Browse Archive

  • Kepler with distant solar system

    Triple Asteroid System Triples Observers' Interest

    Radar imaging at NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar on June 12 and 14, 2009, revealed that near-Earth asteroid 1994 CC is a triple system.

  • Block Island Close-up

    Possible Meteorite Imaged by Opportunity Rover

    The Opportunity rover has eyed an odd-shaped, dark rock, about 0.6 meters (2 feet) across on the surface of Mars, which may be a meteorite.

  • Rover testing maneuvers in a sandbox at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory aimed to help free the Spirit rover stuck on Mars.

    Free Spirit Testing Nearing Completion

    Mars rover engineers at JPL are winding down testing of different escape maneuvers using a test rover in a sand box filled with soil to mimic the Martian surface.

  • Asteroid Watch - NASA to Provide Web Updates on Objects Approaching Earth.

    NASA to Provide Web Updates on Objects Approaching Earth

    NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is introducing a new Web site that will provide a centralized resource for information on near-Earth objects -- those asteroids and comets that can approach Earth.

  • Saturn

    New Spin On Saturn's Rotation

    New meteorological data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft indicates the value for Saturn's rotation period could be more than 5 minutes shorter than previously believed.

  • Rover team members discuss the next step in preparing for a new phase in testing of possible moves for getting NASA's Mars rover Spirit out of a sandtrap on Mars.

    Longer Tests Beginning

    Mars rover team members have begun a new phase of testing at JPL -- using longer-duration experiments -- in their preparations for driving Spirit again on Mars.

  • Hubble image of Jupiter

    Hubble Captures Rare Jupiter Collision

    NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken the sharpest visible-light picture yet of atmospheric debris from an object that collided with Jupiter on July 19.

  • Saturn's moon Enceladus

    Saturnian Moon Shows Evidence of Ammonia

    Data collected during two close flybys of Saturn's moon Enceladus by NASA's Cassini spacecraft add more fuel to the fire about the Saturnian ice world containing sub-surface liquid water.

  • Mars Exploration Rover team members tested how altering the order in which individual wheels turn for steering affects how those turns dig the wheels deeper into soft soil.

    Next Step: Combinations of Basic Moves

    As the Mars rover team uses testing at JPL to evaluate possible ways to drive Spirit out of loose soil on Mars, the team is finishing tests of individual "building block" maneuvers and is about to begin stringing some of those together.

  • In this view from behind a test rover, the rear wheels of the rover are turned toward the left, and the left-front wheel is turned toward the the right.

    Tests on Earth Help Rover on Mars: Live Webcast, Chat

    A live videocast and chat from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., will give viewers a chance to ask questions of rover team members working to get Spirit rolling again.