The Many Infrared 'Personalities' of the Sculptor Galaxy

The Sculptor galaxy is seen in a rainbow of infrared colors by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE...

Webb Telescope Sunshield Passes Launch Depressurization Tests to

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope continues to make significant progress, successfully completing a series of sunshield vent tests that validate the telescope's sunshield design...

Explore Energy with NASA during Earth Science Week

"Exploring Energy" is the theme of this year's Earth Science Week, Oct. 10-16. The American Geological Institute hosts Earth Science Week each year to engage people in Earth science and encourage stewardship of Earth...

Hubble Observes Aftermath of Possible Asteroid Collision

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured rare images of a suspected asteroid collision. The snapshots show a bizarre X-shaped object at the head of a comet-like trail of material. Their findings will be published in the Oct. 14th issue of Nature...

Exposed Rocks Point to Water on Ancient Mars

A new discovery of carbonate-bearing rocks on Mars indicates that habitable environments may have existed deep below the martian crust. The rock deposit, which was uplifted by an ancient meteor impact, also provides information about the potential existence of lakes and seas in Mars' past...

Giant Star Goes Supernova, Smothered by its Own Dust

A giant star in a faraway galaxy recently ended its life with a dust-shrouded whimper instead of the more typical bang...

Small Asteroid to Pass Within Earth-Moon System Tuesday

A small asteroid will fly past Earth early Tuesday within the Earth-moon system...

Hunting for New Habitats

Astronomers are finding many new planets circling distant stars, but they have yet to find one like Earth. Studying the changing climate of Earth is an essential step in helping scientists identify similarly habitable worlds beyond our solar system...

Wobble Keeps Enceladus Ocean Liquid

As Enceladus orbits Saturn, it wobbles slightly. This small but periodic shift might be enough to explain the liquid water ocean that scientists think may exist beneath the small moon's icy crust...

Titan's Hazes May Hold Ingredients of Life

A new simulation has demonstrated that complex organic molecules, such as amino acids and nucleotide bases, could be formed by chemical processes in the atmosphere of Titan. Studying these processes could yield clues about the origin of life...

The Year of the Solar System

Planetary exploration is shifting into high gear with an unprecedented tripling of flybys, orbital insertions and launches to destinations around the solar system. To commemorate the increase, NASA has declared the year ahead "The Year of the Solar System."...

Hello Hartley 2

The visitor from deep space, seen here by NASA's WISE mission, is comet Hartley 2 - the destination for NASA's EPOXI mission next month...

NASA Loosens GRIP on Atlantic Hurricane Season

NASA wrapped up one of its largest-ever hurricane research efforts last week after nearly two months of flights that broke new ground in the study of tropical cyclones...

'A-Train' Satellites Search for 770 Million Tons of Dust in the

Using data from several research satellites, scientists will spend the next three years trying to understand the climate impacts of about 770 million tons of dust carried into the atmosphere every year from the Sahara Desert...

NASA's WMAP Project Completes Satellite Operations

After nine years of scanning the sky, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) space mission has concluded its observations of the cosmic microwave background, the oldest light in the universe...