Wonder'Teachers from two Southern California schools are taking their experiments out of the classroom and into NASA's "Weightless Wonder," a flying microgravity laboratory. |
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February 14, 2006 Saturn Storm Rages: Biggest on RecordCassini scientists are tracking the strongest lighting storm ever detected at Saturn. The storm is larger than the continental United States, with lightning 1,000 times stronger than Earth's lightning. |
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February 9, 2006 JPL Honored by Space FoundationThe Space Foundation has chosen JPL to receive the 2006 Jack Swigert Award for Space Exploration. The award honors JPL's vibrant portfolio of inspiring space exploration programs. "On behalf of all the men and women at JPL, I'm gratified by this honor," said JPL Director Dr. Charles Elachi. The award will be presented on April 3 during the 22nd National Space Symposium. |
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February 8, 2006 NASA's Spitzer Uncovers Hints of Mega Solar SystemsNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has identified two huge "hypergiant" stars circled by monstrous disks of what might be planet-forming dust. |
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February 6, 2006 Microscopic View on MarsNASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its microscopic imager to capture this spectacular, jagged mini-landscape on a rock called "GongGong." Measuring only 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across, this surface records two of the most important and violent forces in the history of Mars -- volcanoes and wind. |
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February 2, 2006 Scientists Surf the Seas of Space to Catch an Atmospheric WaveA study by NASA and university scientists is shedding new light on a mysterious, cyclical wave in Earth's atmosphere that at times profoundly affects our planet's weather and climate. |
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February 2, 2006 Deep Impact Finds Water Ice on CometScientists on NASA's Deep Impact mission report the direct detection of solid water ice deposits on the surface of comet Tempel 1. This is the first time ice has been detected on the nucleus, or solid body, of a comet. Deep Impact slammed an impactor into Tempel 1 last year in a successful effort to learn more about the composition of comets. |
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January 30, 2006 Stardust Mission Status ReportNASA's Stardust spacecraft was placed into hibernation mode yesterday. |
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January 27, 2006 Comet Ejecta Fragments Captured in Stardust AerogelThe image shows a particle impact on the aluminum frame that holds the aerogel tiles from the Stardust collector grid. The debris from the impact shot into the adjacent aerogel tile, producing the explosion pattern of ejecta framents captured in the material. |
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January 26, 2006 Student-Built Buoy Launches Ocean StudiesA student-built buoy, launched this month, will send back data on ocean temperatures that will be available to scientists and students around the world. |
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January 25, 2006 New Technique, New Body FoundUsing a relatively new planet-hunting technique, researchers have discovered a potentially rocky, icy body that may be the smallest planet yet found orbiting a star other than our sun. |
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January 25, 2006 Saturn Viewing:Jan. 27Saturn reaches opposition -- the closest it comes to Earth -- on Jan. 27, 2006. It will be visible all night long. |
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January 24, 2006 Mars Rovers Advance Understanding of the Red PlanetNASA's Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been working overtime to help scientists better understand ancient environmental conditions on the red planet. |
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January 19, 2006 Scientists Confirm Comet Samples, Ecstatic with ReturnScientists said they were delighted with Stardust samples returned from the tail of a comet after an almost three-billion-mile journey. |
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January 18, 2006 Scientists Confirm Comet Samples; Briefing Set For ThursdayScientists have confirmed that particles from a comet and interstellar dust have been returned to Earth by NASA's Stardust mission. |
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January 18, 2006 JPL Hosts Public Hearing on Math and Science EducationNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., where numbers, engineering and science create magical missions to planets, comets and other space destinations, will host a state hearing on math and science education. California lawmakers, educators, and an astronaut will testify. |
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January 18, 2006 JPL to Hold High-Tech Conference for Small BusinessNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., will host the 18th annual High-Tech Conference for Small Business on March 7 and 8, at the Westin Hotel located near Los Angeles International Airport. |
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January 15, 2006 NASA's Comet Tale Draws to a Successful Close in Utah DesertNASA's Stardust sample return mission returned safely to Earth when the capsule carrying cometary and interstellar particles successfully touched down at 2:10 a.m. Pacific time (3:10 a.m. Mountain time) in the desert salt flats of the U.S. Air Force Utah Test and Training Range. |
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January 14, 2006 NASA's Stardust Passes Moon, Just Hours Away From Earth ReturnLess than one day of space travel separates Earth and history's first comet sample return mission. |
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January 12, 2006 NASA's Comet Hunter on Final Approach for Sunday LandingNASA's Stardust mission return capsule will land Sunday, Jan. 15, on the Utah Test and Training Range. |
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January 12, 2006 Stardust's Final HoursThe last few hours of the Stardust mission will be filled with significant milestones. |
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January 11, 2006 NASA's Spitzer Finds Possible Comet Dust Around Dead StarNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has spotted what may be comet dust sprinkled around the white dwarf star G29-38, which died approximately 500 million years ago. |
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January 11, 2006 Cartwheel Galaxy Makes Waves in New NASA ImageA new image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer completes a multi-wavelength, neon-colored portrait of the enormous Cartwheel galaxy after a smaller galaxy plunged through it, triggering ripples of sudden, brief star formation. |
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January 10, 2006 Spitzer Captures Our Galaxy's Bustling CenterA new infrared mosaic from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope offers a stunning view of the stellar hustle and bustle that takes place at our Milky Way galaxy's center. |
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January 9, 2006 Local Galactic TreasuresFrom sparkling blue rings to dazzling golden disks, Galaxy Evolution Explorer scientists have gathered a collection of their finest galactic treasures. Mined from the mission's Survey of Nearby Galaxies data, these cosmic gems were collected with the telescope's sensitive ultraviolet instruments. |
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January 5, 2006 Stardust Maneuvers Into Rendezvous Path With EarthTen days before its historic return to Earth with the first-ever samples from a comet, NASA's Stardust spacecraft successfully performed its 18th flight path adjustment. |
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January 5, 2006 NASA's Topex/Poseidon Oceanography Mission EndsThe joint NASA/Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales Topex/Poseidon oceanography satellite ceased operations after nearly 62,000 orbits of Earth. |
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January 5, 2006 Topex/Poseidon Sails Off Into the SunsetAfter a remarkable 13-year voyage of discovery, Topex/Poseidon, the first great oceanographic research vessel to sail into space, ended its mission this month. |
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January 3, 2006 Spirit Marks Two Years on Red PlanetOn Jan. 3, 2004, the Spirit rover landed in Gusev Crater on Mars, kicking off a mission planned to last 90-days. Two years later, Spirit and fellow robotic explorer Opportunity, which landed Jan. 24, 2004, are still going strong. Above, Spirit's most recent self-portrait. |
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Kepler Mission Rockets to Space |
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Planck Arrives at Launch Pad |
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Social Networking and JPL |
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Opportunity's View of Mars |
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Cutting Edge: New View of Smoke From Wildfires |
All 2006 releases
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