Posts Tagged ‘NASA’
Science & Technology - Nov 30, 2009 14:21 - 4 Comments
Saturn’s oblong orbit linked to Titan’s lakes
CALTECH (US)—The eccentricity of Saturn’s orbit around the sun may be responsible for the unusually uneven distribution of lakes over the northern and southern polar regions of the planet’s largest moon, Titan. (more…)
Science & Technology - Nov 10, 2009 18:03 - 0 Comments
Space Station to host hatching butterflies
U. COLORADO (US)—When NASA’s space shuttle Atlantis launches for the International Space Station on Nov. 16 it will carry a butterfly experiment that will be monitored by thousands of K-12 students across the nation. The public, too, can view images and keep tabs on the project at http://bioedonline.org and www.monarchwatch.org/space. (more…)
Society & Culture - Oct 30, 2009 5:47 - 2 Comments
Race ends in dead heat; Einstein wins
STANFORD (US)—Racing across the universe for the last 7.3 billion years, two gamma-ray photons arrived at NASA’s orbiting Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope within nine-tenths of a second of one another. The dead-heat finish may stoke the fires of debate among physicists over Einstein’s special theory of relativity because one of the photons possessed a million times more energy than the other. (more…)
Science & Technology - Oct 27, 2009 13:23 - 0 Comments
T-ray tool takes extreme measures
IOWA STATE (US)—A terahertz ray (T-ray) facility is allowing researchers to take a close and unique look at materials reliability, biofuels combustion, environmental clean-up, cancer screening, biomass conversion, ionic liquids, and many other research areas in science and engineering. (more…)
Science & Technology - Oct 27, 2009 10:37 - 3 Comments
Cosmic ‘weather’ at edge of solar system
U. CHICAGO (US)—Scientists have published the first comprehensive sky maps revealing a surprising ribbon of energetic neutral atoms at the outer edge of the solar wind bubble surrounding the solar system. (more…)
Science & Technology - Oct 20, 2009 11:00 - 0 Comments
Cassini reshapes view of solar system
JOHNS HOPKINS (US)—It turns out that the solar system may look more like a basketball than a comet. Images from one of the sensors on NASA’s Cassini spacecraft suggest that the heliosphere—the region of our sun’s influence—may not have the comet-like shape predicted by existing models. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Oct 7, 2009 10:52 - 5 Comments
Arctic sea ice’s downward trend continues
U. COLORADO (US)—Despite a slight recovery in 2009—from record-setting low years in 2007 and 2008—the summer Arctic sea ice extent remains significantly below previous years, continuing a trend toward ice-free Arctic summers. (more…)
Science & Technology - Sep 29, 2009 11:52 - 0 Comments
Messenger makes final Mercury flyby
U. COLORADO (US)—NASA’s Messenger spacecraft will zip by Mercury for the third and final time today, September 29, cruising within 142 miles of the planet’s surface at more than 100,000 mph. Messenger will take high-resolution color images of the surface terrain before making a clever gravity-assist maneuver that will steer it into orbit around the rocky planet beginning in March 2011. (more…)
Science & Technology - Sep 22, 2009 12:01 - 0 Comments
Crystals to grow in low gravity on Space Station
IOWA STATE (US)—An experiment to study crystal growth patterns in a microgravity environment that is on its way to the International Space Station may have important implications for developing new materials. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Sep 21, 2009 15:58 - 0 Comments
Human activity threatens world’s river deltas
An image of the Pearl River Delta in China taken by NASA’s space shuttle Endeavour during the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission in 2000. The areas below sea level are shown in purple. (Courtesy: NASA/CSDMS/University of Colorado)
Science & Technology - Jul 7, 2009 13:20 - 2 Comments
Sci-fi meets Wi-Fi: Internet in outer space
Space payload operators Emily Pilinski (left), Andrew Jenkins (center), and Sebastian Kusminski receive data packets from the International Space Station as part of tests to extend the Internet to outer space. (Credit: Glenn Asakawa/University of Colorado)
Science & Technology - Jun 19, 2009 15:41 - 2 Comments
What a view! Shorefront property found on Mars
Reconstructed landscape showing the Shalbatana Lake on Mars as it may have looked roughly 3.4 billion years ago. Data used in reconstruction are from NASA and the European Space Agency. (Credit: G. Di Achille/ University of Colorado)
Science & Technology - Jun 15, 2009 9:49 - 0 Comments
Mars rover finds telltale signs of water in crater
A mosaic of Cape St. Vincent, a promontory in the north wall of Victoria Crater, taken by the Mars rover Opportunity on May 6, 2007. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)
Science & Technology - Jun 8, 2009 11:55 - 1 Comment
Seeing blue in search for Earth-like planets
This artist’s impression shows a gas-giant exoplanet transiting across the face of its star. (Credit: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
Science & Technology - Jun 2, 2009 15:17 - 3 Comments
Asteroids hammering Earth a boon to early life?
Credit: NASA
Science & Technology - Apr 29, 2009 15:52 - 1 Comment
Missing planets? Signs point to killer stars
U. WASHINGTON (US)—Astronomers during the past two decades have found hundreds of planets orbiting stars outside our solar system. They might have found more, except some of the planets appear to be missing. New research suggests stars—and their gravitational tug—may be to blame. (more…)
Science & Technology - Mar 11, 2009 14:16 - 0 Comments
Fermi telescope captures ‘whopper’ gamma-ray burst
STANFORD (US)—Just months after its launch, the Fermi gamma-ray telescope has revealed the most massive gamma-ray blast ever detected, painting a new picture of our high-energy universe. The mind-boggling blast exceeded the power of nearly 9,000 ordinary supernovae. (more…)
Uncategorized - Mar 6, 2009 12:27 - 1 Comment
Cassini maps weather on Saturn’s massive moon
JOHNS HOPKINS (US)—The rippled sand dunes on Titan tell a story of wind and weather. After four years of data collection by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, scientists have mapped the dune fields on Saturn’s largest moon. The results could prove significant for planning future Titan explorations that might involve balloon-borne experiments.
