Latest science news in Astronomy & Space

The 'Camera That Saved Hubble' Turns 25

7 years ago from

Twenty-five years ago this week, the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) was installed on the Hubble Space Telescope to correct a devastating error in the telescope's primary mirror.

NASA's Mars InSight Flexes Its Arm

7 years ago from

Now unstowed, the spacecraft's robotic arm will point a camera located on its elbow and take images of the surroundings.

Planetary Defense: The Bennu Experiment

7 years ago from

OSIRIS-REx observations of asteroid Bennu will improve predictions of which asteroids could be on a trajectory that could pose a risk to Earth.

NASA InSight Lander 'Hears' Martian Winds

7 years ago from

Vibrations picked up by two spacecraft instruments have provided the first sounds of Martian wind.

NASA's Voyager 2 Probe Enters Interstellar Space

7 years ago from

For the second time in history, a human-made object has reached the space between the stars.

NASA's InSight Takes Its First Selfie

7 years ago from

Two new image mosaics detail the lander's deck and "workspace" - the surface where it will eventually set down its science instruments.

NASA's Juno Mission Halfway to Jupiter Science

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Upcoming 16th science pass of Jupiter marks Juno's halfway point in prime mission data collection.

NASA Satellites Spot Young Star in Growth Spurt

7 years ago from

An adolescent star in the midst of a dramatic growth phase has been observed with the help of two NASA space telescopes.

InSight Engineers Have Made a Martian Rock Garden

7 years ago from

Reconstructing Mars here on Earth lets them practice setting down the lander's science instruments.

NASA's InSight Places First Instrument on Mars

7 years ago from

In deploying its first instrument onto the surface of Mars, the lander completes a major mission milestone.

The Coolest Experiment in the Universe

7 years ago from

Inside NASA's Cold Atom Lab on the International Space Station, scientists are creating something colder than a winter's night in Antarctica - or even the dark side of the Moon.

Holiday Asteroid Imaged with NASA Radar

7 years ago from

The asteroid will fly safely past Earth on Saturday, Dec. 22, at a distance of about 1.8 million miles (2.9 million kilometers).

Citizen Scientists Find New World with NASA Telescope

7 years ago from

There are thousands of known exoplanets - planets orbiting stars other than our Sun - but citizen scientists have helped discover one that has a rare quality.

Holy Cow! Mysterious Blast Studied with NASA Telescopes

7 years ago from

A brief and unusual cosmic flash nicknamed "the Cow" has puzzled astronomers and astrophysicists around the globe, prompting multiple explanations for its origin.

NASA's Cassini Data Show Saturn's Rings Relatively New

7 years ago from

New measurements of the mass of Saturn's rings reveal their age - and something they have in common with dinosaurs.

Scientists Finally Know What Time It Is on Saturn

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How long is a day on Saturn? Using data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, scientists have the best answer yet to a central question about the planet.

NASA's Opportunity Rover Logs 15 Years on Mars

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The rover landed in a region of the Red Planet called Meridiani Planum 15 years ago today, on Jan. 24, 2004.

Rover Team Beaming New Commands to Opportunity on Mars

7 years ago from

Engineers at JPL have begun transmitting a new set of commands to Opportunity in an attempt to compel the Mars rover to contact Earth.

Curiosity Says Farewell to Mars' Vera Rubin Ridge

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The Mars rover is moving on and has taken its last selfie on the ridge it's explored for more than a year.

'Mars Buggy' Curiosity Measures a Mountain's Gravity

7 years ago from

Smartphone-like sensors on the NASA rover were used to calculate the density of Mount Sharp, offering new clues to its formation.

NASA's AIRS Captures Polar Vortex Moving in Over US

7 years ago from

NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument captured the polar vortex as it moved southward from central Canada into the U.S. Midwest from January 20 to January 29.

InSight's Seismometer Now Has a Cozy Shelter on Mars

7 years ago from

A domed shield has been set over one of InSight's primary science instruments, protecting it from Mars' wind and temperature changes.

Beyond Mars, the Mini MarCO Spacecraft Fall Silent

7 years ago from

The first CubeSat mission to deep space may have reached their limit, but they could inspire future NASA missions.

Tour Alien Worlds with New Multimedia Treats

7 years ago from

While you can't actually travel to a planet outside our solar system, these new multimedia treats are the next-best thing.

360 Video: Curiosity Rover Departs Vera Rubin Ridge

7 years ago from

A new immersive video lets viewers explore Curiosity's last drill site on a Martian ridge. Scientists are eager to study the data it collected there.

NASA's MAVEN Shrinking Its Orbit for Mars 2020 Rover

7 years ago from

The atmosphere-sniffing spacecraft is embarking on a new campaign to take on additional responsibility as a data-relay satellite for NASA's Mars 2020 rover.

NASA to Share Results of Effort to Recover Mars Rover

7 years ago from

NASA will discuss the status of its Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in a media briefing at 11 a.m. PST (2 p.m. EST) Wednesday, Feb. 13, from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Six Things to Know About NASA's Opportunity Mars Rover

7 years ago from

Opportunity's mission is complete. Here are highlights from its time on Mars.