Science @ NASA
Mission to Land on a Comet
Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft is en route to intercept a comet– and to make history. In 2014, Rosetta will enter orbit around 67P/Churyumov Gerasimenko and land a probe on it for a front row seat as the comet heads toward the sun.
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Solar Eclipse over the USA
A "ring of fire" solar eclipse is coming to the USA this spring. It's the first annular eclipse visible from the contiguous United States in almost 18 years.
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Comet Corpses in the Solar Wind
A paper published in today's issue of Science raises an intriguing new possibility--the presence of abundant comet corpses in the solar wind. The new research is based on dramatic images of a comet disintegrating in the sun's atmosphere last July.
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What Happened to all the Snow?
Winter seems to be on hold this year in some parts of the United States. Snowfall has been scarce in places that were overwhelmed with the white stuff at the same time last year. In this story from Science@NASA, JPL climatologist Bill Patzert explains what's going on.
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Re-thinking an Alien World
A distant super-Earth named "55 Cancri e" is wetter and weirder than astronomers thought possible. The discovery has researchers re-thinking the nature of alien worlds.
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Some Comets like it Hot
Astronomers are still scratching their heads over Comet Lovejoy, which plunged through the atmosphere of the sun in December and, against all odds, survived. The comet is now receding into the outer solar system leaving many mysteries behind.
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Kepler Discovers a Tiny Solar System
NASA's Kepler spacecraft has discovered the tiniest solar system so far, composed of a red dwarf star with three rocky planets smaller than Earth.
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Space Mountain Produces Terrestrial Meteorites
The discovery of a towering mountain on Vesta could solve a longstanding mystery: How did so many pieces of the giant asteroid end up right here on our own planet?
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Twin Gravity Spacecraft Set to Enter Lunar Orbit
NASA's twin GRAIL spacecraft, on a mission to study the moon's gravitational field, are nearing their New Year's Eve and New Year's Day main-engine burns to place the duo in lunar orbit.
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The Night After Christmas Sky Show
On Dec. 26th, Venus and the crescent Moon will gather in the western sunset sky for a beautiful post-Christmas show.
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Kepler Discovers Earth-size Exoplanets
NASA's Kepler spacecraft has found two Earth-sized planets orbiting a distant sun-like star. These alien worlds are intermingled in their star system with other much larger planets, an arrangement which challenges orthodox ideas of how planets are formed.
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Comet Lovejoy Plunges into the Sun and Survives
Sungrazing Comet Lovejoy has shocked astronomers by surviving its "death plunge" into the sun. Must-see movies of the comet's passage through the sun's atmosphere are featured in today's story from Science@NASA.
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Curiosity and the Solar Storm
Curiosity wasn't the only thing that blasted off for Mars on Nov. 26th. On the same day, a solar storm launched itself toward the Red Planet. The coincidence heralds a new job for the multi-talented rover: Curiosity will spend much of the next nine months studying space weather.
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New App Helps NASA Keep Track of Meteoroids
A new app for iPhones and iPads harnesses the power of citizen scientists to help NASA track meteoroids hitting Earth.
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The 2011 Geminid Meteor Shower
The Geminid meteor shower peaks on Dec. 13th and 14th. The nearly full Moon will interfere with the display, but not obliterate it. Forecasters expect observers with clear skies to see as many as 40 meteors per hour.
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Is Vesta the "Smallest Terrestrial Planet?"
NASA's Dawn probe, now orbiting Vesta in the asteroid belt, has found some surprising things on the giant asteroid--things that have prompted one researcher to declare Vesta "the smallest terrestrial planet."
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"Slam Dunk" Sign of Ancient Water on Mars
As NASA's newest Mars rover Curiosity heads for the Red Planet, veteran rover Opportunity is still busy making discoveries. Opportunity's latest find, an apparent vein of gypsum, is a "slam dunk" sign of ancient water on Mars, say researchers.
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Kepler Confirms First Planet in … ne of Sun-like Star
In a significant milestone on the road to finding Earth's "twin" elsewhere in the galaxy, NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed its first planet in the habitable zone of a distant Sun-like star.
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New Horizons Becomes Closest Spacecraft … roach Pluto
NASA’s New Horizons mission has reached a special milestone on its way to reconnoiter the Pluto system, coming closer to the dwarf planet than any other spacecraft.
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Total Eclipse of the Moon
On Saturday, Dec. 10th, sky watchers in the western United States will witness a total lunar eclipse swollen to super-sized proportions by the Moon illusion.
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