Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Deep Space Station 23’s 133-ton reflector dish was recently installed, marking a key step in strengthening NASA’s Deep Space Network. NASA’s Deep Space Network, an array of giant radio antennas, allows agency missions to track, send commands to, and receive scientific data from spacecraft venturing to the Moon and beyond. NASA is adding a new […]

Posted December 21, 2024

Dawn

Asteroids

Ceres

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Vesta

Lab Work Digs Into Gullies Seen on Giant Asteroid Vesta by NASA’s Dawn

Known as flow formations, these channels could be etched on bodies that would seem inhospitable to liquid because they are exposed to the extreme vacuum conditions of space. Pocked with craters, the surfaces of many celestial bodies in our solar system provide clear evidence of a 4.6-billion-year battering by meteoroids and other space debris.

Posted December 20, 2024

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Mars

Avalanches, Icy Explosions, and Dunes: NASA Is Tracking New Year on Mars

Instead of a winter wonderland, the Red Planet’s northern hemisphere goes through an active — even explosive — spring thaw. While New Year’s Eve is around the corner here on Earth, Mars scientists are ahead of the game: The Red Planet completed a trip around the Sun on Nov. 12, 2024, prompting a few researchers […]

Posted December 20, 2024

SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Water on Earth

Cutting-Edge Satellite Tracks Lake Water Levels in Ohio River Basin

Data from the U.S.-European Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission gives researchers a detailed look at lakes and reservoirs in a U.S. watershed. The Ohio River Basin stretches from Pennsylvania to Illinois and contains a system of reservoirs, lakes, and rivers that drains an area almost as large as France.

Posted December 17, 2024

InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport)

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Mars

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)

Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS)

NASA Mars Orbiter Spots Retired InSight Lander to Study Dust Movement

New images taken from space show how dust on and around InSight is changing over time — information that can help scientists learn more about the Red Planet. NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) caught a glimpse of the agency’s retired InSight lander recently, documenting the accumulation of dust on the spacecraft’s solar panels. In the […]

Posted December 16, 2024

Perseverance (Rover)

Astrobiology

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Mars

Mars 2020

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Reaches Top of Jezero Crater Rim

The road ahead will be even more scientifically intriguing, and probably somewhat easier-going, now that the six-wheeler has completed its long climb to the top. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has crested the top of Jezero Crater’s rim at a location the science team calls “Lookout Hill” and rolling toward its first science stop after the […]

Posted December 12, 2024

Juno

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA’s Juno Mission Uncovers Heart of Jovian Moon’s Volcanic Rage

A new study points to why, and how, Io became the most volcanic body in the solar system. Scientists with NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter have discovered that the volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io are each likely powered by their own chamber of roiling hot magma rather than an ocean of magma. The finding solves […]

Posted December 12, 2024

Climate Change

Earth

Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM)

Goddard Space Flight Center

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Water on Earth

NASA Study: Crops, Forests Responding to Changing Rainfall Patterns

Earth’s rainy days are changing: They’re becoming less frequent, but more intense. Vegetation is responding.

Posted December 11, 2024

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)

Earth

Earth Science Division

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Oceans

NASA-DOD Study: Saltwater to Widely Taint Coastal Groundwater by 2100

Intrusion of saltwater into coastal groundwater can make water there unusable, damage ecosystems, and corrode infrastructure.

Posted December 11, 2024

Ingenuity (Helicopter)

Astrobiology

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Mars

Mars 2020

Perseverance (Rover)

NASA Performs First Aircraft Accident Investigation on Another World

The review takes a close look the final flight of the agency’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which was the first aircraft to fly on another world. Engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and AeroVironment are completing a detailed assessment of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s final flight on Jan.

Posted December 11, 2024