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2012 Features

USGS: 'Mission Accomplished for Landsat 5'

12.21.12 - The U.S. Geological Survey announced that 29-year-old Landsat 5 will be decommissioned over the coming months.
Heliophysics 2012: Year in Review

12.31.12 - A year-end review of major news coming from NASA's Heliophysics Division.
Hubble Sees a Wanderer Dancing the Dance of Stars and Space

12.28.12 - Hubble provides us this week with a spectacular image of the bright star-forming ring that surrounds the heart of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1097.
An Image Gallery Gift from NASA's Swift

12.28.12 - The Swift team has selected more than 100 images to help celebrate eight years of operations of the satellite's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope.
Reviewing Goddard's 2012 Highlights

12.27.12 - Gathered here are just a few of the shining moments from the Goddard "household" in 2012, from us to you!
Hubble Eyes the Needle Galaxy

12.21.12 - Like finding a silver needle in the haystack of space, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced this beautiful image of the spiral galaxy IC 2233, one of the flattest galaxies known.
New e-Books Showcase 2 NASA Space Telescopes

12.21.12 - The e-books, produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, showcase the Hubble and Webb space telescopes.
Infrared View of Midwest Snowstorm

12.21.12 - NASA and NOAA satellites have provided data on the powerful storm that dropped more than a foot of snow in some Midwestern states.
WMAP Team Releases Final Results on Universe's Oldest Light →

12.21.12 - Two years after WMAP's "retirement," the WMAP science team is releasing its final results, based on nine years of observations.
IceBridge Data Brings New Twist to Sea Ice Forecasting

12.19.12 - Sea ice thickness data gathered in April 2012 by NASA's Operation IceBridge has been used in seasonal sea ice forecasts for the first time.
The Webb Telescope's Holiday Package

12.19.12 - This photo shows the James Webb Space Telescope's 'IEC' all wrapped up in a thermal blanket, and looking like a holiday package at a cleanroom at NASA Goddard.
Picture This: Vesta's Dark Materials in Dawn's View

01.03.13 - A new study of images from NASA's Dawn mission examines remarkable, dark-as-coal material that speckles the surface of the giant asteroid Vesta.
NASA's GRAIL Lunar Impact Site Named for Sally Ride

12.17.12 - NASA has named the site where twin agency spacecraft impacted the moon Monday in honor of the late astronaut Sally K. Ride, who was America's first woman in space and a member of the probes' mission team.
A Cosmic Holiday Ornament, Hubble-Style

12.18.12 - 'Tis the season for holiday decorating so astronomers using Hubble have photographed a festive-looking nearby planetary nebula called NGC 5189.
Operation Give Thanks: Serving Those Who Serve Us

12.17.12 - For a second year the NASA Goddard Veterans Advisory Committee conducted an operation in support of those who continue to defend the American liberties we all enjoy.
Hubble's "Smoky" Shells

12.14.12 - Located in a lonely region of space 4,200 light-years away and difficult to see using an amateur telescope, the lonesome planetary nebula NGC 7354 is often overlooked.
NASA to Provide Commentary as Grail Moon Mission Ends

12.14.12 - NASA will provide live commentary of the scheduled lunar surface impacts of its twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft beginning at 2 p.m. PST (5 p.m. EST) Monday, Dec. 17.
Experiment Examining a SLICE of the Interstellar Medium

12.13.12 - SLICE will study the space between the stars known as interstellar space.
Instrument Deck Installed on MMS Observatory #2

12.13.12 - Installation of the instrument deck is complete on the second of four MMS observatories, which are being assembled at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Study: Remarkable Symmetry in Black Hole Jets

12.13.12 - High-speed jets launched from active black holes possess fundamental similarities regardless of mass, age or environment, a new study finds.
NASA Probes Prepare for Mission-Ending Moon Impact

12.13.12 - Twin lunar-orbiting NASA spacecraft that have allowed scientists to learn more about the internal structure and composition of the moon are being prepared for their controlled descent and impact on a mountain near the moon's north pole at about 2:28 p.m. PST (5:28 p.m. EST) Monday, Dec. 17.
Hubble Provides First Census of Galaxies Near Cosmic Dawn

12.12.12 - Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers uncovered a previously unseen population of seven primitive galaxies that formed more than 13 billion years ago, when the universe was less than 4 percent of its present age.
Astronomers Catch Binging Black Hole's Jet

12.12.12 - A new X-ray source in the Andromeda galaxy is the first detection of radio-emitting jets from a stellar-mass black hole outside the Milky Way.
EUNIS: Six Minutes in the Life of the Sun

12.11.12 - A NASA mission to study the sun will make its third launch into space to gather information about the way material roils through the sun's atmosphere.
A Right Royal Week for Goddard's Piers Sellers

12.11.12 - British-born astronaut and climate scientist Piers Sellers never dreamed that he would meet Queen Elizabeth II.
Mars Rover Self-Portrait Shoot Uses Arm Choreography

12.11.12 - A self-portrait of the NASA Mars Rover Curiosity stitches together dozens of images by the camera at the end of the rover's arm.
DXL Mission Successfully Launches

12.13.12 - NASA has launched an astrophysics mission to study the Diffuse X-ray emission from the Local galaxy (DXL).
Wildfires Light Up Western Australia

12.07.12 - Why does the western portion of Australia look so lit up in the new "Black Marble" imagery?
Hubble's Glitter galaxy: The ESO 318-13 galaxy

12.07.12 - The brilliant cascade of stars through the middle of this image is the galaxy ESO 318-13 as seen by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
Fermi's Vision for Thunderstorm Gamma-Rays Improves

12.06.12 - The Fermi space telescope is now 10 times better at catching brief outbursts of high-energy light produced above thunderstorms.
Apollo's Lunar Dust Data Being Restored

12.06.12 - Readings from Apollo 14 and 15 dust detectors have been restored and made available to scientists thanks to work by the National Space Science Data Center at Goddard.
What is Creating Gullies on Vesta?

12.06.12 - Something is forming intriguing gullies on the giant asteroid Vesta. Scientists with NASA's Dawn mission are trying to figure out what could be creating these features.
The Black Marble: Earth at Night

12.05.12 - This new look at our planet at night shows the glow of natural and human-built phenomena across Earth in greater detail than ever before.
Sungrazing Comets as Solar Probes

12.05.12 - On Dec. 15, 2011, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured footage of Comet Lovejoy approaching the sun. The images and data collected by NASA's solar observing fleet can help scientists learn more about the sun itself.
Van Allen Probes Reveal New Dynamics of Radiation Belts

12.05.12 - Just 96 days since launch, the Van Allen Probes have already provided new insights into the structure and behavior of the radiation belts that surround Earth.
Plant Stress Paints Early Picture of Drought

12.05.12 - Before a lack of rain and record-breaking heat signaled a problem in July 2012, scientists observed another indication of drought in data from NASA and NOAA satellites: plant stress.
NASA Investigates Use of ‘Trailblazing’ Material

12.05.12 - Tiny sensor -- made of a potentially trailblazing material just one atom thick and heralded as the 'next best thing' since the invention of silicon -- are now being developed to detect trace elements in Earth’s upper atmosphere and structural flaws in spacecraft.
Climate Models Project Increase in U.S. Wildfire Risk

12.04.12 - Scientists using NASA satellite data and climate models have projected drier conditions likely will cause increased fire activity across the United States in coming decades.
NASA's GRAIL Creates Most Accurate Moon Gravity Map

12.05.12 - Twin NASA probes orbiting Earth's moon have generated the highest resolution gravity field map of any celestial body.
Curiosity Shakes, Bakes, and Tastes Mars with SAM

12.03.12 - NASA's Curiosity rover analyzed its first solid sample of Mars with a variety of instruments, including the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite.
Testing the Fold: The James Webb Space Telescope's Sunshield

12.03.12 - Engineers got a first-hand look at how the James Webb Space Telescope's sunshield would fold around the observatory while stored in the rocket..
NASA Mars Rover Fully Analyzes First Soil Samples

12.03.12 - NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has used its full array of instruments to analyze Martian soil for the first time, and found a complex chemistry within the Martian soil.
Video Reveals 2012 Hurricane Season Rainfall

11.30.12 - This animation shows the TRMM satellite's space-based measurements of the total rainfall of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season.
NASA's HS3 Hurricane Mission Ends for 2012

11.30.12 - NASA's 2012 HS3 mission came to an end Nov. 6 when an unmanned Global Hawk aircraft flew a final data-collection mission in the North Pacific Ocean.
Hubble Spots a Peculiar Compact Blue Dwarf Galaxy

11.30.12 - The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured an impressive image of the irregular galaxy NGC 5253, the nearest of the compact blue dwarf galaxies.
A Multi-Wavelength View of Radio Galaxy Hercules A

11.29.12 - The combined imaging power of Hubble and Jansky VLA are shown in this image of spectacular jets powered by a super massive black hole.
Hubble Sees a Galaxy Hit a Bulls-eye

12.06.12 - Bright pink nebulae almost completely encircle a spiral galaxy in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 922.
Altimeter Built at Goddard Helped Identify Ice on Mercury

11.29.12 - A Goddard-built instrument on NASA's MESSENGER mission provided one of three new lines of evidence that water ice exists near the north pole of Mercury.
AAAS, NASA Announce 2012 Fellows

11.29.12 - Three NASA scientists have been named as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
NASA's Cassini Sees Abrupt Turn in Titan's Atmosphere

11.28.12 - Data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft tie a shift in seasonal sunlight to a wholesale reversal, at unexpected altitudes, in the circulation of the atmosphere of Titan.
Swirling Storms on Saturn

11.28.12 - NASA's Cassini spots roiling storm clouds and a swirling vortex at Saturn's north pole.
Two Webb Mirror Segments Arrive at NASA

11.28.12 - The sole secondary mirror and a third primary mirror segment that will fly aboard the Webb telescope are now in a NASA clean room.
NASA's TRMM Satellite Confirms 2010 Landslides

11.27.12 - A comparison of a new global catalog of rain-triggered landslides with rain data from TRMM shows 2010 was a devastating year for landslides.
Fast Forward to the Past

11.27.12 - It’s a digital world. Or is it? NASA technologist Jonathan Pellish isn’t convinced. In fact, he believes a computing technology of yesteryear could potentially revolutionize everything.
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Turns 15

11.27.12 - When it rains it pours, goes the saying, and for the last 15 years, tropical rainfall data has poured in, thanks to TRMM.
GOES-R Satellite Program Undergoes Successful Review

11.27.12 - The GOES-R Series Program, to replace and upgrade geostationary satellites tracking severe weather across the United States, received a favorable review of plans to launch beginning in 2015.
Solar Minimum; Solar Maximum

11.26.12 - The sun goes through a natural solar cycle approximately every 11 years. The greatest number of sunspots in any given solar cycle is designated as 'solar maximum.' The lowest number is 'solar minimum.'
Anatomy of an IceBridge Mission

11.21.12 - An 11-hour Operation IceBridge mission over Antarctica is not a casual undertaking and takes months of pre-planning. John Sonntag describes what it's like.
2012 Antarctic Campaign Retrospective

11.26.12 - IceBridge completes their five-week field campaign to Antarctica and reflects upon the mission's successes and highlights.
LDCM Exits Vacuum Chamber

11.26.12 - On Nov. 23, 2012, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) satellite concluded environmental testing in a thermal vacuum chamber.
Continuing Thanksgiving Eruptions On the Sun

11.24.12 - On Nov. 23, 2012, at 8:54 a.m. EST, the sun released an Earth-directed, slow-moving CME. This is the third Earth-directed CME since Nov. 20.
NASA Spacecraft Observe a Thanksgiving CME

11.22.12 - On Nov. 21, 2012, at 11:24 a.m. EST, the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME
IMAGER Launch Successful

11.21.12 - The NASA Black Brant IX sounding rocket carrying the IMAGER payload was successfully launched Nov. 21, 2012.
Cassini Finds a Video Gamers' Paradise at Saturn

11.26.12 - NASA's Cassini spacecraft spots another "Pac-Man"-shaped feature, this time on Saturn's moon Tethys.
New NASA Video Serves 'COCOA' to Test Webb Telescope Component

11.21.12 - Not a cold-weather beverage, COCOA is a piece of equipment that will measure the accuracy of the Webb telescope's primary mirror.
NASA Nobel Laureate Q&A on Reddit

11.21.12 - Nobel laureate and Webb telescope Project Scientist John Mather will answer astrophysics questions on Reddit.com on Nov. 26 at 1 p.m. EST.
Hubble Eyes a Loose Spiral Galaxy

11.21.12 - Hubble spotted the spiral galaxy ESO 499-G37, seen here against a backdrop of distant galaxies, scattered with nearby stars.
NASA Spacecraft Observe Nov. 20 Solar Eruption

11.20.12 - On Nov. 20, 2012, at 7:09 a.m. EST, the sun erupted with a coronal mass ejection.
New: 2013 Phases of the Moon Animation Released

11.20.12 - A new animation highlighting the phases of the Moon has been released by the Scientific Visualization Studio at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Astronomers Directly Image Massive Star's 'Super-Jupiter'

11.19.12 - A "super-Jupiter" discovered around the bright star Kappa Andromedae might be massive enough to qualify as a type of star itself.
NASA Tech Prevents 'New Car Smell' From Harming Satellites

11.20.12 - Outgassing isn’t healthy for humans or satellite instruments but a NASA team has created a new way to protect those instruments from its ill effects.
Instrument Delivered for NASA's Upcoming Mars Mission

11.16.12 - A remote sensing instrument that will peer into the ultraviolet to offer clues to how Mars might have lost its atmosphere arrived at Lockheed Martin for integration into NASA's MAVEN spacecraft.
Hubble Traps Galactic Fireflies

11.16.12 - Galaxies glow like fireflies on a dark night in this Hubble image. The upper central galaxy is a gigantic elliptical galaxy designated 4C 73.08.
Double Trouble

11.16.12 - The Sun erupted with two prominence eruptions, one after the other over a four-hour period on Nov. 16, 2012, between the hours of 1 and 5 a.m. EST.
$The newly discovered galaxy, named MACS0647-JD, is very young and only a tiny fraction of the size of our Milky Way.$
Great Observatories Find Candidate for Most Distant Object

11.15.12 - With Hubble and Spitzer and one of nature's own natural "zoom lenses" in space, astronomers have found the most distant galaxy seen in the universe.
NASA's Cure for a Common Phobia

11.15.12 - NASA has found a cure for a common phobia--the fear of asking 'stupid' questions. The cure is a rubber chicken named Camilla.
NASA Innovator Hunts for Extraterrestrial Amino Acids

11.15.12 - The hunt for the organic molecules that create proteins and enzymes critical for life here on Earth has largely happened in sophisticated terrestrial laboratories equipped with high-tech gadgetry needed to tease out their pre
Hinode Views Two Solar Eclipses

11.14.12 - The orbit of Hinode resulted in two eclipses on Nov. 13, 2012, near the time that a total eclipse was visible in Australia.
Almost Mars

11.14.12 - In the Grand Canyon, the interns of NASA Goddard's 2012 Lunar and Planetary Science Academy got to explore Mars without leaving Earth.
Rover's 'SAM' Lab Instrument Suite Tastes Soil

11.13.12 - A pinch of fine sand and dust became the first solid Martian sample deposited into the biggest instrument suite on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity: the Sample Analysis at Mars, or SAM.
Astrophysicist Set to Launch Rocket Experiment →

10.25.12 - The IMAGER’s observing target is the distant “Pinwheel Galaxy” located about 25 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.
Total Solar Eclipse Viewed from Australia

11.14.12 - On Nov. 13, 2012, a narrow corridor in the southern hemisphere experienced a total solar eclipse.
Sun Emits a Mid-level Flare

11.13.12 - On Nov. 12, 2012, the sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, an M6-class, peaking at 9:04 p.m. EST.
Total Eclipse of the Sun

11.13.12 - On the morning of Nov. 14, 2012 (Australia time), about an hour after sunrise, the Moon will pass directly in front of the sun. Scientists and sky watchers are converging on the northeast coast of Australia, near the Great Barrier Reef, for a total eclipse of the sun.
Business Wire Founder Speaks at Goddard's 20th New Tech. Reporting Program

11.09.12 - Lorry Lokey, founder of Business Wire, was the guest speaker at the 20th Annual New Technology Reporting Program held by NASA Goddard on Nov. 8.
Hubble Spots a Colorful Lenticular Galaxy

11.09.12 - Hubble captured a beautiful galaxy in a period of transition from life as a spiral galaxy to a less defined elliptical galaxy. As a lenticular galaxy, NGC 5010 has features of both spirals and ellipticals.
Sun Releases Slow Moving CME

11.09.12 - The sun released an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection at 10:24am EST on Nov. 9, 2012.
Students from Maryland School for Blind Visit NASA

11.08.12 - October is National Disability Employment Awareness month, and students from the Maryland School for the Blind visited NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. for a hands-on and audible learning experience.
Honoring the Origins of Magnetospheric Science

11.09.12 - On Nov. 9, 2012, NASA announced that to honor the scientist who helped launch the field of magnetospheric science, the Radiation Belt Storm Probes will be renamed the Van Allen Probes.
NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP Satellite Returns First Year of Data

11.07.12 - Just one year ago, on Oct. 28, 2011, the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite successfully blasted into orbit. Now it has completed its first year of returning Earth science data.
Firestation: Getting Ready for Launch

11.05.12 - An experiment to study the effects of lightning flashes on Earth's atmosphere has taken its first steps on its journey to space. The Firestation experiment has undergone numerous tests to make sure it's ready for flight.
Curiosity Rover Provides Clues to Martian Atmosphere Changes

11.02.12 - Curiosity's Goddard-built SAM instrument suite has taken significant steps toward understanding how Mars may have lost much of its original atmosphere.
Night-time View of Aurora

Overnight on October 4-5, 2012, a mass of energetic particles from the atmosphere of the Sun were flung out into space, a phenomenon known as a coronal mass ejection. Three days later, the storm from ...
Hubble Sees an Unexpected Population of Young-Looking Stars

11.02.12 - Hubble peered deep into the center of globular cluster NGC 6362, which contains a high concentration of stars with different colors.
A Next-Generation X-Ray Telescope Launches

11.01.12 - On November 2, a NASA mission called FOXSI was launched from White Sands, New Mexico to study nanoflares on the sun.
SAMPEX: A Space Weather Warrior

11.01.12 - NASA's first small explorer, SAMPEX, has studied the zoo of particles and cosmic rays surrounding Earth since 1992. In early Nov., 2012, the spacecraft's orbit will decay enough that SAMPEX will re-enter Earth's atmosphere.
Suomi NPP Satellite Captures Hurricane Sandy's Mid-Atlantic Blackout

11.01.12 - Suomi NPP captured a night-time view of New York City, New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania that revealed the extent of the power outages caused from Hurricane Sandy's landfall on October 29.
'Just Right' Asteroid Belts May Be Life-Friendly

11.01.12 - Solar systems with life-bearing planets may be rare if they depend on the presence of asteroid belts of just the right mass.
Fermi Measures Ancient Starlight's Cosmic 'Fog'

11.01.12 - Fermi has helped make the most accurate measurement of starlight in the universe, establishing the total amount that has ever shone.
NASA/NOAA's Suomi NPP Captures Night-time View of Sandy's Landfall

As Hurricane Sandy made a historic landfall on the New Jersey coast during the night of Oct. 29, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on NASA/NOAA's Suomi National Polar-orbiting Part...
Dust's Warming Counters Half of its Cooling Effect

10.31.12 - Dust that routinely rises above the world’s deserts causes a more significant localized warming effect than previously thought, a new study based on NASA field research shows.
Dawn Sees "Young" Surface on Giant Asteroid

10.31.12 - Like a Hollywood starlet constantly retouching her makeup, the giant asteroid Vesta is constantly stirring its outermost layer to present a young face.
Sandy (Atlantic Ocean)

11.09.12 - The scenes of devastation and wreckage that Hurricanes Sandy (2012) and Katrina (2005) left behind were tragically similar.
STEREO Reaches Milestone At Sixth Anniversary

10.26.12 - On Sept. 1, 2012, the two STEREO spacecraft and Earth were almost exactly equidistant, each with a direct view of a different third of the sun.
Hubble Sees Violent Star Formation Episodes in Dwarf Galaxies

10.26.12 - NGC 3738, a starburst galaxy, is in the midst of a violent episode of star formation: converting reservoirs of hydrogen gas into stars.
NASA's Uncanny Amazing Webb Mirrors

The first two mirrors that will fly aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope arrived at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. on Sept. 17, 2012. In this photo, one of the two mirrors wa...
Saturn Burps After Large Storm

10.25.12 - NASA's Cassini spacecraft has tracked the aftermath of a rare massive storm on Saturn, one more forceful than scientists previously thought.
Doubted Exoplanet 'Back from the Dead'

10.25.12 - A second look at Hubble data is reanimating the claim that the nearby star Fomalhaut hosts a massive exoplanet.
Monster Galaxy May Have Been Stirred Up By Black-hole Mischief

10.25.12 - Astronomers using Hubble have obtained a remarkable new view of a whopper of an elliptical galaxy that may have been puffed up by the actions of one or more black holes in its core.
Cluster Reveals New Insights Into Solar Wind

10.24.12 - A new study based on data from ESA's Cluster mission shows that it is easier for the solar wind to penetrate Earth's magnetic environment, the magnetosphere, than had previously been thought.
Observing Earth's Ozone Layer

10.24.12 - Remember the ozone hole? A signature environmental concern of the 1980s has become a signature environmental success story. Scientists at NASA and NOAA keep a close eye on the state of the ozone.
Antarctic Ozone Hole 2nd Smallest in 20 Years

10.24.12 - A warmer lower Antarctic stratosphere led to the second-smallest ozone hole in 20 years, according to NASA and NOAA satellite measurements.
Quasar May Be Embedded in Unusually Dusty Galaxy

10.23.12 - So much dust shrouds one distant galaxy that its stars are entirely hidden, but the Webb telescope may be able to peer through the murk.
Opposite Behaviors? Arctic Sea Ice Shrinks, Antarctic Grows

10.23.12 - While the Arctic Ocean ice cap has diminished over the last three decades, the sea ice cover at the opposite pole of the planet has expanded.
Active Region on the Sun Emits Another Flare

10.23.12 - The sun emitted a significant solar flare on Oct. 22, 2012, peaking at 11:17 p.m. EDT.
Newly Named Sunspot AR1598 Releases M5 Class Solar Flare.

10.22.12 - Newly named sunspot AR1598 has release an M5 class solar flare. This is the same region that released an M9 flare on Oct. 20, 2012.
A New Set of Solar Fireworks

10.20.12 - The sun emitted a significant solar flare, an M9, peaking at 2:14 p.m. EDT on Oct. 20, 2012. The associated radio blackout, an R2, has subsided, reports NOAA.
NASA Chief Technologist Visits Goddard

10.19.12 - NASA Chief Technologist Mason Peck visited on Oct. 15, 2012, to meet with some of the center’s most innovative technologists.
Hubble Sees Galaxy in a spin

10.19.12 - NGC 3344 is a glorious spiral galaxy around half the size of the Milky Way, which lies 25 million light-years distant.
Astronomers Uncover A Surprising Trend in Galaxy Evolution

10.19.12 - A study of hundreds of galaxies has revealed an unexpected pattern of change that extends back 8 billion years, or more than half the age of the universe.
Heliophysics Nugget: Gradient Sun

10.18.12 - Science and art techniques are often quite similar, indeed each area often helps improve techniques in the other. One such case is a technique known as a 'gradient filter' used to examine fine structures on the sun.
Satellite Servicing Capabilities Being Developed

10.17.12 - NASA is developing the technology to build Earth-orbiting "service stations" capable of extending the life of Earth-orbiting satellites.
NASA Pursues Atom Optics to Detect the Imperceptible

10.18.12 - A pioneering technology capable of atomic-level precision is now being developed to detect what so far has remained imperceptible: gravitational waves or ripples in space-time caused by cataclysmic events.
NOAA's GOES-13 Returns to Full Operations, GOES-14 to Remain Orbital Spare

10.18.12 - The GOES-13 spacecraft, which had been taken out of service because of technical trouble in late September, will return to full operations on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012.
Goddard Kids Call Space Station

10.17.12 - What do Goddard four-year-old pre-schoolers, local middle school students and an amateur radio operator have in common? Unlike most Earthlings, they were able to place an out-of-this-world call to a resident aboard the International Space Station.
NASA's GPM Observatory Completes First Dry Run

10.17.12 - NASA's GPM Core Observatory satellite went through its first complete comprehensive performance test (CPT), beginning on Oct. 4, 2012 at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
'Giant Erector Set' Supports Webb Telescope Test Component

A new photograph taken inside the giant clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., shows what looks like a giant Erector Set supporting a test component of the James Webb Spac...
Antarctic Rift Subject of International Attention

10.15.12 - The rift in Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier that was discovered by NASA's Operation IceBridge in 2011 has been monitored by researchers around the world.
Operation IceBridge Resumes Antarctic Flights

10.12.12 - Scientists and flight crew members with NASA's airborne mission to study Earth's polar ice are beginning another Antarctic campaign.
Colossal Binary's Clashing Winds

10.12.12 - An enormous binary star pair some 4,700 light-years away pounds its surroundings with intense outflows called stellar winds.
Antarctic Sea Ice Reaches New Max. Extent →

10.11.12 - Two weeks after a record low sea ice minimum in the Arctic Ocean, the ice around Antarctica reached its annual winter maximum—and set a record for a new high.
Hubble Sees a Planetary Nebula in the Making

10.11.12 - Planetary nebulae — the expanding, glowing shells of gas coming from sun-like stars at the end of their lives — are some of the most fascinating objects in the night sky.
Hello, Knorr? It's the ISS Calling

10.09.12 - Scientists aboard NASA's SPURS ocean research cruise and an astronaut aboard the International Space Station shared notes on exploring space and the sea in a very long-distance phone call.
Nobel Laureate John Mather Tweet-chats at NASA

10.09.12 - Nobel Laureate John Mather responded to questions on Twitter during a tweet-chat on Tuesday, September 25, 2012.
Electromagnetic Interference/Capability (EMI/EMC) testing and structural dynamics testing completed for LDCM.

10.04.12 - Orbital Sciences Corporation recently completed Electromagnetic Interference/Capability (EMI/EMC) testing and structural dynamics testing of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) satellite.
Dr. Jaylee Mead, Goddard Astrophysicist and D.C. Area Philanthropist Dies

10.05.12 - On September 14, 2012, long-time Goddard employee (who had employee badge number 0010) and retiree Dr. Jaylee Mead, 83, died.
Satellite Sees Giant 'Fog Ring' in U.S. Southwest

10.05.12 - The GOES-14 satellite saw a ring of fog over the southwestern United States on Oct. 4.
Aurora from Oct. 8, 2012 CME

10.08.12 - The CME release on Oct. 4, 2012 has generated a G2-level geomagnetic storm on Earth resulting in aurora in upper latitudes.
Swift Discovers a New Black Hole in our Galaxy

10.05.12 - Swift recently detected the presence of a previously unknown stellar-mass black hole.
NASA to Upgrade Vital Communications Link

10.05.12 - Technicians and engineers are completing final system checks and spacecraft inspections on the first of NASA's third-generation Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS).
Getting NASA's SDO into Focus

10.05.12 - From Sept. 6 to Sept. 29, 2012, NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory moved into its semi-annual eclipse season. It takes a little work to re-focus right after the eclipse.
Hubble Sees Cosmic Riches

10.04.12 - This dazzling image shows the globular cluster Messier 69, or M 69 for short, as viewed through the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
HS3 Mission Thoroughly Investigates Long-Lived Hurricane Nadine

10.05.12 - NASA's Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel scientists had a fascinating tropical cyclone to study in long-lived Hurricane Nadine, making 5 flights over the storm.
Webb Telescope's 'Worm Holes' in the Clean Room

Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

This photo gives a "worms eye" view of a robot arm holding a surrogate or simulated mirror segment (black hexagonal shape) for NASA's James Webb Space Telesc...
Red Hot Solar Ballet

10.04.12 - NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this minor eruption on the sun on Oct 4, 2012 as it rises and falls with the grace and polished movement of a ballet dancer.
Students Invited to Connect with Earth Explorers

10.03.12 - NASA Earth explorers will take students on virtual trips around the world to inspire them to pursue science, technology, engineering and math careers.
Blanketing NASA's Webb Telescope's Science Instrument Electronics

10.02.12 - Engineers from Genesis Engineering Solutions perform a two day "blanket closeout" on the James Webb Space Telescope.
Landsat Images Land on U.S. Postal Stamps

10.01.12 - The Postal Service has released 15 stamps that depict America's diverse landscapes, including views from Landsat 7's perspective.
CME Causes Colorful Aurora

10.01.12 - The CME launched by the sun on Sept. 27 resulted in aurora dipping into the continental U.S. as far south as Maryland and Ohio on Sept. 30, 2012.
Hubble Portrays a Dusty Spiral Galaxy

09.28.12 - This week, we highlight the galaxy NGC 4183, seen here with a beautiful backdrop of distant galaxies and nearby stars.
NOAA's GOES-13 Weather Satellite Currently Has an Acting Back-Up

09.28.12 - NOAA's GOES-13 weather satellite has been temporarily replaced with a back-up GOES satellite as engineers work to fix the satellite's issues.
'Flashy' Secrets of Merging Black Holes

09.27.12 - Gravity waves predicted by Einstein have never been observed directly, but many scientists think that this discovery is just a few years away.
Landsat Satellites Find the 'Sweet Spot' for Crops

09.27.12 - Farmers are using maps created with free data from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey's Landsat satellites that show locations that are good and not good for growing crops.
NASA Goddard's New Building Nears Completion

09.26.12 - The New Logistics facility at NASA Goddard, called Building 35, will replace aging Building 16W.
LRO Explores the Moon in 3-D

09.25.12 - The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is acquiring stereo images of the moon that can be used to generate 3-D views of the moon's surface.
Hubble Assembles Farthest Universe View Ever

09.25.12 - Ten years' worth of data went into compiling the Hubble eXtreme Deep Field, the deepest view of our universe ever created.
Cutting-Edge Technology Makes NASA's Hurricane Mission a Reality

09.25.12 - Scientists are currently flying state-of-the-art, autonomously operated instruments to gather difficult-to-obtain measurements of wind speeds, precipitation, and cloud structures in and around tropical storms.
First Two Webb Telescope Flight Mirrors Delivered to NASA

09.24.12 - The first two of the 18 primary mirrors to fly aboard NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope arrived at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
First-Issue Ceremony for 'Earthscapes' Stamps

09.24.12 - Two Landsat images appear on the upcoming "Earthscapes" stamps, which will be promoted at a free event Oct. 1 at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Hubble Catches Glowing Gas and Dark Dust in a Side-On Spiral

09.21.12 - Hubble produced a sharp image of NGC 4634. Its disk slightly warped by ongoing interactions with a nearby galaxy, it shows clearly defined dust lanes and bright nebulae.
NASA's Solar Fleet Peers Into Coronal Cavities

09.20.12 - By understanding the morphology, density and temperature of coronal cavities scientists can better understand eruptions on the sun and the space weather that can disrupt technologies near Earth.
Wildfires in Washington State

09.20.12 - The summer of 2012 will unfortunately be known as the "Summer of Devastating Western Wildfires" and practically not one state out west was spared. Washington State has been hardest hit of late. This satellite image shows a rash of wildfires currently burning in the middle of the state.
Arctic Sea Ice Hits Smallest Extent In Satellite Era

09.19.12 - The floating, frozen sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean melted to a record low extent on Sept. 16, 2012, continuing a long-term trend that has seen the summer size of the ice cap shrink dramatically in the past three decades.
NASA Telescopes Spy Ultra-Distant Galaxy

09.19.12 - With the combined power of NASA's Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes, as well as a cosmic magnification effect, astronomers have spotted what could be the most distant galaxy ever seen.
NASA Plane Helps Develop New Science Instruments

09.17.12 - Over the next few weeks, an ER-2 high altitude research aircraft will take part in the development of two future satellite instruments.
MetOp-B Launches with NASA Goddard-Developed Instruments

09.17.12 - A new European meteorological satellite soared into space Sept. 17 with five instruments developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Discovering the Ozone Hole: Q&A With Pawan Bhartia

09.17.12 - In 1977, Pawan Bhartia took a job at NASA that would lead to a role in the discovery and stabilization of the Antarctic ozone hole.
Yes, the James Webb Space Telescope Mirrors 'Can'

The powerful primary mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope will be able to detect the light from distant galaxies. The manufacturer of those mirrors, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder...
Hubble Sees NGC 7090 — An actively star-forming galaxy

09.14.12 - This image portrays a beautiful view of the galaxy NGC 7090, as seen by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The galaxy is viewed edge-on from the Earth.
The Gravity of Water →

09.12.12 - Summer drought was easy to see in the southern United States in 2011. The lingering, subtle drought of winter was also visible to an unusual pair of satellites.
New 'Chorus' Recording By RBSP's EMFISIS Instrument

09.13.12 - Radio waves, recorded by RBSP's EMFISIS instrument, are at frequencies that are audible to the human ear and are emitted by the energetic particles in the Earth’s magnetosphere.
Hours After Launch, RBSP Takes First Science Steps

09.12.12 - Immediately after launch, RBSP entered a 60-day commissioning phase of operations, where all of the spacecrafts’ systems and instruments are activated, monitored, and made ready for the two-year primary science mission.
Webb Takes Viewers 'Beyond Visible Light'

09.12.12 - STScI created the new video called 'Infrared: Beyond the Visible,' to help explain the purpose and benefits of using infrared light in astronomy.
New RBSP Instrument Telemetry Provides 'Textbook' Excitement

09.12.12 - Just three days after launch, live data of the particles in the Van Allen radiation belts from the two RBSP spacecraft, provides full science data right out of the box.
NASA's Hurricane Mission Takes Flight

09.07.12 - NASA has begun its latest hurricane science field campaign by flying an unmanned Global Hawk aircraft over Hurricane Leslie in the Atlantic Ocean during a day-long flight from California to Virginia
Hubble Watching Ancient Orbs

09.07.12 - This sparkling picture taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the center of globular cluster M 4. The power of Hubble has resolved the cluster into a multitude of glowing orbs, each a colossal nuclear furnace.
Odd Galaxy Couple on Space Voyage

09.05.12 - Two very different galaxies drift through space together in this Hubble image. The peculiar galaxy pair is called Arp 116.
SDO Enters Its Semiannual Eclipse Season

09.06.12 - Twice a year, for three weeks near the equinox, SDO moves into its eclipse season -- a time when Earth blocks its view of the sun for a period of time each day
Voyage to Explore Sea Saltiness, Climate Link

09.05.12 - A NASA-sponsored expedition is set to sail to the North Atlantic's saltiest spot to see how salinity variations are related to global rainfall shifts.
Mission to Study Magnetic Explosions Passes Review

09.05.12 - On August 31, 2012, NASA's MMS mission proved it was ready for its next steps by passing a Systems Integration Review, which deems a mission ready to integrate instruments onto the spacecraft.
NASA Announces Asteroid Naming Contest for Students

09.04.12 - Students worldwide have an opportunity to name an asteroid from which an upcoming NASA mission will return the first samples to Earth.
SDO Sees Massive Filament Eruption

09.04.12 - On September 1, 2012, a long, whip-like filament erupted on the sun. The eruption, called a coronal mass ejection, caused aurora near Earth on September 3.
Hubble Spotted a Supernova in NGC 5806

08.31.12 - Hubble sees a supernova explosion called SN 2004dg on the edge of NGC 5806, a spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo. It lies around 80 million light years from Earth.
RBSP Launches - Twin Probes in Orbit

08.30.12 - NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes are flying in Earth orbit after a successful liftoff this morning. The spacecraft are now at home in the Van Allen belts.
Walls of Lunar Crater May Hold Patchy Ice, LRO Radar Finds

08.30.12 - Small patches of ice could make up at most five to ten percent of material in walls of Shackleton crater.
ACE, Workhorse Of NASA's Heliophysics Fleet, Is 15

08.29.12 - ACE is a crucial component of NASA's heliophysics fleet, providing warning of incoming space weather. In 15 years, it has also helped map the ingredients and drivers of the vast sea of flowing particles surrounding Earth.
Night View of Hurricane Isaac

08.31.12 - Suomi NPP captured this view of Hurricane Isaac's clouds (lit by moonlight) and the cities near the Gulf Coast of the United States at 1:57 a.m. local time.
Suomi NPP Captures Russian, African Fires' Smoke

08.28.12 - Powerful fires currently scorching parts of Russia and Africa sent up plumes of smoke into the atmosphere, observed by Suomi NPP.
Tracking Shuttle Exhaust Reveals More Information About Atmospheric Winds

08.28.12 - Scientists tracked space shuttle exhaust plumes to study airflow in the upper atmosphere. The water vapor spread faster than expected and collected near the Arctic to form noctilucent clouds.
RBSP Launches - Twin Probes in Orbit

08.30.12 - NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes are flying in Earth orbit after a successful liftoff this morning. The spacecraft are now at home in the Van Allen belts.
Share Your Condolences on Neil Armstrong

09.11.12
NASA's IceBridge Seeking New View of Changing Sea Ice

08.27.12 - NASA's Operation IceBridge gathers data on changing Arctic sea ice, including new data that could be used in future seasonal sea ice forecasts.
Arctic Sea Ice Shrinks To New Low In Satellite Era

08.27.12 - The declining sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has melted down to its smallest size since satellite observations began in the late 1970s. The current size of the polar cap surpassed the previous record set in 2007.
RBSP Launch Postponed Until Aug. 30

08.25.12 - Due to tropical storm Isaac, the RBSP launch has been postponed until Thursday, Aug. 30. The Atlas V rocket has been rolled back from the pad to protect it from inclement weather.
Weather Scrubs RBSP Launch - Next Attempt Aug. 26

08.25.12 - Unfavorable weather conditions in and around Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida prompted launch managers to halt today's attempted launch.
Sun Has "Eureka!" Moment

08.24.12 - A series of CMEs on August 20, as seen by the SOHO satellite, produces one shaped remarkably like a incandescent light bulb.
RBSP Launch Rescheduled for Aug. 25

08.24.12 - Launch managers have scrubbed the planned liftoff of NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes due to an issue with Eastern Range beacon indications.
Hubble Captures a Collection of Ancient Stars

08.24.12 - Hubble captured the globular cluster Messier 56, located about 33,000 light years from the Earth in the constellation of Lyra.
The Webb Telescope's 'Golden Spider'

08.23.12 - What looks like a giant golden spider weaving a web of cables and cords, is actually ground support equipment for the James Webb Space Telescope.
Nodosaur Footprint Verified – Perhaps with Baby in Tow

08.23.12 - Not one, but two nodosaurs passed through the campus of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., between 110 and 112 million years ago.
Landsat Data Continuity Mission Environmental Testing is Underway

08.22.12 - Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) Observatory Electromagnetic Interference/Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMI/EMC) testing is underway at Orbital Sciences Corporation's Gilbert, Ariz., location.
The Faces Behind MIRI - Part 2

08.22.12 - This is a limited series of features to introduce some of the many scientists and engineers involved in the MIRI instrument that will fly aboard the James Webb Space Telescope.
RBSP Launch Delay, Now Set for Friday, Aug. 24

08.19.12 - The launch is rescheduled for Friday, Aug. 24 at 4:07am EDT, due to an anomalous engine condition identified during testing of another Atlas vehicle.
Emerging Sunspot Releases Mid-level Solar Flare

08.18.12 - An active region, just beginning to rotate into view, released an M5.6 class solar flare last night at 9:01pm EDT.
Hubble Sees a Lonely Galactic Island

08.17.12 - Many galaxies, like irregular dwarf DDO 190, are comparatively isolated, without close neighbors.
Canada's 'Dynamic Duo' for Webb Telescope

08.17.12 - A "Dynamic Duo" from Canada is the latest topic of the "Behind the Webb" series of videos, which highlights technology in NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
Tracking Electron Beams from the Sun

08.14.12 - Scientists used data from NASA's ACE mission to study jets of electrons streaming from the sun known as electron strahl. This aids understanding of the giant space weather system around Earth.
LRO Detects Helium in Moon's Atmosphere

08.15.12 - Scientists using LRO's spectrometer have observed helium in the tenuous atmosphere surrounding the moon.
Two Hurricane Global Hawks, Two Sets of Instruments

08.15.12 - HS3, will study hurricanes at the end of the summer, flying two high-altitude, long-duration unmanned aircraft with different instruments over the storms.
Public Briefing: Solar and Space Physics Decadal Survey

08.14.12 - The National Research Council's second decadal survey in solar and space physics is scheduled for release at 1pm EDT on August 15, 2012.
Hubble Watches Star Clusters on a Collision Course

08.16.12 - Astronomers using data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have caught two clusters full of massive stars that may be in the early stages of merging.
Heliophysics Nugget: Seeing Sprites

08.14.12 - In the summer of 2011, scientists recorded some of the best movies of sprites ever taken -- movies that can be used to study this poorly understood phenomenon and the forces that create them.
STEREO Observes One of the Fastest CMEs On Record

08.13.11 - On July 23, 2012, a massive cloud of solar material erupted off the sun. NASA Goddard scientists clocked the giant cloud, known as a coronal mass ejection, or CME, at speeds between 1,800 and 2,200 miles per second.
Second Flight Instrument Delivered for James Webb Space Telescope

08.13.12 - The second of four main instruments to fly aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) has been delivered to NASA.
Space-Age Materials, One Atomic Layer at a Time

08.10.12 - A technologist at Goddard is experimenting with an emerging technology for defending sensitive spacecraft components from the high-velocity bombardments.
Hubble's Close Encounter with the Tarantula

08.10.12 - Turning its eye to the Tarantula Nebula, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken this close-up of the outskirts of the main cloud of the Nebula.
One Half Million Mile Solar Filament

08.10.12 - SDO sees a very long, whip-like solar filament extending over half a million miles in a long arc above the sun’s surface. Part of the filament seems to break away, but its basic length and shape seem to have remained mostly intact.
Summer Storm Spins Over Arctic

08.09.12 - An unusually strong storm formed off the coast of Alaska on August 5 and tracked into the center of the Arctic Ocean.
NASA's New Way to Track Formaldehyde

08.09.12 - Urban pollution, such as formaldehyde, that winds up in Earth's upper atmosphere can wreak havoc on the ozone layer.
Watching a Train of Storminess in the Tropical Atlantic Ocean

8.09.12 - This NOAA GOES-13 satellite image from August 9 shows some very active tropics with four areas, like a train of storms, that forecasters are watching.
Mount Tongariro Erupts →

08.08.12 - Late on Aug. 6, 2012, New Zealand’s Mount Tongariro erupted for the first time in 115 years.
Meteor Smoke Makes Strange Clouds

08.08.09 - A key ingredient for 'night shining clouds' comes from outer space. Scientists have detected bits of 'meteor smoke' imbedded in them.
NASA Global Hawk Pilots Face Challenges Flying Hurricane Missions

08.08.12 - NASA's Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel, or HS3, mission will be a complex one for the pilots flying NASA's Global Hawk aircraft from the ground.
Solar Scientists Receive 2012 NASA Honor Awards

08.07.12 - Heliophysicists Spiro Antiochos, James Klimchuk, Douglas Rowland, and the SDO Science Investigation Team received Agency Honor Awards to celebrate their unique contributions to NASA's mission.
Goddard Celebrates Curiosity’s Landing

08.07.12 - At 1:32 a.m. EDT the late-night landing event at Goddard Space Flight Center was flooded with shouts, applause and more than a few teary eyes at the announcement that the Curiosity rover had touched down safely on the surface of Mars.
Research Links Extreme Summer Heat Events to Global Warming

08.06.12 - A new statistical analysis by NASA scientists has found that Earth's land areas have become much more likely to experience an extreme summer heat wave than they were in the middle of the 20th century.
Hubble Sees a Ten Billion Year Stellar Dance

08.03.12 - The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope offers this delightful view of the crowded stellar encampment called Messier 68, a spherical, star-filled region of space known as a globular cluster.
Star's 'Cry' Heralds New Era for Testing Relativity

08.02.12 - Researchers have observed a distinctive X-ray signal following a black hole's eruption that comes from matter on the verge of falling into it.
Dust Dominates Foreign Aerosol Imports to North America

08.02.12 - Scientists used satellites to measure for the first time from space the amount of tiny airborne particles entering North America, and concluded that dust, not pollution, is the main ingredient of the imported particles.
Q&A with Atmospheric Scientist Hongbin Yu

08.02.12 - Atmospheric scientist Hongbin Yu describes the implications of a new calculation showing that 64 million tons of dust, pollution and other particles survive a trans-ocean journey to arrive over North America each year.
Carbon-Eaters on the Black Sea →

07.31.12 - The multitude of single-celled algae swirling in this image are most likely coccolithophores, one of Earth’s champions of carbon pumping.
Curiosity's First Daredevil Stunt

08.02.12 - Curiosity is equipped with an instrument that measures space radiation, which was turned on shortly after launch on Nov. 26, 2011. The instrument has been sending back data during its trip to Mars.
NASA Team to Demonstrate Miniaturized Spectrometer-on-a-Chip

08.02.12 - If a team of technologists succeeds, scientists in the future will make their discoveries with components that fit on a silicon wafer.
Goddard Gears Up for Curiosity's Mars Landing

08.02.12 - While the Curiosity rover hurtles toward the Martian surface on the night of August 5, people around the world -- and here at Goddard -- will eagerly await word of its safe arrival.
Scott Braun Discusses Upcoming Hurricane Campaign

08.01.12 - HS3 is a five-year mission specifically targeted to investigate hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean basin.
Goddard's Astrobiology Analytical Lab

08.01.12 - How did we get here? Are we alone? The answers may lie in carbonaceous meteorites.
Geothermal System Installed at Goddard's Building 25

08.01.12 - NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is pleased to announce the start-up of a new geothermal system for Building 25's Network Testing and Training Facility.
NASA Goddard's Innovation Lab: Creating a Future

07.31.12 - For several years Matthew Showalter has utilized the unique talent and fresh thinking of interns from around the country to collaborate on a project he calls the Innovation Lab.
Sun Emits a Medium-Intensity Solar Flare

07.30.12 - The sun emitted a mid-level flare, peaking at 4:55 PM EDT on July 28, 2012. This flare is classified as a M6.2 flare. M-class flares are the weakest flares that can still cause some space weather effects near Earth.
Testing at Goddard: 'The Chamber of Horrors'

07.30.12 - The Environmental Test Engineering and Integration facility—affectionately nicknamed the “Chamber of Horrors”—ensures that every spacecraft is space-ready.
Geotail: 20 Years in Space

07.27.12 - On July 24, 1992, a joint JAXA/NASA mission launched, becoming the vanguard for a set of coordinated missions to study Earth's magnetic environs.
Hubble Sees a Galaxy Festooned with Stellar Nurseries

07.27.12 - The galaxy NGC 4700 bears the signs of the vigorous birth of many new stars in this image captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
Webb Telescope Gets 'Golden Touch'

07.27.12 - "Golden Touch" video takes viewers behind the scenes with the scientists and engineers creating the Webb telescope's components.
Nighttime Lights of London →

07.26.12 - Millions will see London during the 2012 Olympics, but Suomi NPP has an entirely different perspective, as seen in this newly release image.
HS3 Mission Gets Support From Ames

07.26.12 - The Earth Science Project Office provides management for the Hurricane and Severe Storms Sentinel (HS3) mission flying this year.
X-ray Concept Inspired by Scotch® Tape

07.26.12 - The inspiration behind a NASA scientist's quest to build a specialized X-ray mirror comes from an unusual source: a roll of tape.
How Life Turned Left

07.25.12 - Life can't function with a mix of left- and right-handed amino acids; scientists want to know how life got set up with the left-handed ones.
DFS Launches Successfully

07.24.12 - The DFS rocket launched successfully on July 24, 2012 from White Sands, NM with nominal data from 3 of the 4 spectrometers aboard. It's primary goal is to significantly advance the state of the art in short wavelength observing solar spectrometers.
Satellites See Unprecedented Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Melt

07.24.12 - For several days this month, Greenland's surface ice cover melted over a larger area than at any time in more than 30 years of satellite observations.
A Taste of Solar Maximum

07.23.12 - On July 14, 2012 a CME crashed into Earth's magnetic field and triggered the most sustained display of auroras in years, giving the world a taste of things to come when Solar Max arrives in 2013.
City 'Change Pairs' from Landsat

07.23.12 - The Landsat program has seen a literal world of changes in its 40 years of observing Earth. This interactive compares "before and after" views of some of those changes.
Landsat Top 10

07.23.12 - Landsat has been capturing change for 40 years. NASA and U.S. Geological Survey scientists chose 10 of the most significant images to showcase this mission's valuable returns.
Top Five 'Earth as Art' Winners

07.23.12 - Beyond the scientific information they supply, some Landsat images are simply striking to look at, presenting spectacular views of mountains, valleys, and islands as well as forests, grasslands, and agricultural patterns.
American Landscapes

07.23.12 - NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey selected six out of 172 submissions from the American public and created customized Landsat chronicles of changing local landscapes.
IRVE-3 Sounding Rocket Launches Successfully

07.23.12 - The launch from Wallops of an inflatable aeroshell/heat shield technology demonstrator sounding rocket was successful.
Students Competing In Chemistry Olympiad Visit Goddard

07.23.12 - Nearly 300 of the world's top chemistry students visited NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center on July 23, 2012, as part of the International Chemistry Olympiad.
'Tree of Life' Still Stands After Derecho

07.20.12 - Goddard's "Tree of Life" took a pounding in the June 29 derecho, but the giant willow oak remains strong.
NASA Keeps its Cool in Derecho Aftermath

07.20.12 - Thanks to contingency operations, NASA Goddard was able to minimize the effects of the derecho that took power away from millions earlier this summer.
Hubble Has an Audience of Stellar Flashbulbs

07.20.12 - Hubble captured a crowd of stars that looks rather like a stadium darkened before a show, lit only by the flashes of the audience’s cameras.
The Faces Behind MIRI - Part 1

07.19.12 - This is a limited series of features to introduce some of the many scientists and engineers involved in the MIRI instrument that will fly aboard the James Webb Space Telescope.
Sun Sends Out Mid-Level Solar Flare

07.19.12 - The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare (M7.7) on July 19, 2012, beginning at 1:13 AM EDT and peaking at 1:58 AM.
Landsat Looks and Sees

07.19.12 - The Landsat program is the longest continuous global record of Earth observations from space -- ever.
More Ice Breaks off of Petermann Glacier →

07.18.12 - A massive iceberg, or ice island, broke off of the Petermann Glacier in 2010. Nearly two years later, another chunk of ice has broken free.
Heliophysics Nugget: Riding the Plasma Wave

07.17.12 - Data from the WAVES instrument on NASA's Wind mission provide evidence for a type of plasma wave moving faster than theory predicted it could move. This suggests that a different process may be driving the waves.
Colorful Science Sheds Light on Solar Heating

07.19.12 - Nicki Viall creates images of the sun reminiscent of Van Gogh, with broad strokes of bright color splashed on a yellow background. The color of each pixel contains information about the history of heating on the sun.
Balloon-borne 'HEROES' Tapped for NASA Training Award

07.17.12 - An innovative NASA solar/space imaging project has received the agency's Hands-On Project Experience Training Opportunity award.
Experience Mars Rover's Landing from Goddard Visitor Center

07.16.12 - NOTE: This event's registration capacity has been reached. No new registrations will be accepted. Witness history from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s Visitor Center on Aug. 6, 2012.
Explore Mars at the Goddard Visitor Center

07.16.12 - On July 28, 2012, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., just nine days before the Mars rover Curiosity touches down on the Red Planet, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s Visitor Center will host an exploration event in anticipation of this interplanetary achievement.
Landsat Data Continuity Mission Becomes an Observatory

07.16.12 - With two instruments now integrated into LDCM, the spacecraft is a complete observatory.
Electric Atmosphere: Plasma Is Next NASA Science Target

07.18.12 - Two giant donuts of radiation surround Earth, trapped in a region known as the Van Allen Radiation Belts. NASA's RBSP mission will study the material, called plasma, in this mysterious region.
Suomi NPP Sees Western U.S. Blazes

07.13.12 - These images show how two of the most destructive fires in Colorado and New Mexico history grew over a 24-hour time period from June 9 to June 10.
Hubble Sees the Needle Galaxy, Edge-on and Up Close

07.13.12 - NGC 4565 has been nicknamed the Needle Galaxy because, when seen in full, it appears as a very narrow streak of light on the sky.
CME Arrival Results in Aurora Show

07.15.12 - The arrival of the CME associated with the July 12, 2012 X1.4 class flare, resulted in a geomagnetic storm that caused aurora to appear in lower latitudes than usual.
Hubble Discovers Fifth Moon Around Pluto

07.11.12 - A year after helping to discover a fourth moon around Pluto, Hubble has observed a fifth orbiting the distant, icy dwarf planet.
Hubble Unmasks Ghost Galaxies

07.10.12 - Astronomers have puzzled over why some puny, extremely faint galaxies in our Milky Way galaxy's back yard contain so few stars. Hubble is helping solve the mystery of these star-starved galaxies.
Active Region 1515 Releases M6.9 Class Flare

07.09.12 - As it turns away from Earth, AR1515 releases an M6.9 class solar flare.
Sun Releases X1.1 Class Flare

07.07.12 - Anticipated for the past week, the sun finally releases an X1.1 class solar flare late on July 6.
Images in an Instant: Suomi NPP Begins Direct Broadcast

07.06.12 - Real-time data for everything from weather forecasts to disaster response is now being beamed to Earth from the nation’s newest Earth-observing satellite.
NASA Measures Aerosols from Western Fires →

07.06.2012 - Wildfire smoke has affected large parts of the country, and aerosols have been especially thick over the Midwest.
HI-C Sounding Rocket Mission Launches Successfully

07.11.12 - The HI-C Sounding Rocket launched successfully on July 11, 2012. HI-C is the highest resolution solar telescope ever to observe the solar corona.
SUMI Sounding Rocket Mission Launches Successfully

07.05.12 - On July 5, NASA successfully launched SUMI, to study the intricate, constantly changing magnetic fields in the sun's chromosphere.
SUMI Rocket Launches Successfully

07.05.12 - UPDATE: SUMI sounding rocket launches successfully and data results look good.
Satellites Observe Powerful Summer Storm

07.05.12 - Satellites offer a unique viewpoint on June's "derecho" storm system, which left millions without electricity in the eastern United States.
Another M-class Flare from Sunspot 1515

07.05.12 - Today's M6.1 solar flare, originating from behemoth sunspot AR1515, is the twelfth M-class flare from that region in the last 3 days.
Scanning Webb’s Surrogate Eye

07.05.12 - Goddard engineers prepare to measure James Webb's Optical Telescope Element in super-cold, vacuum conditions that simulate space.
NASA Workshop Discusses How On-Orbit Robotic Satellite-Servicing Becomes Reality

07.05.12 - Many of the speakers and attendees at NASA’s Second International Workshop on On-Orbit Satellite Servicing are claiming satellite 'service stations' could be achievable in the next five years.
Independence Day Fireworks

07.04.12 - Even the sun joins in America's Fourth of July celebration, with an M5.3 solar flare.
Hubble Views a Cosmic Skyrocket

07.03.12 - Herbig-Haro 110 is a geyser of hot gas from a newborn star that splashes up against and ricochets off the dense core of a cloud of molecular hydrogen.
Young Star Flaunts X-ray Spots

07.03.12 - The outbursts of V1647 Ori are giving astronomers a glimpse of the extreme childhood of a sun-like star.
Solar Fireworks on July 2

07.03.12 - On July 2, 2012, an M5.6 class solar flare erupted from the sun, peaking at 6:52 AM EDT.
Hidden Portals in Earth's Magnetic Field

07.02.12 - A NASA-funded researcher at the University of Iowa has figured out how to find X-points, places where the magnetic field of Earth connects to the magnetic field of the Sun.
Hubble Sees Red Giant Blow a Bubble

07.06.12 - Camelopardalis, or U Cam for short, is a star nearing the end of its life. As it begins to run low on fuel, it is becoming unstable.
One Step Closer to Robotic Refueling Demonstrations

06.28.12 - NASA completed another successful round of Robotic Refueling Mission operations on the International Space Station.
Why June 30 is Getting an Extra Second

06.29.12 - How will you spend your bonus time on June 30?
Vapor of Stars

06.29.12 - Though this galaxy is tiny compared to our Milky Way, this "vapor" (formally DDO 82) still contains millions of stars.
NASA's 'Webb-Cam' Has Double Vision for MIRI's Arrival

06.29.12 - NASA's special "Webb-cam"now has "double vision," thanks to a second camera focused on the newly arrived MIRI instrument.
Hubble, Swift Detect First-Ever Changes in an Exoplanet Atmosphere

06.28.12 - Astronomers have made an unparalleled observation: significant changes in the atmosphere of a planet located beyond our solar system.
One Step Closer to Robotic Refueling Demonstrations on Space Station

06.28.12 - NASA completed another successful round of Robotic Refueling Mission operations on the International Space Station.
NASA Observes the Waldo Canyon Fire, Colo.

06.27.12 - These images show space- and ground-based views of the Waldo Canyon Fire near Colorado Springs, Colo.
Blog: Operation IceBridge Q&A →

06.27.12 - Michael Studinger, project scientist for the Operation IceBridge mission, discusses NASA's Arctic and Antarctic airborne campaigns.
Japanese Science Cartoonist Visits NASA Goddard

06.28.12 - Goddard scientists work with many cool things on a daily basis, but few get the chance to be drawn into comic book characters.
Committee on Space Research Honors NASA's Neil Gehrels for Science Contributions

06.26.12 - The Committee on Space Research recently announced an award to NASA Astrophysicist Neil Gehrels for research in space science.
NASA's Hubble Spots Rare Gravitational Arc from Distant, Hefty Galaxy Cluster

06.26.12 - Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found a puzzling arc of light behind an extremely massive cluster of galaxies residing 10 billion light-years away.
Cassini Shows Why Jet Streams Cross-Cut Saturn

06.25.12 - Scientists studying images from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft have found that heat from within the planet powers the jet streams.
Now Everyone Can Build a Satellite Like NASA: Online!

06.25.12 - Would you like to build a satellite to peer into a black hole and uncover its secrets, now you can with a new online game from NASA.
NASA Satellite Sees Several Western U.S. Fires Blazing

06.22.12 - NASA's Aqua satellite picked up smoke and identified hot spots from fires in Colorado, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.
Hubble Views the Globular Cluster M10

06.22.12 - Messier 10 is a ball of stars that lies about 15,000 light-years from Earth, in the constellation of Ophiuchus (The Serpent Bearer).
WMAP Team Awarded Gruber Cosmology Prize

06.22.12 - WMAP transformed the science of cosmology by establishing the age, geometry and contents of the universe to astonishing precision.
SDO/EVE Sounding Rocket Launches Successfully

06.23.12 - Based on the quicklook realtime data, all of the rocket EVE instrument channels appear to have made excellent solar EUV irradiance measurements.
Estimating Ice Content at Moon's South Pole

06.20.12 - Scientists mapped Shackleton crater with unprecedented detail using the laser altimeter on LRO and found evidence for ice.
Computer Graphics Group Showcases NASA Visuals

06.19.12 - An annual conference that presents and publishes the best in computer graphics and technical research chose a NASA excerpt as one of its select entries of 2012.
Most Quasars Live on Snacks, Not Large Meals

06.19.12 - Astronomers are uncovering an underlying population of fainter quasars that thrive in normal-looking spiral galaxies.
Landsat Sets Standard for World Forest Maps

06.18.12 - Countries like Brazil are using NASA satellite data to track and measure their forests in advance of a United Nations effort to reduce climate change.
Compact Blue Dwarf Can’t Hide from Hubble

06.15.12 - The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured this view of the dwarf galaxy UGC 5497, which looks a bit like salt sprinkled on black velvet in this image.
First Flight Instrument Delivered for James Webb

06.14.12 - The first instrument that will fly aboard NASA's JWST has been delivered to Goddard. The Mid-Infrared Instrument will allow scientists to study cold and distant objects in greater detail.
2012 Noctilucent Cloud Season Begins

06.15.12 - They're Baaaack! The first noctilucent clouds for the 2012 season have been spotted.
UPDATE: Two CMEs Hit Earth’s Magnetosphere

06.18.12 - Two CMEs from AR 1504 on June 13-14, delivered a combined blow over the weekend and sparked bright aurora, with some appearing at lower latitudes than usual.
Chance Alignment Between Galaxies Mimics a Cosmic Collision

06.14.12 - NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows a rare view of a pair of overlapping galaxies which look as if they are colliding, but they are actually separated by tens of millions of light-years.
Teachers Experience Arctic Research with IceBridge

06.13.12 - During the 2012 Arctic campaign, teachers from the United States, Denmark and Greenland joined IceBridge researchers as they surveyed Greenland's sea ice, ice sheet and glaciers.
High Park Fire, Colorado

Colorado's High Park Fire has already burned 41,140 acres or approximately 64 square miles and continues to burn and generate large amounts of smoke seen by NASA satellites.

The High Park ...
Spotting Ultrafine Loops in the Sun's Corona

06.12.12 - Scientists have for the first time observed especially narrow loops of solar material scattered on the sun's surface. These ultrafine loops may help with determining how temperatures rise throughout the corona.
Ocean Salinity Pathfinder Celebrates One Year in Orbit

06.11.12 - It's been a busy first year in space for Aquarius, NASA's pioneering instrument to measure ocean surface salinity from orbit.
Fermi Detects Solar Flare's Highest-Energy Light

06.11.12 - During a powerful solar blast on March 7, the Fermi telescope detected the highest-energy light ever associated with an eruption on our sun.
Instrument Integration Begins on MMS Spacecraft

06.08.12 - Engineers have started integrating instruments on the first of four instrument decks in a newly fabricated cleanroom at Goddard.
'Earth As Art': A Contest to Celebrate 40 Years of Landsat

06.08.12 - To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Landsat, the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA would like your help in selecting the top five "Earth as Art" images.
Satellite Sees Smoke from Siberian Fires Reach the U.S. Coast

06.11.12 - Fires burning in Siberia recently sent smoke across the Pacific Ocean and into the U.S. and Canada.
Hubble Spots a Bright Spark in a Nearby Spiral Galaxy

06.08.12 - The orange star in the upper left of this Hubble image may have devoured one of its larger planets a few years back, causing it to flare brightly.
NASA Discovers Unprecedented Blooms of Ocean Plant Life

06.07.12 - Scientists have made a biological discovery in Arctic Ocean waters as dramatic and unexpected as finding a rain forest in the middle of a desert.
Bird Rest Stops To Be Tracked by NASA Rain Radar

06.07.12 - Ground radar set up on the Eastern Shore of Virginia to validate satellite rain measurements will do double duty for The Nature Conservancy as a tool to track migratory birds.
Satellite Views of Md.'s Severe Weather

06.07.12 - On Friday, June 1, 2012 severe weather generated 9 weak tornadoes across Maryland, according to the National Weather Service.
James Webb Space Telescope’s Mirrors Get 'Shrouded'

06.06.12 - Earlier this year, NASA completed deep-freeze tests on the James Webb Space Telescope mirrors in a "shroud" at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
Double-Satellite View of Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire

06.05.12 - NASA's Terra and Aqua recently captured visible images of the large Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire burning in western New Mexico.
RHESSI Uses Venus Transit to Improve Measurements of the Sun's Diameter

06.04.12 - During the Venus Transit on June 5-6, 2012, the RHESSI science team hopes to improve the accuracy of their measurements of the diameter of the sun, to provide the best measurement ever obtained.
Emerging Optics Technology to Fly on Microsatellite

06.04.12 - A kitchen gadget has partly inspired an emerging technology that could answer questions about our sun.
Hubble Sees a Celestial Swan and Butterfly

06.04.12 - Located just beyond the tail of Cygnus (The Swan), this butterfly-shaped cloud of glowing gas and dust is the wreckage of a star similar to the Sun.
The Mysterious Arc of Venus

06.04.12 - Astronomers hope to glimpse a "ring of fire" around Venus during its historic transit across the sun on June 5-6. The apparition, if it is seen, could help crack some of the deepest mysteries of the second planet.
NASA Sending Unmanned Aircraft Over Hurricanes

06.01.12 - Beginning this summer, NASA will send "severe storm sentinels" into stormy skies to gather information about hurricane formation and intensity changes.
ISS Transit of Venus

06.01.12 - Astronaut Don Pettit will photograph the June 5, 2012 Transit of Venus from the ISS. He and the Expedition 31 crew will be the first people in history to see a Venus transit from space.
NASA Science Grips Two Brothers

06.01.12 - Two principal researchers on several airborne sensors had more in common than conducting atmospheric research. Gerry and Andy Heymsfield are brothers.
X-ray 'Echoes' Map a Supermassive Black Hole's Environs

05.31.12 - An international team of astronomers using data from the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton satellite has identified a long-sought X-ray 'echo' that promises a new way to probe supersized black holes in distant galaxies.
Solar Particles Infiltrating the Atmosphere

05.31.12 - An M-class flare on May 17, 2012 shot out a burst of solar particles traveling at nearly the speed of light. When they collided with atoms in Earth's atmosphere they caused a ground level enhancement.
Milky Way Destined for Head-On Collision

05.31.12 - The Milky Way is destined to get a major makeover during an encounter with the Andromeda galaxy, predicted to happen 4 billion years from now.
Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire

This image of the Whitewater-Baldy fire, in western New Mexico, was taken on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 2000 UTC (4:00 p.m. EDT) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument...
SDO to Observe Venus Transit

06.01.12 - NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) will be watching the June 5, 2012 Venus Transit to help calibrate its instruments as well as to learn more about Venus's atmosphere.
Building 45 Payloads for Balloon Mission

05.29.12 - Dartmouth scientists are building 45 payloads--each destined for a trip on a balloon around Antarctica as part of NASA'S BARREL mission.
Electric Moon Jolts the Solar Wind

05.30.12 - Spacecraft and computer simulations reveal the moon's extensive but invisible influence.
Bud (Eastern Pacific Ocean)

05.29.12 - Just before Tropical Storm Bud made landfall on the western coast of Mexico in the state of Jalisco, it was downgraded to a tropical depression.
Hubble Sees A Spiral Within a Spiral

05.25.12 - ESO 498-G5's spiral arms wind all the way into the center, so its core looks like a bit like a miniature spiral galaxy.
Tiny Planet-Finding Mirrors Borrow from Webb Telescope Playbook

05.23.12 - A team of scientists at Goddard is developing an instrument that would image and characterize planets beyond the solar system possibly from a high-altitude balloon.
The 2012 Transit of Venus

05.24.12 - On June 5th, 2012, Venus will pass across the face of the sun, producing a silhouette that no one alive today will likely see again.
Sunlight 'Nudges' Asteroid

05.24.12 - Scientists working on an upcoming asteroid sample return mission have measured their target's drift, caused by the subtle "push" of sunlight.
"My American Landscape" Contest: A Space Chronicle of Change

05.24.12 - NASA researchers are about to fly off on a campaign that will take them into the heart of thunderstorm country.
Goddard Delivers Magnetometers for Next Mission to Mars

05.21.12 - The pair of flux gate magnetometers measures the magnetic field at the location of the spacecraft. This instrument will help understand how the solar wind interacts with the planet’s atmosphere.
Hubble Spies Edge-on Beauty

05.18.12 - Hubble caught this close up of the northern half of NGC891, approximately 30 million light-years away in the constellation of Andromeda.
Days of 'Gizmo' Launches Return

05.17.12 - NASA technologists will get a chance next summer to relive the good old days when Agency engineers would affix space-age gizmos to rockets just to see if the contraptions worked.
Measuring Transient X-rays with Lobster Eyes

05.21.12 - A technology that mimics the structure of a lobster's eyes is now being applied to a new instrument that could help revolutionize X-ray astronomy and keep astronauts safe on the International Space Station.
Solar Eclipse, May 20, 2012

05.17.12 - On May 20-21, 2012 an annular eclipse of the Sun will be visible from within a narrow corridor along Earth's northern Hemisphere.
Forest Recovering from Mt. St. Helens Explosion

05.17.12 - On May 18, 1980, Mt. St. Helens exploded. More than 30 years later, the landscape is still recovering.
Chat With John Mather on Twitter

Ask @NASAWebbTelescp and #JWST project scientist and Nobel Laureate John Mather your questions about #JWSTscience, May 17th at 2pm EDT.
A Supernova Cocoon Breakthrough

05.15.12 - Observations with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory may help astronomers understand why some supernovas are much more powerful than others.
Mild Amazon Fire Season Forecast in 2012

05.10.12 - Amazon Basin forests are expected to be less vulnerable to wildfires this year, according to the first forecast from a new fire severity model.
IBEX Reveals Missing Boundary At Solar System Edge

05.10.12 - Scientists compile data from IBEX, Voyager, and computer models to show that the heliosphere just isn't moving fast enough to create a bow shock.
More Eruptions from Active Region 1476

05.17.12 - The sun erupted with an M-class flare that peaked at 9:47 PM EDT on May 17, 2012. A CME also burst from the sun at 9:48 PM EDT, traveling at over 930 miles per second.
TDRS-4 Mission Complete, Spacecraft Retired

05.08.12 - TDRS-4 recently completed almost 23 years of operations support and successfully completed end-of-mission de-orbit and decommissioning activities.
Hubble Sees the Eye of the Storm in Galaxy Cluster

05.04.12 - Zooming into the central part of a galaxy cluster — one of the largest structures of the Universe — is rather like looking at the eye of the storm.
Hubble to Use Moon as Mirror to See Venus Transit

05.04.12 - Hubble cannot look at the sun directly, so astronomers are planning to point the telescope at the Earth's moon, using it as a mirror to capture reflected sunlight that is filtered through Venus's atmosphere.
NASA Exhibits Inspire Maryland Day 2012 Explorers

05.03.12 - Representatives from Goddard's Office of Communications and the Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate participated in the University of Maryland's annual spring open-house on April 28.
Lightning Signature Could Reveal Solar System's Origins

05.03.12 - A signature of lightning could be used to study atmospheres around other planets and shed light on how the solar system formed.
Plants Blooming, Leafing Earlier

05.02.12 - Plants are leafing and flowering sooner each year than predicted by controlled experiments designed to predict plant responses to rising temperatures.
Black Hole Guilty of Stellar Homicide

05.02.12 - Astronomers have gathered the most direct evidence yet of a supermassive black hole shredding a star that wandered too close.
Goddard Symposium Continues Tradition of Forward Thinking

05.02.12 - This year's symposium held March 28-29 at the Greenbelt, Md. Marriott featured senior representation from NASA and leaders in aerospace policy.
Goddard Collaborates on MMS Instrument

04.30.12 - During the last week of March, 2012, researchers from Goddard, Marshall, SWRI and Japan came together to test a key instrument for the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission.
Wind Farm's Impact on Surface Temperature

04.30.12 - A Texas region containing four of the world's largest wind farms showed an increase in land surface temperature over 9 years.
Black Hole Outburst in Spiral Galaxy M83

04.30.12 - Chandra has discovered an extraordinary black hole outburst in spiral galaxy M83, located about 15 million light years from Earth.
Egg Nebula's 'Searchlight' Beams

04.27.12 - This Hubble image of the Egg Nebula shows one of the best views to date of the brief but dramatic end phase in a star's life.
Critical Webb Telescope Testing

04.12.12 - Instruments for the Webb telescope are undergoing testing in a giant vacuum chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
NASA's Landsat Satellites See Texas Crop Circles

04.26.12 - A water-rich polka dot pattern takes over the traditional rectangular patchwork of fields in this time series animation of 40 years of Landsat images.
Warm Ocean Currents Cause Antarctic Ice Loss

04.25.12 - Warm ocean currents attacking the underside of ice shelves are the dominant cause of recent ice loss from Antarctica, based on data from ICESat.
On Top of the Smokies, All Covered in Light Rain

04.20.12 - The Southern Appalachians are one of the rainiest places in the United States, and scientists have discovered that much of it is difficult to detect light rain.
Webb Telescope Flight Backplane Section Complete

04.24.12 - The center section of the backplane structure that will fly on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has been completed.
NASA Research Estimates How Long Titan's Chemical Factory Has Been in Business

04.24.12 - Titan's atmosphere is a complex factory that covers the moon's icy surface in soot and rains down lakes of liquid methane and ethane. However, its critical resource -- methane -- should not last long.
One Week of Ash from Mexico's Volcano

04.23.12 - NASA has animated imagery from NOAA's GOES-13 satellite to provide a week long look at the Popocatepetl Volcano's activity.
NASA Celebrates Earth Day 2012 in the Washington Area

04.12.12 - NASA took part in the celebration of Earth Day's 42nd anniversary on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., from April 20 through April 22, 2012.
Live Music, NASA Science, American Indian Perspectives

04.20.12 - NASA's "Beautiful Earth" educational program combines interactive talks and hands-on workshops for students with live music.
SDO Highlights On Its Second Anniversary

04.20.12 - Since SDO's first light in April, 2010, instruments on the spacecraft have continually observed the ever-changing sun on quiet days and explosive ones: observing over 1000 solar outbursts since its launch.
Hubble Peeks inside a Stellar Cloud

04.20.12 - These bright stars shine through what looks like a haze in the night sky as part of a young stellar grouping in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Ash Cloud from Mexico's Popocatepetl Volcano

04.20.12 - Mexico's Popocatepetl Volcano has re-awakened and has been emitting gas and ash.
Soffen Lecture Series: Worlds Around Other Stars and Progress Towards the Discovery of Another 'Earth'

On Thursday, May 10, NASA research scientist Dr. Avi Mandell will describe the exciting journey from the discovery of the first exo-planet orbiting a sun-like star up through NASA's current efforts to tease out the atmospheric structure and composition of the exotic menagerie of planets discovered to date. The free lecture will start promptly at 7 p.m., and registration in advance is strongly encouraged.
Hubble Spots Aurorae on the Planet Uranus

04.18.12 - These are among the first clear images, taken from the distance of Earth, to show aurorae on the planet Uranus.
Create NASA Earth Video, Win Seats to a Launch

04.18.12 - The NASA Earth Day 2012 video contest closes to entries on May 31.
LRO Brings 'Earthrise' to Everyone

04.18.12 - Imagine being on a spacecraft flying backward with its small window facing down toward the moon. Suddenly, Earth rises over the lunar limb.
Webb Telescope Spinoffs Already Seen in Some Industries

04.18.12 - As with many technological advances, some of the James Webb Telescope innovations are benefitting humankind in many other industries.
Amateur Astronomers to Target Asteroids

04.18.12 - A new NASA outreach project will enlist the help of amateur astronomers to discover near-Earth objects and study their characteristics.
Hubble's View of a Turbulent Star-Making Region

04.17.12 - Young stars are vying for attention in this image of a raucous stellar breeding ground in 30 Doradus, located in the Tarantula Nebula.
Great Plains Tornado Outbreak Seen from Space

04.17.12 - NASA has just released an animation of visible and infrared satellite data showing the development and movement of the Great Plains tornado outbreak.
MAVEN's Propellant Tank Integrated

04.16.12 - MAVEN's large hydrazine propellant tank has been installed in the core structure of the spacecraft.
Giant Prominence Erupts

04.16.12 - On April 16, 2012 a giant prominence erupted from the left/east side of the sun in association with an M1.7 class solar flare.
Public Invited to Two Free Earth Day 2012 Events at NASA Goddard

04.16.12 - NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. is hosting two free events on April 18 in celebration of Earth Day's forty-second anniversary.
NASA's Swift Monitors Departing Comet Garradd

04.13.12 - Outbound comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) provided a nice show for skywatchers last year. Now, it's the target of an ongoing investigation.
Hubble Sees Messier 70: Tight and Bright

04.13.12 - Having so many shining stars piled atop one another makes globular clusters a popular target for amateur skywatchers and scientists.
Award-winning Videos Showcase Tech 'Transformers'

04.13.12 - Winners of the OPTIMUS PRIME Spinoff Video Contest show there's more to NASA spinoff technology than meets the eye.
Teamwork: IBEX and TWINS Observe a Solar Storm

04.12.12 - On April 5, 2010, the sun spewed a two million-mile-per-hour stream of charged particles toward Earth; two NASA Heliophysics System Observatory Missions observed the storm from complementary viewpoints.
NASA Views Our Perpetual Ocean

04.09.12 - Tens of thousands of ocean currents are captured in this scientific visualization created by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
NASA Sees New Salt in an Ancient Sea

04.06.12 - The expansion of massive salt evaporation projects on the Dead Sea are clearly visible in this time series of images taken by Landsat satellites operated by NASA and the USGS.
A Spiral Galaxy in Hydra

04.06.12 - This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows NGC 4980, a spiral galaxy in the southern constellation of Hydra.
Mysteries of the Sun . . . Explained in Video

04.06.12 - NASA has released five new videos called "Mysteries of the Sun" that describe the science of the sun and its effects on the solar system and Earth.
SDO/STEREO Spot Something New On the Sun

04.09.12 - Scientists find giant plumes on the sun, newly named "coronal cells" that are over 18,000 miles across, looking like candlesticks on a birthday cake, and might help explain coronal holes.
SDO Goes For a Spin

04.05.12 - Twice a year engineers perform a 360 degree roll of the SDO spacecraft about the spacecraft-sun line. This roll maneuver allows the team to remove the instrument optical distortions from the solar limb.
Texas Storm System in 3-D

04.05.12 - NASA's TRMM satellite gathered data above the Texas storm system on April 3, providing a 3-D view of rain intensity and vertical distribution.
GOES Satellite Movie Tracked Tornadic Texas Trouble

04.04.12 - A powerful weather system moved through eastern Texas and dropped at least 15 tornadoes in the Dallas suburbs. This animation of GOES-13 satellite data shows the storms.
Handover of Japan-built Radar to NASA

04.03.12 - On March 30, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency officially handed off a new satellite instrument to NASA.
Fermi Provides Dark Matter Insights

04.02.12 - An analysis of two years' worth of data from Fermi is helping narrow down the list of what dark matter could be.
Q&A: Studying How Debris Influences Glaciers

04.02.12 - NASA glaciologist Kimberly Casey has visited six remote glaciers around the world to study what satellites can tell us about particulate pollution on glaciers, and how these particulates impact glacier melting rates.
Hubble Spies Edge-on Spiral Galaxy

03.30.12 - NGC 2683 is a spiral galaxy seen almost edge-on, giving it the shape of a classic science fiction spaceship.
NASA Sees Fields of Green Spring up in Saudi Arabia

03.29.12 - Saudi Arabia is drilling for a resource possibly more precious than oil by tapping hidden reserves of water in the Syrian Desert.
'The MIRI Has Two Faces'

03.29.12 - A new video takes viewers behind the scenes of the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) that will fly aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
NASA's Hurricane Twitter Exceeds 200,000 Followers

03.27.12 - NASA's Hurricane Twitter, which posts the web site's updates, exceeded 200,000 followers recently - a landmark that just a few NASA Twitter accounts have reached.
Successful ATREX Launch From Wallops

03.27.12 - The first rocket was launched at 4:58 a.m. EDT and each subsequent rocket was launched 80 seconds apart with each releasing a chemical tracer.
Icy Moons through Cassini's Eyes

03.28.12 - NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully flies by Saturnian moons.
NASA Space Network to Begin New Design Phase

03.27.12 - The Space Network Ground Segment Sustainment effort successfully completed its latest review, allowing it to proceed to the next phase.
Cargo Ship Carries Investigations to the Space Station

03.23.12 - When the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle cargo ship arrives at the Space Station on March 28, it will be packed with supplies.
Hubble Sees Glittering Jewels of Messier 9

03.23.12 - This ball of stars is too faint to see with the naked eye, yet Hubble can see over 250,000 individual stars shining in it.
Beaming Success for Station Fans

03.23.12 - Did you ever use a flashlight to send a Morse code message to your neighbor at night as a kid?
Celebrate NanoDays at the NASA Goddard Visitor Center

NanoDays activities, beginning March 24, are part of a nationwide festival of educational programs about nanoscale science and engineering.
Science Nugget: Modeling Extreme Space Weather

03.22.12 - Analysis by Goddard scientists provide basic guidelines to help model some of the largest, most damaging geomagnetically induced currents -- damaging currents in power grids caused by solar storms.
Satellite Sees Earthquake Region in Southwestern Mexico

03.20.12 - Just after a major earthquake occurred in southwestern Mexico on March 20,2012, NASA produced a satellite view of the region from NOAA's GOES-13 satellite.
Dawn Sees New Surface Features on Giant Asteroid

03.21.12 - NASA's Dawn spacecraft has revealed unexpected details on the surface of the giant asteroid Vesta.
NASA GPM Satellite's Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar Arrives at Goddard

03.20.12 - The Dual-frequency Precipitation Radararrived on Friday, March 16 and was unloaded today at Goddard.
Swift Narrows Down Hosts of Important Supernova Class

03.20.12 - Studies using X-ray and ultraviolet observations from NASA's Swift satellite are providing new insights into the elusive origins of an important class of exploding star, called Type Ia supernovas.
Soffen: Astrobiology and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

On Thursday, April 12, NASA Astrobiologist Dr. Daniel Glavin will look at questions about the nature of life in the universe. The free lecture will start promptly at 7 p.m., and registration in advance is strongly encouraged.
Japan Shares Space Station SMILES

03.19.12 - Did you panic when you heard in recent news that two massive solar flares from the Sun were hitting Earth's atmosphere?
Penguins, Polar Bears, and Laser Beams from Space: NASA Science at the Poles

On Thursday, March 8, 2012, NASA cyrospheric scientist Tom Neumann will give a presentation on NASA science in the polar regions, including the next-generation laser altimeter ICESat-2. The free lecture will start promptly at 7 p.m., and registration in advance is strongly encouraged.
Cassini Sees Saturn Stressing out Enceladus

03.19.12 - Direct observations linking the tidal pull of Saturn to jets on the moon Enceladus are among the highlights of NASA's Cassini mission discussed at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
Infrared Satellite Data Indicates Severe Weather For South Central U.S.

03.19.12 - Infrared and microwave satellite imagery from NASA show a weather system that has potential to bring severe weather to the south central U.S. over the next several days.
Crafting the Webb Telescope's Technology

03.15.12 - Creation of the James Webb Space Telescope was possible as a result of imagining and developing the industrial machines that made it a reality.
Quasars Acting as Gravitational Lenses

03.15.12 - Quasars, which act as gravitational lenses, amplify and distort images of galaxies aligned behind them.
How 2012 Snow Stacks Up

03.14.12 - The relatively mild winter of 2012 has many people asking, "Where's the snow?" These maps show the answer.
New LRO Videos: Moon's Evolution, Take a Tour

03.14.12 - Celebrating 1,000 days in orbit, the LRO team released two new videos.
IceBridge 2012 Arctic Campaign Takes to the Skies

03.15.12 - Researchers and flight crew with NASA's Operation IceBridge, an airborne mission to study changes in polar ice, begin the 2012 Arctic campaign.
Updated App Takes Users Across Universe

03.13.12 - NASA Visualization Explorer delivers new opportunities to explore research on the sun, planetary bodies, Earth and the universe to your iPad.
NASA, CSA Advance Satellite Servicing

03.12.12 - Robotic Refueling Mission on the ISS demonstrated remotely controlled robots and specialized tools performing precise satellite-servicing tasks.
Stellar Voyage of a Butterfly-like Planetary Nebula

03.16.12 - The breathtaking butterfly-like planetary nebula NGC 6881 is visible here in an image taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
Big Sunspot Remains Active

03.13.12 - On March 13, 2012, the sun erupted with an M7.9-class flare from the same region that has been producing flares and coronal mass ejections all week.
Cassini Spies Wave Rattling Jet Stream on Jupiter

03.13.12 - New movies of Jupiter are the first to catch an invisible wave shaking up one of the giant planet's jet streams, an interaction that also takes place in Earth's atmosphere.
Lifting Space Astronomy out of the 'Fog'

03.12.12 - This mission would put a space telescope outside a vast dust cloud that interfers with infrared, optical and ultraviolet observations.
Cassini Captures New Images of Icy Moon

03.12.12 - Saturn's moon Rhea appears in glorious detail in new images obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft
Astronomical Database Named for Sen. Mikulski

04.06.12 - The archive is named in honor of the United States Senator from Maryland for her career-long achievements and for becoming the longest-serving woman in U.S. Congressional history.
Hubble Image of Galaxies' El Dorado

03.09.12 - NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has produced this beautiful image of the galaxy NGC 1483. NGC 1483 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the southern constellation of Dorado.
Moderate Geomagnetic Storm at Earth

03.12.12 - Geomagnetic storms at Earth are currently at a rating of G2 (moderate) on a scale of G1 to G5.
NASA's RXTE Captures Thermonuclear Behavior

03.09.12 - A neutron star near the center of our galaxy erupted with hundreds of X-ray bursts, powered by thermonuclear explosions on the star's surface.
Storms From the Sun

03.08.12 - An explanation of potential near-Earth space reactions to various solar events, like flares or coronal mass ejections.
Apollo 16: What Young Really Means on the Moon

03.08.12 - One of the main goals of the Apollo 16 mission was to explore and sample a young bright-rayed crater aptly named North Ray crater.
Geomagnetic Storm Strength Increases

03.09.12 - Geomagnetic storms due to CMEs earlier in the week have increased in strength, and are now rated a G3 on a scale from G1 to G5.
Second Biggest Flare Of the Solar Cycle

03.07.12 - The sun erupted with one of the largest solar flares of this solar cycle on March 6, 2012 at 7PM EST, an X5.4.
What Doesn't Stay in Vegas?

03.07.12 - What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas: Las Vegas itself has undergone a massive growth spurt over the past several years.
NASA Studies March 3 Severe Weather Outbreak

03.07.12 - A NASA satellite used infrared and microwave "vision" to analyze the storm system that created the March 3 severe weather outbreak in the U.S.
Bright Is The New Black: New York Roofs Go Cool

03.07.12 - A new study found that the covering roofs of New York City buildings can drastically cut the sweltering phenomenon called the 'urban heat island.'
Study the Sun During Solar Week - March 19-23, 2012

03.08.12 - 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.
Refueling Mission Begins With Space Station Robotics

03.07.12 - NASA's highly anticipated Robotic Refueling Mission began operations on the International Space Station March 7-9, 2012.
NASA Jet Stream Study Will Light up The Night Sky

03.07.12 - NASA will launch five sounding rockets in approx. five minutes to study high-altitude winds and their connection to the electrical current patterns around Earth.
Apollo 11: 'A Stark Beauty All Its Own'

03.07.12 - This image of the Apollo 11 landing site captured from just 24 km (15 miles) above the surface provides LRO's best look yet at humanity’s first venture to another world.
Apollo 12: Pinpoint Landing on the Ocean of Storms

03.06.12 - This image shows the remnants of not one, but two missions to the moon.
Active Region on the Sun Spits Out Three Flares

03.05.12 - On March 2, 2012 a new active region on the sun, region 1429, rotated into view. Since arriving, it has let loose two M-class flares on March 2 and 4 and one X1 class flare this morning.
Apollo 15: Follow the Tracks

03.05.12 - This new LRO image taken from low altitude shows Apollo 15 hardware and tracks in more detail than seen before.
Space Weather: Explosions on Venus

03.05.12 - A recent study has found clear evidence on Venus for a type of space weather outburst quite common at Earth, called a hot flow anomaly (HFA). These HFA surges can cause the solar wind to reverse its flow and flood backward.
NASA Researchers on the Snow Patrol

03.02.12 - Consistent measurements are the next step for understanding snow's role in weather patterns and its influence on global climate and water cycles.
Severe Weather Seen by NASA Satellite

03.02.12 - Another powerful weather system is moving through the central and eastern U.S., generating more severe weather.
Antlia Dwarf Galaxy Peppers the Sky with Stars

03.02.12 - The myriad faint stars that comprise the Antlia Dwarf galaxy are more than 4 million light-years from Earth.
Dark Matter Core Defies Explanation

03.02.12 - This composite image shows the distribution of dark matter, galaxies, and hot gas in the core of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 520.
Nichelle Nichols 'Treks' to Goddard

03.02.12 - Hundreds of scientists and engineers (even the occasional astronaut) pass through Goddard's gates every day. One of science fiction's most famous astronauts joined the mix on February 29.
GPM Microwave Imager Instrument Arrives at Goddard

03.01.12 - The Global Precipitation Measurement Microwave Imager (GMI) instrument has arrived at Goddard for integration into NASA's upcoming Earth science spacecraft.
Satellite Movie Shows Movement of Violent Weather System

03.01.12 - An animation of GOES-13 satellite imagery shows the movement of the front that triggered severe storms and tornadoes in several states February 29, 2012.
Thickest Parts of Arctic Ice Melting Faster

02.29.12 - A new NASA study revealed that the oldest and thickest Arctic sea ice is disappearing at a faster rate than the younger and thinner ice at the edges of the floating ice cap that covers the Arctic Ocean.
Ultra-fast Outflows Help Monster Black Holes Shape Their Galaxies

02.27.12 - A curious correlation between the mass of a galaxy's central black hole and the velocity of stars in a vast, roughly spherical structure known as its bulge has puzzled astronomers for years.
Beautiful Aurora Result From Active Solar Weekend

02.27.12 - The weak CME on February 26, 2012 did produce some amazing aurora for high latitude observers.
Andromeda Galaxy Pops Up Ultraluminous X-ray Sources

02.24.12 - Researchers using multiple NASA space observatories have been studying an object known as an ultraluminous X-ray source in the neighboring Andromeda galaxy.
Preview of a Forthcoming Supernova

02.24.12 - In 1843, Eta Carinae was the second-brightest star in the night sky. By the 20th century, it was invisible to the naked eye.
Curiosity, The Stunt Double

02.24.12 - Curiosity, the mini-Cooper-sized rover, is playing the role of stunt double for NASA astronauts, as it monitors radiation levels on its journey to Mars.
Suomi Ozone Suite Continues More Than 30 Years of Data

02.23.12 - A new satellite instrument suite is now sending back detailed information about the health of the Earth's ozone layer, the shield that protects us from harmful ultraviolet radiation.
Meteorites Reveal Another Way to Make Life's Components

03.09.12 - Evidence that there is more than one way to make some components of life increases the likelihood that life emerged elsewhere in the Universe.
NuSTAR Mirrors Baked in Glass Kitchen

02.23.12 - Astrophysicist Will Zhang has experimented with a new technique for efficiently manufacturing super-thin, low-cost curved telescope mirror segments.
NASA Pinning Down "Here" Better Than Ever

02.23.12 - NASA is helping to lead an international effort to upgrade the four systems that supply crucial location information in pinpointing where "here" is.
Partial Solar Eclipse from Space

02.22.12 - The Moon moves between the Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite and the Sun, producing a partial solar eclipse from space.
The Many Moods of Titan

02.23.12 - Recent data collected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft show a shifting, Earth-like environment at Saturn's moon Titan.
NASA Satellite Finds Earth's Clouds are Getting Lower

02.21.12 - A new university study using data from NASA's Terra spacecraft finds Earth's clouds got about one percent lower on average during the first decade of the 2000s.
Hubble Discovers Waterworld Planet

02.21.12 - Even stars that appear static are subject to change -- some because the gas disc from their death throes periodically obscure their brilliance.
NASA Map Sees Earth's Trees in a New Light

02.17.12 - A NASA-led science team has created an accurate, high-resolution map of the height of Earth's forests.
A Black Hole and a Cannibal Galaxy

02.16.12 - This edge-on galaxy, called ESO 243-49, is home to a mid-sized black hole that may have been stripped off of a cannibalized dwarf galaxy.
A Sheep in Wolf-Rayet's Clothing

02.17.12 - Even stars that appear static are subject to change -- some because the gas disc from their death throes periodically obscure their brilliance.
The Legacy of the Megaflood

02.16.12 - The 60-mile-long Grand Coulee, the largest of the stair-step canyons in eastern Washington, gives the Channeled Scablands its character.
'Honeycombs' and Hexacopters Help Tell Story of Mars

02.16.12 - Formations in the Channeled Scablands help scientists understand the forces that shape planets. NASA interns are applying those lessons to Mars.
'Titan Through Time' Public Lecture: Dr. Ralph Lorenz - Titan in History and Popular Culture

On Tuesday, Apr. 3, 2012, Dr. Ralph Lorenz will discuss Saturn's intriguing moon Titan. The free lecture will start promptly at 7 p.m., and registration in advance is strongly encouraged.
Landsat Infrared Sensor Arrives at Orbital

02.14.12 - A new NASA satellite instrument that makes a quantum leap forward in detector technology has arrived at Orbital Sciences Corp. in Gilbert, Ariz.
NASA Scientist Leads Student Phytoplankton Study

02.10.12 - NASA scientist Tiffany Moisan thrives on studying the ocean and has a passion for educating and inspiring students in ocean sciences.
Transforming Galaxies

02.10.12 - Markarian 779 has a distorted appearance because it is likely the product of a recent galactic merger between two spirals.
Deconstructing a Mystery: What Caused Snowmageddon?

02.09.12 - Snowmageddon, as the winter of early 2010 was dubbed, entered the history books as the snowiest winter on record for the U.S. East Coast.
The Sun As Art

02.06.12 - A new interactive NASA art exhibit opens February 9 at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore that will showcase stunning images of the sun.
Spaceborne Precipitation Radar Ships from Japan to U.S.

02.08.12 - Construction of a new instrument designed to take 3-D measurements of the shapes, sizes and other physical characteristics of both raindrops and snowflakes, is complete; it will be shipped from Japan to Goddard.
Infrared Sounder on NASA's Suomi NPP Starts its Mission

02.08.12 - A powerful new infrared instrument, flying on NASA's newest polar-orbiting satellite has started sending its data back to Earth.
Young Stars at Home in Ancient Cluster

02.08.12 - Looking like a hoard of gems fit for an emperor's collection, this deep sky object called NGC 6752 is in fact far more worthy of admiration.
RHESSI Celebrates 10 Years and 40,000 X-Ray Flares

02.08.12 - Ten years since its launch, RHESSI has observed more than 40,000 X-ray flares, helped craft a model of how solar eruptions form, and fueled additional serendipitous science papers on such things as the shape of the sun.
Jacob Bleacher Gives Free Talk at Library of Congress: "NASA’s Desert RATS"

02.07.12 - NASA scientist Jacob Bleacher will discuss “NASA’s Desert RATS” at 11:30 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 14 in Washington, DC.
Hubble Observes NGC 1073

02.06.12 - Hubble has imaged the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1073, which is found in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster).
VIIRS Eastern Hemisphere Image - Behind the Scenes

02.02.12 - NASA scientists created a companion image to the wildly popular 'Blue Marble' released Jan. 25, 2012.
Hubble Zooms in on a Magnified Galaxy

02.02.12 - Thanks to the presence of a natural "zoom lens" in space, Hubble got a uniquely close-up look at the brightest "magnified" galaxy yet discovered.
'First Light' Taken by NASA's Newest CERES Instrument

02.01.12 - The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System instrument had its 'first light' moment aboard the Suomi NPP satellite.
Goddard Marks African-American History Month: 2012

To mark African-American History Month and Engineers Week, Goddard will host a webcast (Feb. 22, 1 p.m. EST) for K-12 teachers and students.
NASA's GCPEX Mission: What We Don't Know about Snow

01.31.12 - Scientists have shown that it is possible to detect and measure snow from space, but much remains unknown about snow.
The Interstellar Material Beyond our Solar System

01.31.12 - It's an alien environment out there: the material in the galactic wind doesn't look like the same stuff our solar system is made of.
Earth's Energy Budget 'Out of Balance'

01.30.12 - Greenhouse gases generated by human activity, not changes in solar activity, are the primary force driving global warming, according to a new NASA study.
THEMIS Sees a Great Electron Escape

01.30.12 - Filled with electrons and charged particles, the radiation belts regularly swell and shrink, but no one is quite sure how. A new study sheds light on how those radiation particles escape.
X1.8 Solar Flare and CME - 01.27.12

01.27.12 - Sunspot 1402 fires a parting shot as it rotates around the edge of the sun -- an X1.8 class solar flare and CME.
Space Weather Center Adding 'Ensemble Forecasting' Capability

01.27.12 - The sun is beginning to stir. By the time it's fully awake in about 20 months, the Goddard team charged with tracking its moods will have deployed a greatly enhanced forecasting capability.
'White Spike' of Clouds Bringing U.S. Severe Weather

01.26.12 - Severe weather is expected to impact the southeastern U.S. today, January 26.
Detecting Detrimental Change in Coral Reefs

01.26.12 - An ocean ecologist finds a way to utilize Landsat to evaluate global changes to the fragile coral reefs.
NPP Renamed in Honor of Satellite Pioneer

01.25.12 - NASA renamed its newest Earth-observing satellite to honor the late Verner E. Suomi, a meteorologist at the University of Wisconsin recognized widely as "the father of satellite meteorology."
Classifying Solar Eruptions

01.24.12 - NOAA has devised categories for solar flares and storms. The biggest flares are known as 'X-class flares' based on a classification system that divides solar flares according to their strength.
Vesta Likely Cold and Dark Enough for Ice

01.25.12 - Roughly half of the giant asteroid Vesta is expected to be so cold, with so little sunlight, that water ice could have survived there for billions of years.
01.23.12: M8.7 Solar Flare and Earth Directed CME-UPDATED

01.25.12 - The sun erupted late on January 22, 2012 with an M8.7 class flare, an earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME).
2011: 9th-Warmest Year on Record

01.19.12 - The global average surface temperature in 2011 was the ninth warmest since 1880, according to NASA scientists.
Catching a Comet Death on Camera

01.19.12 - On July 6, 2011, a comet was caught doing something never seen before: die a scorching death as it flew too close to the sun. The chance to watch it first-hand amazed even the most seasoned comet watchers.
01.19.2012-Long Duration M3.2 Class Solar Flare and CME

01.19.12 - After a two month respite from Earth-directed solar events, the Sun sends an M3.2 class flare and CME our way.
SDO Helps Measure Magnetic Fields on the Sun's Surface

01.18.12 - A subset of data that helps map out the sun's magnetic fields was recently released from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)
Gerald Soffen Lecture Series: Dr. Michelle Thaller - The Dark Universe

On Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012, Dr. Michelle Thaller will discuss observations that have caused astronomers to completely rethink how the universe is put together. The free lecture will start promptly at 7 p.m., and registration in advance is required.
Airborne Campaign to Measure Falling Snow

01.12.12 - NASA's DC-8 research plane will begin six weeks of flights over Canada next week in support of a difficult task of the upcoming Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission -- measuring snowfall from space.
Spacecraft Cleanroom Goes Green

01.13.12 - MMS mission requirements lead to construction of a new 'Green' cleanroom, where the four identical spacecraft will be assembled and integrated.
Hubble Zooms in on Double Nucleus in Andromeda Galaxy

01.11.12 - A new Hubble Space Telescope image centers on the 100-million-solar-mass black hole at the hub of the neighboring spiral Andromeda galaxy, the only galaxy outside the Milky Way visible to the naked eye.
Hubble Finds Rare Ultra-Blue Stars

01.11.12 - Peering deep inside the hub of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy, Hubble has uncovered a large, rare population of hot, bright stars.
Hubble Solves Mystery on Source of Supernova in Nearby Galaxy

01.11.12 - The decades-long search for Type Ia supernovae progenitors has taken on special importance due to their use in measuring the acceleration of the universe.
Study Shows Health, Food Security Benefits From Climate Change Actions

01.12.12 - A new study by NASA highlights air pollution control measures that, if implemented, could slow the pace of global warming, improve health and boost agricultural production.
Fermi Explores New Energy Extremes

01.10.12 - After three years in space, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is now extending its view of the high-energy sky into what to date has been largely unexplored territory.
RXTE Helps Pinpoint Black Hole's 'Bullets'

01.10.12 - An international team of astronomers has identified the moment when a black hole in our galaxy launched super-fast knots of gas into space.
NASA's Hubble Breaks New Ground with Distant Supernova Discovery

01.11.12 - Three images taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveal the emergence of an exploding star, called a supernova.
'James Webb': A Year of Achievement and Success

01.09.12 - The James Webb Space Telescope marked a year of significant progress in 2011 as it continues to come together as NASA's next generation space telescope.
SAVE Award Winner Meets President

01.10.12 - The 2011 winner of the White House SAVE award, NASA Goddard's Matthew Ritsko, accepted his award on Jan. 9, 2012, from President Obama.
Hubble Pinpoints Farthest Protocluster of Galaxies Ever Seen

01.10.12 - NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered the most distant grouping of a cluster of galaxies in the initial stages of development ever observed in the early universe.
Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer Completes Mission Operations

01.09.12 - After 16 years in space, RXTE has made its last observation. The satellite provided unprecedented views into the extreme environments around white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes.
SOHO "Pick of the Week" Hits Impressive Milestone

01.04.12 - In late November, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory's (SOHO) online 'Pick of the Week' reached an impressive milestone: its 500th edition.