• NASA's Mariner 2 spacecraft

    NASA Celebrates 50 Years of Planetary Exploration

    12.12.12 - Fifty years ago on a mid-December day, NASA's Mariner 2 spacecraft sailed close to the shrouded planet Venus, marking the first time any spacecraft had ever successfully made a close-up study of another planet.

  • Titan's Nile-like river valley

    Cassini Spots Mini Nile River on Saturn Moon

    12.12.12 - Scientists with NASA's Cassini mission have spotted what appears to be a miniature, extraterrestrial likeness of the Nile River.

  • Layered martian outcrop

    Curiosity Rover Nearing Yellowknife Bay

    12.11.12 - The NASA Mars rover Curiosity drove 63 feet (19 meters) northeastward Monday, Dec. 10, approaching an area called "Yellowknife Bay," where researchers will choose a rock to drill.

  • On the 84th and 85th Martian days of the NASA Mars rover Curiosity's mission on Mars (Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 2012), NASA's Curiosity rover used the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) to capture dozens of high-resolution images to be combined into self-portrait images of the rover.

    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.

  • A precision formation-flying technique, the twin GRAIL spacecraft.

    NASA to Host Dec.13 Telecon on Twin Probes Moon Impact

    08.31.12 - NASA will host a media teleconference at 10:30 a.m. PST (1:30 p.m. EST) Thursday, Dec. 13, to provide an overview of events leading up to twin spacecraft being commanded to impact the moon's surface on Dec. 17 at approximately 2:28 p.m. PST (5:28 p.m. EST).

  • shadow of Apollo 14 astronaut looms over footprints, packages of instruments and wiring across the lunar surface

    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.

  • Sinuous gullies in Cornelia Crater

    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.

  • Artist's rendition of RBSP in orbit.

    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.

  • Coronagraph image taken by SOHO shows an approaching comet.

    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.

  • Impact scars from MSL cruise stage and two balance weights

    Orbiter Spies Where Rover's Cruise Stage Hit Mars

    12.05.12 - Pictures from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show scars on the surface of the Red Planet where discarded pieces of the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft hit the ground.