Category: Nasa

Mars Mars Orbiter Nasa Science Space

Another thing we thought was water on Mars actually isn’t water

sudshr47 November 21, 2017

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Back in 2011, NASA scientists announced they had spotted compelling evidence that water sometimes still flowed on Mars. Now, researchers are backpedaling on these watery conclusions. 

To NASA’s credit, the 2011 evidence looked quite convincing. Images captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter — a NASA satellite orbiting Mars — showed telltale dark streaks running down various mountains, valleys, and craters on Mars. They look strikingly similar to features formed on Earth’s surface by flowing water.

But, according to a new study in the journal Nature Geoscience, it turns out these dark streaks are made mostly of “granular flow” — sand and perhaps rocks falling downhill — rather than water flowing down valleys during the warmer Martian summers.  Read more…

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View More Another thing we thought was water on Mars actually isn’t water
Climate Climate Change Global Warming Nasa Science

Earth just had its 2nd-warmest October, and 2017 could be the 2nd-warmest year on record

sudshr47 November 16, 2017

President Donald Trump may not acknowledge this, but October was the second-warmest such month on record, worldwide, according to new data released by NASA. 
There is now about a 94 percent likelihood that 2017 will rank as the second-warmest ye…

View More Earth just had its 2nd-warmest October, and 2017 could be the 2nd-warmest year on record
Kickstarter Nasa Space Space Exploration watch

Calling all space enthusiasts: Use planets to tell the time with this solar system watch

sudshr47 November 16, 2017

Just to let you know, if you buy something featured here, Mashable might earn an affiliate commission.
If you keep up with NASA at all, you’ll know that they recently made a kind of huge discovery: Trappist-1, a solar system older than ours with seve…

View More Calling all space enthusiasts: Use planets to tell the time with this solar system watch
Antarctica Global Warming Nasa Science Sea Level Rise

NASA took the 1st, astonishing aerial photos of the giant new Antarctic iceberg

sudshr47 November 14, 2017

Each Antarctic spring and summer, NASA flies special aircraft over the continent to keep tabs on how global warming is altering the landscape. The agency does the same in the Arctic each summer, for a project known as Operation IceBridge. 
Just …

View More NASA took the 1st, astonishing aerial photos of the giant new Antarctic iceberg
Climate Extreme Weather Nasa Science Space

The most important weather satellite you’ve never heard of launches to space Tuesday

sudshr47 November 13, 2017

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After billions of dollars in cost overruns and delays, NASA is planning to launch one of the most important weather satellites ever early Tuesday morning.

The Joint Polar Satellite System-1, or JPSS-1, satellite — which will be invaluable for improving forecasting, detecting lost sailors, aiding firefighters, and other applications — is expected to blast off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 1:47 a.m. PT, or 4:47 a.m. ET, aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. 

The JPSS-1 is the first in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) next-generation of four polar-orbiting satellites that provide the majority of data streamed into weather forecasting models.  Read more…

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View More The most important weather satellite you’ve never heard of launches to space Tuesday
Nasa New Horizons Pluto Science Space

NASA wants the internet to nickname a distant object 1 billion miles past Pluto

sudshr47 November 7, 2017

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Alright, folks. NASA needs our help. 

The space agency is asking people on the internet — yes, that means you — to help it select a fun nickname for a pretty dryly named but still important object: (486958) 2014 MU69.

MU69 is an object — or possibly two objects — floating in the Kuiper belt, Pluto’s part of space which is filled with small objects left over from the dawn of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago.

Scientists need a nickname for MU69 because it’s going to get a lot of attention in the coming years. 

On Jan. 1, 2019, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft — which flew past Pluto in July 2015 — will fly by MU69, taking an up-close look at a world (or worlds) never seen in detail before. Read more…

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View More NASA wants the internet to nickname a distant object 1 billion miles past Pluto
Mashable Video Music Nasa Science Sound

NASA created a playlist of creepy space sounds

sudshr47 November 7, 2017

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NASA dropped a spooky mixtape filled with interplanetary music of our cosmos, with such great hits like “Kepler: Star KIC7671081B Light Curves Waves to Sound,” “Plasmaspheric Hiss,” “Jupiter Sounds 2001,” and “Chorus Radio Waves within Earth’s Atmosphere.” Read more…

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View More NASA created a playlist of creepy space sounds