• Tiny brown dwarfs shown with circles

    WISE Finds Few Brown Dwarfs Close To Home

    06.08.12 - Astronomers are getting to know the neighbors better. Our sun resides within a spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy about two-thirds of the way out from the center.

  • artist concept of Odyssey

    Orbiter Puts Itself into Standby Safe Mode

    06.08.12 - NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter put itself into precautionary standby status June 8 Universal Time, when it detected unexpected characteristics in movement of one reaction wheel.

  • Artist's concept of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover

    NASA Hosts Teleconference About Rover en Route to Mars Landing

    06.07.12 - NASA will host a media teleconference at 9 a.m. PDT (noon EDT) on June 11, to provide a status update on the Aug. 5, 2012, landing of the most advanced rover ever to be sent to Mars.

  • Giant asteroid Vesta

    Dawn Mission Video Shows Vesta's Coat of Many Colors

    06.06.12 - A new video from NASA's Dawn mission reveals the dappled, variegated surface of the giant asteroid Vesta.

  • artist concept of Cassini spacecraft

    Cassini Plasma Spectrometer Turns Off

    06.06.12 - The Cassini plasma spectrometer instrument (CAPS) aboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft was turned off between Friday, June 1 and Saturday, June 2, when a circuit breaker tripped off after the instrument experienced some unexpected voltage shifts.

  • Artist concept of Curiosity rover and astronaut bird

    NASA Invites Social Media Fans to Mars Landing Event

    06.05.12 - NASA will host a NASA Social for 25 of its social media fans Aug. 3-5 at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., in anticipation of the Curiosity rover's landing on Mars.

  • mural of the first recorded transit of Venus

    Venus' Transit and the Search for Other Worlds

    06.05.2012 - It's the final opportunity of the century to witness the rare astronomical reunion of the sun, Venus and Earth.

  • Artist rendition of RHESSI spacecraft in orbit.

    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.

  • The arc of Venus as seen by NASA's TRACE spacecraft in 2004.

    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.

  • Left, astronaut Don Pettit. Right, Captain James Cook. Center top, graphic of Venus transit path across the Sun.

    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.