NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Asteroid 2012 DA14 has passed Earth. It passed inside the ring of geosynchronous weather and communications satellites.

The asteroid safely passed our planet 17,500 miles above Indonesia.

 › Asteroid Flyby Reality Check

 › Russia Meteor Not Linked to Asteroid Flyby

A new study using observations from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope reveals the first clear-cut evidence the expanding debris of exploded stars produces some of the fastest-moving matter in the universe. This discovery is a major step toward understanding the origin of cosmic rays, one of Fermi's primary mission goals.

  Visualization of Cosmic Rays

NASA engineers have demonstrated that the Orion spacecraft can land safely if one of its three main parachutes fails to inflate during deployment. The test was conducted Tuesday, Feb. 12 in Yuma, Ariz., with the parachutes attached to a test article.

Engineers rigged the parachutes so only two would inflate, leaving the third to flag behind, when the test capsule was dropped from a plane 25,000 feet above the Arizona desert.

New data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory suggest a highly distorted supernova remnant may contain the most recent black hole formed in the Milky Way galaxy. The remnant appears to be the product of a rare explosion in which matter is ejected at high speeds along the poles of a rotating star.

A plant texts a farmer to say it needs more water. An invisible coating scrubs pollutants from the air. A robot roams a hospital's halls, aiding doctors and nurses by recording vital signs and registrations. The 2012 edition of NASA's annual Spinoff publication captures a nation and world made better by advancements originally achieved for space technology.

  Administrator Bolden Touts NASA Spinoffs

 › Spinoff 2012 Publication