NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Asteroid 1998 QE2 Passes Earth

05.31.13 - 
The closest approach of the asteroid occurred today at 4:59 p.m. EDT, when the asteroid was no closer than about 3.6 million miles (5.8 million kilometers), or about 15 times the distance between Earth and the moon.

Its next pass, on July 12, 2028 will be at a very safe 45 million miles (73 mil km).

  › NASA's Asteroid Initiative

Mission Solves Mystery of Moon's Surface Gravity

05.30.13 - 
NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission has uncovered the origin of massive invisible regions that make the moon's gravity uneven, a phenomenon that affects the operations of lunar-orbiting spacecraft.

Because of GRAIL's findings, spacecraft on missions to other celestial bodies can navigate with greater precision in the future.

Pebbly Rocks Testify to Ancient Streambed on Mars

05.30.13 - 
Through detailed analysis, researchers have confirmed their initial interpretation of pebble-containing slabs investigated by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity: They are part of an ancient streambed.

The rocks are the first ever found on Mars that contain streambed gravels. The sizes and shapes of the gravels embedded in these conglomerate rocks enabled researchers to calculate the depth and speed of the water that once flowed at this location.

Jaden Smith Talks Earth Science Exploration in PSA

05.30.13 - 
Jaden Smith, star of Columbia Pictures' movie "After Earth," is featured in a new NASA public service announcement that describes the contributions of the agency's Earth science program to environmental awareness and exploration of our home planet.

The public service announcement features imagery from "After Earth" as well as animations of Earth data from 17 orbiting NASA satellites.

  › NASA's Earth Science Page

Expedition 36 Crew Welcomed Aboard Space Station

05.28.13 - 
NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano joined their Expedition 36 crewmates when the hatches between the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft and the International Space Station officially opened at 12:14 a.m. EDT.

 Soyuz Docks to International Space Station  › Station Crew Takes Breather After Launch, Docking

Cassini Finds Hints of Activity at Saturn Moon

05.29.13 - 
Thanks to images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft of a 500-mile-long mountain on Saturn's moon Dione, scientists have found more evidence for the idea that Dione was likely geologically active in the past. It could still be active now.

The spacecraft's magnetometer has detected a faint particle stream coming from the moon, and images showed evidence for a possible liquid or slushy layer under its rock-hard ice crust.

WISE Mission Finds Lost Asteroid Family Members

05.29.13 - 
Data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have led to a new and improved family tree for asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter.

The findings are a critical step in understanding the origins of asteroid families, and the collisions thought to have created these rocky clans.

HS3 Mission Aircraft Double Teams Hurricane Season

05.29.13 - 
During this year’s hurricane season NASA will “double-team” on research with two unmanned Global Hawk aircraft winging their way over storms that develop during the peak of the season. NASA's Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel, or HS3 airborne mission, will revisit the Atlantic Ocean to investigate storms using additional instruments and for the first time two Global Hawks.

NASA IRIS: Improving Our View Of the Sun

05.29.13 - 
In late June 2013, NASA will launch a new set of eyes to offer the most detailed look ever of the sun’s lower atmosphere, called the interface region. This region is believed to play a crucial role in powering the sun’s dynamic million-degree atmosphere, the corona. The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph or IRIS mission will provide the best resolution so far of the widest range of temperatures for of the interface region, an area that has historically been difficult to study.

Swift Reveals New Phenomenon in a Neutron Star

05.29.13 - 
Astronomers using NASA's Swift X-ray Telescope have observed a spinning neutron star suddenly slowing down, yielding clues they can use to understand these extremely dense objects.

This neutron star, 1E 2259+586, is located about 10,000 light-years away toward the constellation Cassiopeia. It is one of about two dozen neutron stars called magnetars, which have very powerful magnetic fields and occasionally produce high-energy explosions or pulses.