NASA’s MAVEN Illuminates New Understanding of Auroras at Mars
5 min read
NASA MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) mission scientists have uncovered a key puzzle piece in understanding certain types of auroras on Mars, finding that they form in a similar way to Earth-based auroras. Results published Thursday in Nature Communications show…
NASA’s Juno Takes Temperature of Jupiter’s Fiery Moon Io
5 min read
Lee esta historia en español aquí. NASA’s Juno mission has provided the first measurements of the temperature below the surface of Jupiter’s moon Io, revealing significant heating within the shallow subsurface of the most volcanically active world in the solar system.…
Establishing Crew Exposure Limits of Martian Dust
5 min read
Background Human exploration of Mars will expose crews to a persistent, fine particulate environment whose physicochemical properties and health implications remain only partly understood. Because no samples of authentic Martian airborne dust have been returned to Earth, NASA must rely…
NASA Study Finds Near-Earth Asteroid Is Actually Comet
5 min read
New research led by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California has revealed the identity of a puzzling near-Earth object by precisely tracking its motion through space and using powerful observatories that image faint celestial objects. This object…
NASA Study of Pristine Meteorite Adds to Story of Ancient Asteroids
6 min read
A meteorite recovered immediately upon its fall to Earth on July 16, 2024, is helping NASA scientists uncover new clues about ancient water, the chemical evolution of primitive asteroids, and the ingredients that may have helped make life possible throughout…
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Reads Record of Ancient Mars Impacts
5 min read
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has uncovered evidence that a 245-foot-thick (75-meter-thick) stack of ancient rock on the rim of Jezero Crater was built by repeated asteroid impacts. Referred to as the “Broom Point member” by the rover’s science team, this…
Summer Triangle Corner: Altair
3 min read
Altair is the last stop on our trip around the Summer Triangle! The last star in the asterism to rise for Northern Hemisphere observers before summer begins, brilliant Altair is high overhead at sunset at the end of the season…
NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft Wakes from Hibernation in Good Health
3 min read
Following its longest hibernation period ever of nearly a year, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has emerged in good health and is ready to begin transmitting science data gathered in the distant Kuiper Belt far beyond Pluto. On June 23, flight…
NASA’s CAPSTONE Completes Extended Mission Testing Lunar Technologies
5 min read
As NASA prepares for a sustained human presence on the Moon, missions will increasingly require spacecraft that can navigate and communicate without a direct connection to Earth. NASA’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, or CAPSTONE, validated…
What’s Up: July 2026 Skywatching Tips from NASA
3 min read
A predawn Moon-and-planets meetup, a returning comet, a great chance to see the Milky Way, and Saturn’s rings at a new angle. Skywatching Highlights Transcript An early morning hangout with the Moon and planets, a comet swings by, prime time…