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Recent Features

Goddard Women Highlighted at MD Women's Heritage Center

12.27.11 - The women of NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Md. are going to be highlighted in a new book for an exhibit at the Maryland Women's Heritage Center.
ISS Captures Unprecedented View of Comet

12.22.11 - International Space Station Commander Dan Burbank captured spectacular imagery of Comet Lovejoy on Dec. 21.
2012: Shadow of the Dark Rift

12.21.11 - A cosmic alignment of the sun, Earth, and the center of our galaxy on the winter solstice happens every year without event, and poses no danger in 2012.
Cryogenic Testing Completed for Webb Telescope Mirrors

12.21.11 - Cryogenic testing is complete for the final six primary mirror segments and a secondary mirror that will fly on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
NORAD and Satellite Technology Help Santa Deliver

12.19.11 - To better assure prompt deliveries and safe flights for Santa and others, higher technology systems are increasingly being used to support the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
Comet Lovejoy Plunges into the Sun and Survives

12.16.11 - An armada of spacecraft witnessed something that many experts thought impossible. Comet Lovejoy flew through the hot atmosphere of the sun and emerged intact.
Goddard Year In Review: People

12.19.11 - None of Goddard's amazing scientific discoveries and technological achievements would be possible without the human element.
Gerald Soffen Lecture Series: Dr. Holly Gilbert - Unlocking the Secrets of the Sun

On Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012, Dr. Holly Gilbert will discuss the amazing strides scientists have made in understanding the inner workings of our sun over the last 50 years. The lecture will start promptly at 7 p.m., and registration in advance is required.
RXTE Detects 'Heartbeat' of Smallest Black Hole Candidate

12.15.11 - An international team of astronomers has identified a candidate for the smallest-known black hole using data from NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer.
Webb Telescope Receives COCOA this Winter

12.15.11 - Engineers working on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope are bringing out the COCOA, but it's not going to help them keep warm.
Curiosity and the Solar Storm

12.14.11 - Curiosity, launched on Nov. 26 on the Mars Science Laboratory, has begun monitoring space radiation during its 8-month trip from Earth to Mars using an instrument called the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) that monitors high-energy atomic and subatomic particles.
Goddard Year In Review: Earth Science

12.16.11 - These stories, images and videos represent some of Goddard's 2011 Earth science highlights.
2012: Fear No Supernova

12.16.11 - Given the vastness of space and the long times between supernovae, astronomers can say with certainty that there is no threatening star close enough to hurt Earth.
Participating Scientists Selected for Mars, Saturn Missions

12.15.11 - Five scientists from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have been selected as participating scientists for NASA's Curiosity and Cassini missions.
Goddard Year In Review: Astrophysics

12.15.11 - These stories, images and videos represent some of Goddard's 2011 astrophysics highlights.
Hubble Serves Up a Holiday Snow Angel

12.06.11 - NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope presents a festive holiday greeting in the form of a soaring, celestial snow angel.
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@LRO_NASA Surpasses 100k Twitter Followers

12.14.11 - NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has acquired more than 100,000 followers on Twitter. LRO joined Twitter on May 29, 2008.
Comet Lovejoy -- Many Views

12.19.11 - Another view of Comet Lovejoy's solar approach taken by Hinode.
NASA Developing Comet Harpoon

12.13.11 - What's the best way to collect a sample from a comet? NASA engineers think a harpoon may be the answer.
Goddard Year In Review: Technology

12.14.11 - These stories, images and videos represent some of the 2011 highlights from Goddard in terms of technology developments.
RBSP Ready for Space Environment Tests

12.14.11 - NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) will soon enter a challenging series of tests to certify they are ready for their August 2012 launch and two-year mission in Earth's orbit.
Tycho's Star Shines in Gamma-rays

12.13.11 - Fermi has revealed gamma-rays in the remains of a supernova first seen in 1572.
Goddard Year In Review: Planetary Science

12.13.11 - These stories, images and videos represent some of the 2011 highlights from Goddard in the field of planetary science.
Goddard Year In Review: Heliophysics

12.12.11 - These stories, images and videos represent some of the 2011 highlights from Goddard in the field of heliophysics, the study of the sun and its interactions with Earth and other bodies.
Study Shows More Shrubbery in a Warming World

12.08.11 - The study, focusing on Quebec, is one of the first to present a detailed view of how warmer temperatures are influencing plant distribution and density in northern areas of North America.
Climate History Hints at Potential Rapid Changes

12.08.11 - New research into Earth's climate history suggests there is potential for rapid climate changes this century if global warming is not abated.
LRO to Observe 2011's Final Lunar Eclipse

12.09.11 - LRO will get a moon-based perspective on the final lunar eclipse of 2011, which occurs on December 10.
Ten Successful Years of Mapping the Middle Atmosphere

12.07.11 - TIMED has collected data over almost an entire solar cycle, which lasts about 11 years, creating a new picture of Earth's environment as well as how it responds to changes in the sun.
Landsat satellites Track Yellowstone's Underground Heat

12.07.11 - Heat pouring off an ancient (and still active) volcano fuels Yellowstone's famous hot springs, mud pots, terraces and geysers, including Old Faithful.
Hubble Racks Up 10,000 Science Papers

12.06.11 - NASA's Hubble Space Telescope becomes one of the most prolific astronomical endeavors in history after racking up 10,000 scientific papers.
Solar Storms Could 'Sandblast' the Moon

12.06.11 - A typical two-day solar storm could strip hundreds of tons of material from the moon.
Satellite Data Shows that Kirtland’s Warblers Prefer Forests After Fire

12.07.11 - A new study using data from a NASA-built Landsat shows that Kirtland's warblers like to live in young forests and often forests that have been on fire.
Ancient Dry Spells Offer Clues on Future Drought

12.05.11 - Scientists have unearthed new evidence about ancient droughts that suggest the future could bring even more serious water shortages.
NASA Confirms Sharp Pollution Decline

12.01.11 - Scientists have confirmed major reductions in the eastern United States of an air pollutant generated by coal power plants: sulfur dioxide.
Pole Reversal Happens All The (Geologic) Time

11.30.11 - Earth's magnetic field has flipped its polarity many times over the millennia -- but this causes no dramatic effects, and will not lead to problems in 2012.
Texas Drought Visible in New Groundwater Maps

11.30.11 - Record-breaking drought in Texas has reduced groundwater levels in much of the state to the lowest levels seen in more than 60 years.
Swift Finds a Gamma-Ray Burst With a Dual Personality

11.30.11 - A peculiar cosmic explosion seen by the Swift observatory on Christmas Day 2010 was either a novel type of supernova located billions of light-years away or an unusual collision much closer to home
In Cygnus, Fermi Reveals A Cosmic-ray Cocoon

11.28.11 - Fermi's Large Area Telescope penetrates the dust of the Milky Way's Great Rift to reveal one of our galaxy's richest-known stellar construction zones.
Lightning-made Waves Leak Into Space

11.28.11 - Lightning bursts create electromagnetic waves that circle around Earth creating a low frequency wave called Schumann resonance. These have now been detected in space and can be used to study our atmosphere.
An Educational ECHO, 'FIRST' Heard by NASA

11.23.11 - Take five NASA employees, add a year-long leadership program, 30 enthusiastic children, homemade rockets, moon buggies, video games, and six hours on a Saturday. What is the result?
NPP'S VIIRS Instrument Returns First Image Data

11.22.11 - The Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) onboard NASA's newest Earth-observing satellite, NPP, acquired its first measurements on Nov. 21, 2011.
Hubble Finds Stellar Life and Death

11.22.11 - A new Hubble image shows a collection of hundreds of thousands of stars in a dwarf galaxy neighbor of the Milky Way.
Gerald Soffen Lecture Series: Dr. Tim Livengood - The Accidental Observatory

On Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011, planetary astrophysicist Dr. Tim Livengood will use the Deep Impact mission as an example to describe how scientists and engineers work together to add new tasks to spacecraft already in space. The lecture will start promptly at 7 p.m., and registration in advance is required.
All Systems Go For Next Comm. Spacecraft

11.21.11 - The most recent evaluations of NASA's TDRS project confirmed all systems go for a third generation upgrade of the orbiting communications network.
NASA Worker Wins 2011 Presidential SAVE Award

11.21.11 - A financial manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center won the 2011 Presidential SAVE award.
TRMM Sees Deadly Tornadic Thunderstorms in Southeastern U.S.

11.18.11 - Tornadoes are expected to accompany severe storms in the spring and fall seasons. On Nov. 16 TRMM kept watch as tornadoes occurred with a long line of thunderstorms in the Southeastern U.S.
Goddard Warfighter Mission, Expanding Human Boundaries

11.18.11 - This mission, established in support of the Operation Warfighter (OWF) program, allows service members to expand employment opportunities and discover new career paths while adjusting to daily life after military service.
Galaxies: The Ultimate Recyclers

11.17.11 - New Hubble observations are expanding astronomers' understanding of how galaxies recycle immense volumes of hydrogen gas and heavy elements.
New NASA Missions to Investigate How Mars Turned Hostile

11.18.11 - Two new NASA missions, one that will roam the surface and another that will orbit the planet and dip briefly into its upper atmosphere, will try to discover what transformed Mars into its current uninhabitable state.
Assembly Stand Completed for NASA's Webb Telescope Flight Optics

11.17.11 - The giant steel frame, now at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, will be used to assemble the mirrors and instruments of the Webb telescope.
Using Satellites to Sustain 7 Billion People

11.16.11 - With seven billion people now living on Earth, the expanding demand for resources is exerting unprecedented pressure on global resources, especially forests, water and food.
New Hi-Res Lunar Map from LRO

11.16.11 - The new topographic map -- the highest resolution ever created -- shows surface shape and features over nearly the entire moon.
Supervolcanoes: Not a Threat For 2012

11.15.11 - Throughout Earth's 4.5-billion-year lifetime massive supervolcanoes have erupted. However, despite the claims of those who fear 2012,there’s no evidence that such a supereruption is imminent.
2011 NASA OPTIMUS PRIME Video Contest

11.15.11 - NASA is now accepting submissions for the NASA OPTIMUS PRIME Spinoff Video Contest, which aims to raise awareness of how NASA technology benefits the public.
FASTSAT Paints Detailed View of Region Near Earth

11.14.11 - FASTSAT has painted a detailed picture of the dynamic region around Earth, showing a host of interrelated phenomena -- such as electric currents and outflowing particles occurring together.
Ocean Temperatures Can Predict Amazon Fire Season Severity

11.10.11 - Researchers created a model to predict the severity and geographic distribution of fires in the Amazon rain forest and the rest of South America months in advance.
NASA's Hubble Observes Young Dwarf Galaxies Bursting With Stars

11.10.11 - Using its near-infrared vision to peer 9 billion years back in time, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered an extraordinary population of young dwarf galaxies brimming with star formation.
2012: Killer Solar Flares Are a Physical Impossibility

11.10.11 - Some people speculate gigantic natural disasters that will destroy Earth as we know it on December 21, 2012 -- but a killer solar flare is a physical impossibility.
NPP Satellite Acquires First Moisture Measurements

11.10.11 - The Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder on board NASA's newest Earth-observing satellite, NPP, acquired its first low-atmosphere moisture measurements on November 8, 2011.
NASA's Swift Catches Asteroid Flyby

11.10.11 - As asteroid 2005 YU55 swept past Earth in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, Swift monitored the fast-moving space rock.
Launch of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover, Featuring SAM!

11.10.11 - The launch window for the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover opens on Friday, November 25th at 10:25 a.m. ET. Join us from 9:00–11:30 a.m. at the Goddard Visitor Center for a launch event featuring the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM), an instrument suite on Curiosity built right here at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Potential New NASA Mission Would Reveal the Hearts of Undead Stars

11.09.11 - The heavy heart of a neutron star holds matter on the edge of oblivion. A proposed NASA mission will discover what's inside.
New NASA Material Redefines 'Dark'

11.08.11 - NASA engineers have produced a material that absorbs more than 99 percent of the light that hits it, across multiple wavelengths.
A 360 Degree View of an X-class Flare and A CME

11.04.11 - The sun sent out two different kinds of solar activity on November 3, 2011 in different directions: an X.19 solar flare and a particularly bright CME.
NASA Airborne Mission Maps Remote, Deteriorating Glaciers

11.03.11 - As the only large-scale, ongoing survey of the elevation of Antarctica's ice sheet, IceBridge is beginning to return its own record of the continent's changing ice cover.
Fermi Finds Youngest Millisecond Pulsar

11.03.11 - This surprisingly powerful pulsar challenges existing theories about how these objects form.
Hinode's First Light . . . and Five More Years

11.01.11 - Five years after its instruments turned on, Hinode has provided some of the highest resolution images of the sun the world had ever seen -- as well as help solve such mysteries as why the sun's atmosphere is a thousand times hotter than its surface.
Halloween Weekend Snow Paints a Ghostly Picture in the U.S. Northeast

10.31.11 - A late October snowstorm from a Nor'easter blanketed the eastern U.S. from West Virginia to Maine and broke records the weekend before Halloween Monday
NASA Studies Ways to Make 'Tractor Beams' Real

10.31.11 - A team of NASA scientists has won funding to study how this sci-fi technology (moving objects with laser light) could be brought into reality.
A Crack in the Pine Island Glacier Ice Shelf →

10.27.11 - NASA's IceBridge team has seen a large -- and unexpected -- crack running across Pine Island Glacier, one of the largest and fastest-moving glaciers in Antarctica.
TIRS Instrument Completes First Round of Thermal Vacuum Testing

11.01.11 - The Thermal Infrared Sensor that will fly on the next Landsat satellite completed its first round of thermal vacuum testing at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
Solar Cycle Primer

10.27.11 - The number of sunspots on the sun increase and decrease over time in a regular, approximately 11-year cycle. More sunspots mean increased solar activity, when great blooms of radiation and particles blast off the sun.
Beautiful Red Aurora

10.25.11 - A coronal mass ejection (CME) shot off the sun late in the evening of October 21 and hit Earth on October 24 at about 2 PM ET causing red aurora in the U.S.
STEREO Celebrates Five Years

10.25.11 - On Oct. 25, 2006 STEREO launched to do something never done before: see the entire sun simultaneously.
Scientist Receives First Climate Communications Award

10.24.11 - Gavin Schmidt, a climate scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, received the Climate Communications Prize from AGU.
Gerald Soffen Lecture Series: Dr. Jane Rigby - Why Space Telescopes Are Amazing

On Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011, astrophysicist Jane Rigby will discuss the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory. Explore how this team of observatories works together to answer important questions: How do stars form? Is there really dark matter? Is the universe expanding? The lecture will start promptly at 7 p.m., and registration in advance is required.
Significant Antarctic Ozone Hole Remains

10.20.11 - This year's Antarctic ozone hole, which yawns wide every Southern Hemisphere spring, was the ninth largest on record.
Ozone Depletion a Bigger Deal Down Under

10.20.11 - The Earth's thinning ozone layer is synonymous with a singing and dancing seagull named Sid -- at least it is in New Zealand and Australia.
NASA Releases Visual Tour of Earth's Fires

10.19.11 - NASA has released a series of new satellite data visualizations that show tens of millions of fires detected worldwide from space since 2002.
Students Invited to Study the Sun During Solar Week

10.19.11 - Solar Week provides a week-long series of web-based educational activities for classrooms about our magnetic variable star, the sun, and its interactions with Earth and the solar system.
Global Precipitation Satellite Takes a Ride

10.19.11 - In the clean room at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the GPM mission's Core satellite is steadily taking shape.
A Look Back at a Decade of Fires

10.19.11 - For more than a decade, instruments on NASA satellites have revolutionized what scientists know about fire's role in land cover change, ecosystem processes, and the global carbon cycle.
Star's Dusty Disk May Host Planets

10.19.11 - Spiral arm-like structures in the disk of gas and dust around a sun-like star may provide clues to the presence of as-yet-unseen planets.
Firestation in Space to Open Firehose of Lightning Data

10.17.11 - Heliophysicist Doug Rowland has secured a 2013 flight opportunity to the ISS for Firestation, a pint-sized instrument studying lightning in Earth's upper atmosphere, and must prepare for a veritable "fire hose" of data.
Tropical Systems Bring Heavy Rain to Mexico and Central America

10.14.11 - Within just the past week, the East Pacific has seen a resurgence in tropical activity with the formation of three tropical systems
Ambitious Hubble Survey Obtaining New Dark Matter Census

10.13.11 - A Hubble survey of 25 galactic clusters reveals the most comprehensive data to date on the distribution dark matter by observing the visual distortion or lensing due to invisible matter in the clusters.
New Earth-Observing Satellite Preps for Launch

10.12.11 - NASA is planning an Oct. 27 launch of the first Earth-observing satellite to measure both global climate changes and key weather variables.
Giant-Sized Webb Space Telescope Model to 'Land' in Baltimore

10.12.11 - Baltimore's Maryland Science Center is going to be the "landing site" for the life-sized full-scale model of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, and it's free for all to see.
Fermi Scientist Earns 2012 Panofsky Prize →

10.12.11 - Dr. Bill Atwood was awarded the prestigious prize for his work on the design, construction and use of Fermi's Large Area Telescope.
ESA To Collaborate with NASA on Solar Science Mission

10.06.11 - On October 4, 2011, the European Space Agency announced it's two next science missions, including Solar Orbiter, a spacecraft geared to study the powerful influence of the sun.
Planets Found in Decade-Old Hubble Data

10.06.11 - A painstaking re-analysis of Hubble Space Telescope images from 1998 has uncovered two extrasolar planets that went undetected at the time.
Arctic Sea Ice Hits 2nd-Lowest Level

10.04.11 - Last month the extent of sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean declined to the second-lowest extent on record, narrowly avoiding a new low.
Incoming Comet; Outgoing CME

10.04.11 - On October 2, 2011, an exceptionally bright comet headed toward the sun and disintegrated; moments later a large coronal mass ejection (CME) blew off the other side of the sun.
Nikolaos Paschalidis: Miniaturized Details and the Big Picture

10.04.11 - A profile of Nikolaos Paschalidis, who is in charge of coordinating science and technology advancement efforts of NASA Goddard's Heliophysics division. He builds tiny chips for spacecraft, and thinks big about the future.
Hubble Space Telescope Contributes to Nobel Prize in Physics

10.04.11 - Observations made by Hubble of a special type of supernovae contributed to research on the expansion of the universe that was honored with the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics.
NASA Leads Study of Unprecedented Arctic Ozone Loss

10.02.11 - A NASA-led study looks at unprecedented depletion of Earth's protective ozone layer above the Arctic last winter and spring, caused by prolonged, extremely low temperatures.
Announcement of New Heliophysics Director

09.30.11 - Dr. Barbara Giles has accepted the position of Director for NASA's Science Mission Directorate Heliophysics Division.
Space Telescopes Reveal Secrets of Turbulent Black Hole

09.29.11 - A fleet of spacecraft including the Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered unprecedented details in the surroundings of a black hole.
Gerald Soffen Lecture Series: Dr. Michael Mumma

Join us at the Goddard Visitor Center for the inauguration of the Gerald Soffen Lecture Series on Thursday, October 13. Michael J. Mumma of the Solar System Exploration Division at Goddard Space Flight Center’s Center for Astrobiology will be kicking off the series with a lecture on "The Search for Life on Mars." The lecture will start promptly at 7 p.m., and registration in advance is required.
MAVEN Mission Primary Structure Complete

09.26.11 - Lockheed Martin completed building the primary structure of the MAVEN spacecraft at its Space Systems Company facility near Denver.
Study: Venus Weather Not Boring After All

09.27.11 - Weather on Venus has a reputation for being consistently bad. New research reveals it may just be bad.
Geomagnetic Storm Subsiding

09.27.11 - The severe geomagnetic storm that began yesterday when a CME hit Earth's magnetic field is subsiding.
Aquarius Yields NASA's First Map of Ocean Salinity

09.22.11 - NASA's new Aquarius instrument has produced its first global map of the salinity of the ocean surface, providing an early glimpse of the mission's anticipated discoveries.
A Solar Flare and a CME

09.22.11 - Our increasingly active Sun produced a large CME yesterday evening and an X1.4 class flare this morning. This increased solar activity is a normal byproduct as the sun approaches solar max.
NASA to Demonstrate Communications Via Laser Beam

09.22.11 - It currently takes 90 minutes to transmit high-resolution images from Mars, but NASA would like to dramatically reduce that time to just minutes
Six CMEs in 24 Hours

09.20.11 - The sun let loose with at least six coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from 7 PM ET on September 18, 2011 until 1 PM on September 19. One may impact Earth and spark aurora tomorrow.
Tests Under way on the Sunshield for NASA's Webb Telescope

09.19.11 - NASA is testing an element of the sunshield that will protect the James Webb Space Telescope's mirrors and instruments during its mission to observe the most distant objects in the universe.
Low-Mass Galaxies Can Harbor Supermassive Black Holes

09.15.11 - Using the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3, astronomers have found supermassive black holes growing in surprisingly small galaxies.
During Shuttle Era, Goddard Provided The Critical Path

09.16.11 - From the time a space shuttle launched until its landing at the Kennedy Space Center, NASA Goddard's space communication networks provided the constant link necessary for every mission.
Webb Telescope Completes Mirror-Coating Milestone

09.13.11 - The James Webb Space Telescopes mirrors have completed their coating process which allows the Webb telescope's "infrared eyes" to observe extremely faint objects in infrared light.
Solar Activity Subsiding - Auroras Ablaze

09.12.11 - After last week's flurry of strong flares from sunspot 1283, solar activity is subsiding as this sunspot rotates over the sun's western limb. Aurora from last week's solar activity will be dancing in the sky for the next several day.
Fermi Highlights Cosmic Mysteries

09.09.11 - If Fermi's catalog of the universe were a recipe, the two major ingredients would be active galaxies and pure mystery.
Sunspot 1283 Is Bristling With Flares-UPDATED

09.08.11 - The first of what will likely be several CME hits occurred this morning sparking a strong geomagnetic storm. Additional hits will occur over the weekend.
Cruising the Chesapeake for Water and Air Quality

09.08.11 - A NASA-led team of scientists took to the Chesapeake Bay this summer to determine how to study water and air quality in coastal regions from space.
X2.1 Solar Flare and CME

09.07.11 - Sunspot 1283 erupted with another flare yesterday that peaked at 6:20 PM ET. This was an X2.1 class flare, some four times stronger than the earlier flare.
SDO Spots a Late Phase in Solar Flares

09.07.11 - Fifteen percent of the flares have a distinct "late phase flare" some minutes to hours later that has never before been observed. This late phase of the flare pumps much more energy out into space than previously realized.
New Images Offer Sharper View of Apollo Sites

09.06.11 - NASA's LRO captured the sharpest images ever taken from space of the Apollo 12, 14 and 17 landing sites.
M5.3 Solar Flare Eruption-CME

09.06.11 - At 9:35 PM ET on Labor Day, the sun emitted an Earth-directed M5.3 class flare as measured by the GOES satellite.
Next Earth-Observing Satellite Arrives at Launch Site

08.31.11 - On Tuesday, Aug. 30, NASA's next climate science satellite arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to begin preparations for an October launch.
Satellite Observes Record Highs in the Great Plains

08.31.11 - As temperatures soared across the Great Plains this July, NASA satellites observed the unusual weather from above.
Hubble Sees Supersonic Jets from Young Stars

08.31.11 - New movies created from years of Hubble still images provide new details about the stellar birthing process, showing energetic jets of glowing gas ejected from young stars.
How A Distant Black Hole Devoured A Star

08.24.11 - Two studies in the Aug. 25 issue of Nature provide new insights into a cosmic accident that has been streaming X-rays toward Earth.
NASA Selects Goddard Proposal for Tech. Mission

08.22.11 - NASA selected three proposals today (one of which is from Goddard) to transform space communications, deep space navigation and in-space propulsion capabilities.
Webb Instrument Completes Cryo Testing in U.K.

08.18.11 - The Webb telescope's MIRI instrument will examine the first light in the universe and the formation of planets around other stars.
Space Storm Tracked from Sun to Earth

08.18.11 - For the first time, a spacecraft far from Earth has turned and watched a solar storm engulf our planet.
Take a Virtual Tour of NASA Goddard

08.11.11 - If you would like to know what happens behind that gates of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., you can now get a virtual tour of the facilities and learn about the amazing science and technology that happen at the center.
Hubble Offers a Dazzling 'Necklace'

08.11.11 - A giant cosmic necklace glows brightly in Hubble's latest image.
Smoke from Va.'s Lateral West Fire

Today, the GOES-13 satellite captured a visible image of the thick brown smoke streaming from the Lateral West Fire burning in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (GDSBWR) in southeastern ...
Sun Unleashes X6.9 Class Flare

08.09.11 - On Aug. 9, 2011, the sun unleashed an X6.9 class flare. Though not Earth directed, we may experience radio and communications blackouts.
Tohoku Tsunami Created Icebergs In Antarctica

08.08.11 - Scientists observed for the first time the power of an earthquake and tsunami to break off large icebergs a hemisphere away.
DNA Building Blocks Can Be Made in Space

08.08.11 - NASA-funded research has discovered that some of the basic building blocks of life may have been brought to a young Earth by meteorites.
NPP Completes Comprehensive Testing

08.08.11 - NPP has successfully completed its most comprehensive end-to-end compatibility test of the actual satellite and all five scientific instruments.
The WINCS Factory

08.03.11 - Fred Herrero realized that to understand Earth's upper atmosphere, he would need an armada of satellites gathering simultaneous measurements.
NPP Runs the Gauntlet of Environmental Testing

08.02.11 - Testing to evaluate whether a satellite is ready for space occurs at several levels. Some individual parts and each individual instrument from the satellite go through three types of testing.
Friday Night M9.3 Light

08.01.11 - Active solar region 1261 let loose with a short-lived M9.3 flare on Friday Night. No Earth directed affects are expected.
NASA’s Low-Flying Air-Quality Campaign Concludes Phase I

07.29.11 - Motorists in the Baltimore-Washington area have one less thing to keep an eye on as of July 30. NASA’s most recent air quality field study has concluded.
Webb Telescope Technologies Helping Human Eyes

07.28.11 - While construction of the Webb Telescope, which has the most advanced infrared vision of any observatory, is underway, its technologies are proving useful to human eye health.
SOHO Watches a Comet Fading Away

07.28.11 - SOHO and EPOXI combined forces to provide observations on Comet Hartley 2 -- which appears to be an irregular comet, belching chunks of ice and losing water at a surprisingly fast pace.
Smoke Gets in Your Skies

07.27.11 - An image showing smoke over the Chesapeake Bay drifting north from wildfires in N.C. and Ga. as viewed by the HSRL aboard NASA Langley’s UC-12 aircraft.
SDO Spots Extra Energy in the Sun's Corona

07.27.11 - Ripples in the sun's magnetic field called Alfven waves have been shown to carry more energy than previously thought, possibly enough to drive the intense heating of the corona and to speed the solar wind to 1.5 million mph.
NASA Movies Show Evolution of U.S. 2011 Heat Wave →

07.27.11 - The continuing heat wave in the United States in July 2011 has broken temperature records in many locations, killed dozens and seen nearly half of all Americans under heat advisories at its peak.
Last Picture of Atlantis in Space

07.21.11 - Astrophotographer Thierry Legault captured what might be the last picture of Atlantis in space--and it was a solar transit.
MAVEN Mission Completes Major Milestone

07.22.11 - The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission reached a major milestone last week when it successfully completed its Mission Critical Design Review
Landsat Satellites Track Continued Missouri River Flooding

07.20.11 - Flooding along the Missouri River continues as shown in recent Landsat satellite images of the Nebraska and Iowa border.
Hubble Discovers Another Moon Around Pluto

07.20.11 - Hubble Space Telescope's keen vision has found yet another moon (the fourth) orbiting the distant, icy dwarf planet Pluto.
Being "Secondary" is Important for a Webb Telescope Mirror

07.19.11 - 'Secondary' may not sound as important as 'primary' but when it comes to the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope a secondary mirror plays a critical role in ensuring the telescope gathers information from the cosmos.
Goddard Watches Atlantis's Return

07.21.11 - Atlantis touched down the morning of July 21, 2011, signaling the end of the space shuttle era, a program with 135 launches over 30 years and conceptual roots dating back to the Nixon administration.
Second ARTEMIS Spacecraft Successfully Enters Lunar Orbit

07.17.11 - The second of the two ARTEMIS spacecraft entered lunar orbit Sunday morning.
Launch Postponed - Next Attempt 2012

07.15.11 - NASA is postponing the launch of two suborbital sounding rockets from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on July 15 to no earlier than 2012.
New Ways to Measure Magnetism Around the Sun

07.14.11 - NASA researchers have made use of old mathematical techniques and new insights on how CMEs travel.
Sounding Rockets Study Atmospheric Currents

07.06.11 - This July, scientists will launch four rockets from NASA Wallops Flight Facility to study how space winds and charged particles affect the way each other move, causing dynamo currents through the lower atmosphere.
Dark Fireworks on the Sun

07.11.11 - NASA has just released new high-resolution videos of the solar event recorded by SDO on June 7, 2011.
Hubble's Neptune Anniversary Pictures

07.12.11 - Neptune has completed its first full orbit since it was discovered nearly 165 years ago. Hubble commemorated the event with "anniversary pictures."
Goddard's Role in Final Flight of Atlantis

07.08.11 - Though Atlantis has embarked on its final flight, work is just beginning for staff at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
Three Active Volcanoes in NASA Imagery

07.08.11 - NASA has just released satellite images showing activity this week from volcanoes in the countries of Eritrea, Chile and Indonesia.
Herschel Helps Solve Mystery of Cosmic Dust Origins

07.07.11 - New observations from the infrared Herschel Space Observatory reveal that an exploding star expelled the equivalent of between 160,000 and 230,000 Earth masses of fresh dust.
Sungrazer Comet In Front of the Sun

07.07.11 - For the first time ever, SDO has captured a movie of a comet streaking directly in front of the sun.
Peek at Saturn Through Telescopes at NASA Goddard

07.07.11 - The visitor center at NASA Goddard will be open the evening of July 12, 2011, for guests to learn about Saturn and gaze at the ringed planet through telescopes. (RSVP required.)
NASA's Hubble Makes One Millionth Science Observation

07.05.11 - On July 4, 2011, Hubble logged its one millionth science observation during a search for water in an exoplanet's atmosphere 1,000 light-years away.
MicroSpec to Capture Youthful View of Universe

06.30.11 - Scientists hope to fill in some of the empty pages of the universe's photo album with the help of an instrument not much thicker than a human hair.
Sunrise View of Tycho Peak

06.30.11 - On June 10, 2011, LRO captured a dramatic sunrise view of Tycho crater.
Final Polishing Complete on Remaining Webb Mirrors

06.29.11 - Mirrors are a critical part of a telescope. The quality is crucial, so completion of mirror polishing represents a major milestone.
Gamma-rays from Stellar 'Odd Couple'

06.29.11 - Every 3.4 years, a pair of mismatched stars in the southern constellation Crux whisk past each other, shooting out extreme forms of light each time.
Images of the P-3B Aircraft's Visit to Baltimore

06.28.11 - The 117-foot P-3B NASA research aircraft on the tarmac at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Tuesday, June 28, 2011, in Baltimore, Md.
First ARTEMIS Spacecraft Successfully Enters Lunar Orbit

06.28.11 - The first of the two ARTEMIS spacecraft entered lunar orbit this morning. ARTEMIS was the first mission to orbit the moon's Lagrangian points and this is the first ever attempt to move from the Lagrangian into lunar orbit.
NASA Aircraft to Study Air Pollution

06.28.11 - NASA's launching a new mission in summer 2011 to gather data on air pollution and expand our understanding of how it affects us.
ARTEMIS Spacecraft Prepare for Lunar Orbit

06.23.11 - It took one and a half years, over 90 orbit maneuvers, many gravitational boosts and little fuel to move two spacecraft from their orbits around Earth to their new home around the moon.
Getting Ready for the Next Big Solar Storm

06.22.11 - In Sept. 1859 the sun unleashed one of the most powerful storms in centuries. This week, officials have gathered in Washington DC to ask themselves a simple question: What if it happens again?
Paving the Way for Space-Based Air Pollution Sensors

06.23.11 - NASA is diagnosing the air we breathe this summer. The low-altitude P-3B aircraft will be viewable along the I-95/Balt.-Wash. Pkwy during the mission.
Solstice Flare and CME - UPDATE

06.24.11 - NOAA forecasters declare a 30-35% chance of geomagnetic storms during the next 24 hours due to a fast-moving stream of solar wind, combined with the CME expected to arrive on June 24, 2011.
LRO Shows Moon as Never Before

06.21.11 - LRO has forever changed our view of the moon, literally bringing it into sharper focus and showing us the whole globe in unprecedented detail.
NASA's Swift Sees Star Gobbled Up by Black Hole

06.17.11 - Swift discovered a series of powerful X-ray blasts coming from a source in the constellation Draco.
GOES Releases 2-Week Movie of Chilean Volcanic Eruption

06.16.11 - The NASA/NOAA GOES satellite Project released a satellite animation of two-weeks of eruptions from the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano in Chile.
Webb Telescope Completes 1st Round of Cryogenic Mirror Test

06.16.11 - The first six of 18 segments that will form NASA's James Webb Space Telescope’s primary mirror completed final cryogenic testing this week.
Landsat Helps Fight Largest Fire in Arizona History

06.16.11 - Arizona's largest fire in history continues to burn and Landsat data is being used to plan firefighting containment strategies and mitigation efforts.
Firestorm of Star Birth in Centaurus A

06.16.11 - Resembling looming rain clouds on a stormy day, dark lanes of dust crisscross the giant elliptical galaxy Centaurus A. Hubble’s panchromatic vision, stretching from ultraviolet through near-infrared wavelengths, reveals the vibrant glow of young, blue star clusters and a glimpse into regions normally obscured by the dust.
Hyperactive Comet Hartley 2

06.16.11 - Observations from EPOXI show that a little comet called Hartley 2 spews out more water than most other comets its size.
Pandora’s Cluster — Clash of the Titans

06.22.11 - Pandora's Cluster appears to be the result of a simultaneous pile-up of at least four separate, smaller galaxy clusters about 350 million years ago.
Chilean Volcano Ash Tracked Around the World

06.15.11 - Several NASA satellites have tracked the ash plume from the eruption of Puyehue-Cordón Caulle around the world.
Climate Change, Sea Levels and Barrier Islands

06.15.11 - What do a changing climate and rising sea levels mean for thousands of small islands that hug the coasts of the world's landmasses?
Goddard Hosts Indiana Students and Teachers

06.14.11 - Teachers and students from the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Indian Creek High School visited Goddard last week.
New Insights On How Solar Minimums Affect Earth

06.14.11 - In 2008, the sun experienced its longest and weakest solar minimum in the modern age.
NASA's 'Age of Aquarius' Dawns With California Launch

06.10.11 - NASA's 'Age of Aquarius' dawned Friday with the launch of an international satellite carrying the agency-built Aquarius instrument that will measure the saltiness of Earth's oceans to advance our understanding of the global water cycle and improve climate forecasts.
STEREO Sees Complete Far Side

06.10.11 - The is the first complete image of the solar far side, the half of the sun invisible from Earth.
Landsat Satellite Images Compare Before and After Mass. Tornado

06.10.11 - Landsat 5 satellite images showing the area between Springfield and Sturbridge, Mass. before and after the tornado on June 1, 2011
Nearby Galaxy Boasts Two Monster Black Holes

06.10.11 - NASA satellites have found a second super-sized black hole at the heart of an unusual nearby galaxy already known to be sporting one.
Two-Satellite View of Chilean Volcano

06.09.11 - Two NASA satellites unique views of the eruption of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano in Chile this week.
Aquarius/SAC-D Launch Mission Status Update

06.09.11 - The Aquarius/SAC-D observatory has successfully separated from its rocket, ground controllers have acquired its signal, and its solar arrays have been deployed.
LRO to Take Extreme Close-up of Eclipse

06.13.11 - The June 15 lunar eclipse won't be visible in North America, but LRO will get to see it from less than 50 miles above the moon's surface.
Asteroid Served Up "Custom Orders" of Life's Ingredients

06.09.11 - Some asteroids may have been "factories" capable of churning out life's ingredients, but one appears to have been less like a rigid assembly line and more like a flexible diner that doesn't mind making changes to the menu.
NASA's Aquarius/SAC-D Launch Rescheduled

06.08.11 - The launch of the international Aquarius/SAC-D mission is postponed 24 hours until Friday, June 10, from NASA's Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Surfing on the Sun, as seen by SDO

06.07.11 - Cue the surfing music. Scientists have spotted the iconic surfer's wave rolling through the atmosphere of the sun. More than just a nice photo-op, the waves hold clues as to how energy moves through that atmosphere.
NASA Goes Below the Surface to Understand Salinity

06.07.11 - NASA's Aquarius, launching this week, will take a "skin" reading of ocean salt content. To better understand what's driving salinity changes, scientists will go deeper.
NASA Releases New Lunar Eclipse Video

06.08.11 - In anticipation of the upcoming lunar eclipse later this month, NASA has released a new video that shows how lunar eclipses work.
Fluorescence Map Offers New World View

06.06.11 - NASA scientists have produced groundbreaking, first-of-their-kind global maps of land plant fluorescence.
Landsat 5 Satellite Sees Tornado Track near Sturbridge, Massachusetts

06.06.11 - The Thematic Mapper on the Landsat 5 satellite captured this natural-color image on June 5, 2011.
Three Satellites See Eruption of Puyehue-Cordón Volcano from Space

06.06.11 - NASA's Terra Satellite, the GOES-13 and GOES-11 satellites all captured images of the ash plume from southern Chile's Puyehue-Cordón Volcano this week. The volcano is located in Puyehue National Park in the Andes of Ranco Province of Chile.
The Home Frontier Has a Winner

06.03.11 - This Earth Day, we asked you to share your inspiring vision about NASA’s exploration of Earth. We are in awe, and here are our winners.
GOES-13 Movie Shows Tornadic Storms Move Through Massachusetts

06.03.11 - Animated GOES-13 satellite images show bubbling, severe thunderstorms that generated three tornadoes in Massachusetts June 1.
New NASA Salt Mapper to Spice Up Climate Forecasts

05.25.11 - Just as ancient Greeks believed they could tell the future by reading patterns in sprinkled salt, NASA's Aquarius mission will use salt to foresee Earth's future climate.
NASA Infrared Satellite Sees Severe Weather in NW Georgia

05.27.11 - Northwestern Georgia felt the effects of severe weather season May 27, 2011, as severe thunderstorms brought heavy rainfall, gusty winds and reports of a tornado.
Webb Telescope ISIM on 'Spin Cycle'

05.27.11 - To ensure some of the components of the Webb telescope can withstand the rigors of a rocket launch, NASA is putting them through a "spin cycle."
NASA Awards Contract For Icesat-2 Laser Systems

05.26.11 - NASA has selected Fibertek of Herndon, Va., to design, develop, fabricate, test and deliver laser systems to be used for the ICESat-2 mission scheduled to launch in 2016. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the ICESat-2 Project.
Swift Finds Most Distant Gamma-ray Burst Yet

05.27.11 - After two years of painstaking analysis, astronomers say a stellar blast observed by Swift was the farthest explosion yet identified.
NASA is Making Hot, Way Cool

05.26.11 - How do you cool down spacecraft electronics in deep space, where there's no air to fan away the heat?
GOES-13 Video Highlights Grimsvotn Ash Plume

05.25.11 - A new video released from the NASA/NOAA GOES Project provides a satellite view of spewing ash from Grimsvotn Volcano in Iceland.
NASA's Hubble Finds Rare 'Blue Straggler' Stars in Milky Way's Hub

05.25.11 - NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has found a rare class of oddball stars called blue stragglers in the hub of our Milky Way, the first detected within our galaxy's bulge.
For Aquarius, Sampling Seas No 'Grain of Salt' Task

05.25.11 - Twenty years after scientists first recognized that precise measurements of ocean salinity from space were possible, NASA's Aquarius mission is poised to realize their dream.
TRMM Saw Heavy Rainfall in Supercell That Spawned Joplin Tornado

05.24.11 - On Sunday May 22, 2011, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite captured an image of the rainfall rate in the supercell thunderstorm that generated the deadly twister that struck Joplin, Missouri.
Hubble Views the Star That Changed the Universe

05.23.11 - Though the universe is filled with billions upon billions of stars, the discovery of a single variable star in 1923 altered the course of modern astronomy.
Radio Telescopes Catch Snapshot of Black Hole Jets

05.20.11 - Teams of researchers using radio telescopes have produced the most detailed image of particle jets erupting from a supermassive black hole.
Landsat Offers Stunning Comparison Of Flooding

05.19.11 - A side-by-side comparison of Landsat's view of the Mississippi River during last week's historic flooding and a previous image captured during drier times reveals the stunning extent and reach of the flooding.
Cassini and Telescope See Violent Saturn Storm

05.19.11 - NASA's Cassini spacecraft and a European Southern Observatory ground-based telescope tracked the growth of a giant early-spring storm in Saturn's northern hemisphere that is so powerful it stretches around the entire planet.
NASA Mission Will Observe Earth's Salty Seas

05.17.11 - Final preparations are under way for the June 9 launch of the international Aquarius/SAC-D observatory.
At the Heart of Hartley-2, a New Breed of Comet?

05.17.11 - At the heart of every comet lies a remnant of the dawn of the solar system. However, data reveals that comet Hartley-2's core is not uniform.
Goddard Open-House Attracts More Than 15,000

05.16.11 - NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., hosted more than 15,000 visitors under gray but rain-free skies on May 14.
Satellite Images Display Extreme Mississippi River Flooding from Space

05.13.11 - Recent Landsat satellite data shows the major flooding of the Mississippi River from 438 miles out in space.
Moon's Rough 'Wrinkles' Reveal Clues To Its Past

05.13.11 - "Scars" left by past impacts and volcanic eruptions are all that remain to tell the tale of what happened to the moon...
NASA Announces News Briefing on Aquarius/SAC-D Mission

05.12.11 - NASA will hold a news briefing on Tuesday, May 17, at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT), on the agency's next Earth-observing satellite mission, Aquarius/SAC-D, scheduled to launch on June 9.
Fermi Spots 'Superflares' in the Crab Nebula

05.11.11 - The Crab Nebula supernova remnant erupted in an enormous flare, five times more powerful than any flare previously seen from the object on April 12.
Satellites Capture Mississippi Flooding

05.11.11 - The Mississippi River reached nearly 48 feet in Memphis, Tenn., on May 10, the highest water level for Memphis since 1937.
Aquarius to Illuminate Links Between Salt, Climate

05.11.11 - A new age of satellite studies of Earth dawns this June with the launch of NASA's salt-seeking Aquarius instrument.
Shuttle Small Payloads Launched Careers of Many

05.05.11 - The shuttle bay's power buses allowed hundreds of experiments to make good use of missions that didn’t need all 50,000 pounds of payload capacity.
Satellites Reveal Tornado Tracks in Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama

05.02.11 - Tornado tracks from last week's powerful tornado outbreak are visible in data from NASA's Aqua satellite and the Landsat satellite.
NASA Satellite Sees Tornado Tracks in Alabama

04.29.11 - NASA satellites captured images of the deadly tornadoes that raked across Alabama on April 27, 2011, killing over 200 people.
TRMM Sees Thunderstorms in Severe System

04.28.11 - The TRMM satellite again flew over severe thunderstorms that were spawning tornadoes over the eastern United States on April 28, 2011.
Swift and Hubble Probe Asteroid Collision Debris

04.28.11 - On Dec. 11, 2010,asteroid Scheila flared twice as bright as expected. Hubble and Swift captured the aftermath of this deep space collision.
GOES Satellite Follows Tracks of Powerful U.S. Storm

04.27.11 - A powerful storm system continues to march across the United States and toward the East Coast today, April 27.
GOES-13 Eyes System With Severe Weather Risk

04.26.11 - The GOES-13 Satellite captured an image of the system with a high risk for severe storms across the U.S.
NPP Prepares for a New Era of Earth Observation

04.21.11 - NPP, a minibus-sized satellite, will monitor a broad range of land, ocean, and atmospheric phenomena and build on our knowledge of our home planet.
NASA Mission Seeks to Uncover a Rainfall Mystery

04.21.11 - Scientists from NASA and other organizations are on a mission to unlock the mysteries of why certain clouds produce copious amounts of rain.
STEREO Spacecraft Discovers New Eclipsing Binary Stars

04.21.11 - Although STEREO is primarily a solar mission, UK scientists were able to use the Heliospheric Imagers aboard STEREO to monitor variations in the brightness of stars.
The Home Frontier

04.20.11 - This Earth Day, we’re asking you to share with us your inspiring vision about what NASA’s exploration of Earth means to you.
SDO First Light Anniversary Contest

04.21.11 - Voting Ends May 5, 2011.
› Go Vote
Hubble Marks 21st B-day with 'Rose'

04.20.11 - For its 21st birthday in April 2011, the Hubble Space Telescope gave astronomers a "rose" of galaxies.
GOES-13 Satellite Animation Shows U.S. Severe Storms and Tornado Outbreak

04.18.11 - The GOES-13 satellite captured images of the powerful weather system that triggered severe weather in the southern U.S. this weekend, and NASA created an animation to show its progression.
NASA's Next Generation Space Telescope Marks Key Milestone

04.14.11 - The first six segments of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror for space observations will begin final cryogenic testing this week.
Webb's 'Time-Traveling' Mirrors Arrive at NASA Goddard

04.13.11 - It takes two unique types of mirrors to see farther back in time and space than ever before, and NASA engineers have just received one of each type.
Nasa Telescopes Help Discover Surprisingly Young Galaxy

04.12.11 - Astronomers have uncovered one of the youngest galaxies in the distant universe, with stars that formed 13.5 billion years ago, a mere 200 million years after the big bang.
Arctic Sea Ice Flights Near Completion

04.07.11 - IceBridge has completed eight out of nine planned sea ice flights for the Arctic 2011 campaign.
Study Confirms Engine of Short Gamma-Ray Bursts

04.07.11 - A new supercomputer simulation gives the most detailed view of the forces driving some of the universe's most energetic explosions.
NASA Telescopes Observe Unprecedented Explosion

04.07.11 - Usually, gamma-ray bursts last hours, marking the destruction of a massive star, but three telescopes have now zoomed in on one lasting for days.
NASA's Aquarius: The Water Bearer Flies Soon

04.06.11 - With more than a few stamps on its passport, NASA's Aquarius instrument on the Argentinian Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas (SAC)-D spacecraft will soon embark on its space mission to "taste" Earth's salty ocean.
Fire and Ice: A Profile of Space Scientist Suzie Imber

04.06.11 - Suzie Imber studies the gigantic magnetic fields traveling between the sun and our planet, but every once in awhile she abandons it all for something a lot more earthy: ice climbs up the world's highest mountains.
SeaWiFS’ Thirteen Years of Observing our Home Planet

04.04.11 - SeaWiFS has enabled us to monitor the biological consequences of Earth's change and how it affects the Earth's ability to support life.
Benefits of Cleaner Vehicle Standards

04.01.11 - A new analysis shows stricter vehicle emission standards would yield major health, agricultural, and climate benefits.
Quick "Cool" Facts About the Webb Telescope

03.31.11 - NASA created a short video to show you just how literally "cool" the James Webb Space Telescope really is.
Forensic Sleuthing Ties Ring Ripples to Impacts

03.31.11 - Scientists using data from NASA’s Cassini, Galileo and New Horizons missions have traced ripples in the rings of Saturn and Jupiter back to collisions with cometary fragments.
Clearest Picture Yet of Perseus Cluster

03.24.11 - X-ray observations made by Suzaku provide the clearest picture to date of the size, mass and chemical content of a nearby cluster of galaxies.
A New Era of Space Exploration at Wallops

03.22.11 - NASA ushered in a new era of exploration at Wallops with a ceremony opening the new Horizontal Integration Facility.
Goddard Annual Sun-Earth Day Has a Tweeting Twist

03.22.11 - The eleventh annual Sun Earth day to kick off this year's theme of 'Ancient Mysteries; Future Technologies' provided 100 tweeters with private tours of Goddard and the Air and Space Museum.
Thirst for Knowledge: NASA Eyes World’s Water

03.22.11 - Getting clean water is already a problem for many rural impoverished areas, and it is becoming more of an issue for the world's major urban cities.
Cassini Finds Saturn Sends Mixed Signals

03.22.11 - Radio signals from Saturn's northern and southern hemisphere sing out of sync and have crossed each other since the planet's equinox.
Umbrella on the Shores of the Universe

03.21.11 - The Webb telescope has a unique sunshield allowing the instruments beneath to see far into the universe.
Cassini Sees Seasonal Rains Transform Titan's Surface

03.17.11 - As spring continues to unfold at Saturn, April showers on the planet's largest moon, Titan, have brought methane rain to its equatorial deserts, as revealed in images captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
TRMM Reveals Flooding From East Coast Storm

03.14.11 - The massive rain storm that stretched from New York to Florida in early March 2011 was assembled into a rain map created by TRMM.
Hubble Rules Out Dark Energy Alternative

03.14.11 - Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have ruled out an alternate theory on the nature of dark energy after recalculating the expansion rate of the universe.
Goddard's Chief Scientist Talks About 'Supermoon'

03.11.11 - Dr. James Garvin, chief scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center, answers your questions about the 'supermoon' phenomenon.
The Far Side of the Moon -- And All the Way Around

03.11.11 - A new topographic map of the moon will be released later this year, but a sneak-peek is available now!
Celebrating 400 Years of Sunspot Observations

03.09.11 - On March 9, 1611, Johannes Fabricius, who would become the first person to publish a scientific paper on sunspots, used a telescope to catch his first glimpse of one of these dark spots on the sun.
Webb Space Telescope's 'Chassis' Takes a Spin

03.08.11 - The centrifuge at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. will spin the ISIM while engineers monitor it's progress to ensure it can survive a launch.
Cassini Finds Enceladus is a Powerhouse

03.07.11 - Heat output from the south polar region of Saturn's moon Enceladus is much greater than was previously thought possible, according to a new analysis of data collected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
NASA Creates Glory Mishap Investigation Board

03.04.11 - NASA's Glory mission ended Friday after the spacecraft failed to reach orbit following its launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Glory Mission Contingency Declared

03.04.11 - About six minutes after the Glory launch at 5:09 a.m. EST, a launch contingency was declared. Data indicates the rocket fairing did not separate.
Wheels Up for Extensive Survey of Arctic Ice

03.15.11 - Researchers and flight crew arrived in Thule, Greenland, on March 14 for the start of NASA's most extensive-yet campaign of Operation IceBridge, an airborne mission to study changes in polar ice.
Glory Scheduled for March 4 Launch

03.01.11 - Technical issues with ground support equipment led to the scrub of the original Feb. 23 launch attempt. Those issues have been resolved.
NASA Launches Webb Telescope Interactive Fly-by Tour Online

02.23.11 - The interactive fly-by tour was created to allow people to get familiar with the Hubble Space Telescope’s successor, the James Webb Space Telescope..
Next Step In NASA Climate Studies Set To Launch

02.22.11 - NASA's next Earth-observing satellite mission, called Glory, is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California early on the morning of Feb. 23.
Advanced NASA Instrument Gets Close-up on Mars Rocks

02.18.11 - NASA's next Mars rover, Curiosity, will take a next generation "hands-on" look at rocks and soils to determine the chemical makeup near its landing zone.
Waiter, There's Metal in My Moon Water

02.17.11 - Water ice recently discovered on the moon is accompanied by mercury, magnesium, calcium, a bit of silver, and now sodium.
Glory Promises New View of Perplexing Particles

02.16.11 - A new satellite should help scientists pinpoint just how much of an effect on climate aerosols can have.
SDO Sundog Mystery

02.11.11 - NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), best known for cutting-edge images of the sun, has made a discovery right here on Earth.
SDO Celebrates One Year Anniversary

02.11.11 - Project scientists discuss SDO's first year of science and collaboration with other Heliophysics System Observatory missions.
Glory Aims to Unravel Mysteries of Aerosols

02.10.11 - Engineers and technicians at Vandenberg Air Force base, Calif., are preparing the Earth-observing satellite Glory for launch on Feb. 23.
Lost Voyagers From Apollo 14

02.09.11 - In communities all across the country, travelers that went to the moon and back on Apollo 14 are living out their quiet lives.
Snowy Snapshot from Space

02.08.11 - A massive winter storm affected 30 U.S. states last week. Satellite images from NASA provide a panorama of the fallen snow.
First Ever STEREO Images of the Entire Sun

02.06.11 - Four years after launch NASA's two STEREO spacecraft are now 180 degrees apart and able to image the entire Sun.
LRO Might Have Given Apollo 14 Crew A Majestic View

02.04.11 - Apollo 14's crew would have gotten even more spectacular views of the moon, if they'd had high-resolution lunar maps now available from LRO.
Surprise Hidden in Titan's Smog

02.03.11 - Every day is a bad-air day on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Icky as it may sound, Titan is really the rarest of gems.
Major Winter Storm Takes Aim at Central U.S.

01.31.11 - This storm system, which appears to be 1/3 as large as the Continental U.S., is expected to bring heavy snow to the Midwest.
Satellite Images of Jan. 27 Snowstorm

01.28.11 - These images show the East Coast of the United States, as seen by satellites, during the recent snowstorm.
Hubble Spots Farthest Object Yet Seen

01.26.11 - Hubble has spotted what astronomers believe is the most distant object ever seen in the universe.
MABEL Flies Her Maiden Voyage

01.24.11 - the Multiple Altimeter Beam Experimental Lidar (MABEL) made five flights last month to test technology that will eventually be used for precision measuring of global ice sheets.
Glory to Study Key Pieces of the Climate Puzzle

01.20.11 - The Glory spacecraft will offer a new stream of data that climatologists will use to improve the accuracy of climate models.
NASA Mars Rover Will Check for Ingredients of Life

01.18.11 - One of the jobs for the biggest science instrument on NASA's next Mars rover will be to check for the carbon-based molecular building blocks of life.
Global Temperature Records in Close Agreement

01.13.11 - Climate data multiple institutions supports NASA's findings: 2010 ties 2005 as the warmest year in the 131-year instrumental record.
Not So Heavy Metal

01.13.11 - A new video investigates the mining of beryllium, the primary ingredient used to create the James Webb Space Telescope's mirrors.
NASA Finds 2010 Tied for Warmest Year on Record

01.12.11 - Global surface temperatures in 2010 tied 2005 as the warmest on record, according to an analysis released Wednesday by researchers at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York.
NASA Satellites Capture a Stronger La Nina

01.13.11 - New NASA satellite data indicate the current La Niña event in the eastern Pacific has remained strong during November and December 2010.
Holes in the Sun's Corona

01.11.11 - This SDO image from Jan. 10 shows a "coronal hole," an area of the sun's surface that sends magnetic field lines way out into space.
Fermi Catches Antimatter-Hurling Storms

01.10.11 - Scientists using NASA's Fermi Space Telescope have detected antimatter produced above thunderstorms on Earth, a phenomenon never seen before.
2009 Women in Astronomy Conference Proceedings

01.10.11 - The 2009 Women in Astronomy conference published the proceedings from Women in Astronomy and Space Science Conference III.
Hotspots Help Explain Coronal Heating Mystery

01.06.11 - Giant plumes of gas zooming up from the sun's surface at 150,000 mph may play a key role in heating its corona in excess of a million degrees.

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