Science
Why the meteorites that hit Earth have less water than the asteroid bits brought back by space probes – a planetary scientist explains new research
Why the meteorites that hit Earth have less water than the asteroid bits brought back by space probes – a planetary scientist explains new research Scientists have long been puzzled by why meteorites that hit Earth have less water than asteroid bits brought back by space probes, despite carbonaceous chondrites being rich in water and […]
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Tiny cut marks on animal bone fossils reveal that human ancestors were in Romania 1.95 million years ago
Tiny cut marks on animal bone fossils reveal that human ancestors were in Romania 1.95 million years ago Researchers have discovered tiny cut marks on animal bone fossils from the Grăunceanu site in Romania, dating back to at least 1.95 million years ago. The discovery provides evidence that human ancestors were present in Eurasia by […]
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Sols 4507-4508: “Just Keep Driving”
Sols 4507-4508: “Just Keep Driving” The Curiosity rover successfully completed its drive on Sol 4507-4508, covering approximately 22 meters out of an expected 30 meters. The rover’s arm activities were halted due to instability caused by a rock it encountered during the drive, but the team is not complaining about trying again. The rover’s science […]
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New York Math Teacher Measures Trees & Grows Scientists with GLOBE
New York Math Teacher Measures Trees & Grows Scientists with GLOBE A New York math teacher, Ms. Deanna Danke, has been using the GLOBE Observer Trees Tool to teach her students about trigonometry and tree height measurements. Her students’ data collection efforts have provided valuable insights that coincide with NASA satellite instruments, allowing for a […]
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NASA’s IMAP Arrives at NASA Marshall For Testing in XRCF
NASA’s IMAP Arrives at NASA Marshall For Testing in XRCF NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) has arrived at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama for thermal vacuum testing. The IMAP mission aims to map the solar system by studying the heliosphere, a giant bubble created by the Sun’s solar wind that […]
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NASA-Developed Tools at Marshall Support Operations to Space Station
NASA-Developed Tools at Marshall Support Operations to Space Station NASA has developed two new automation tools at its Marshall Space Flight Center to improve operations for flight controllers working with the International Space Station (ISS). The tools, AutoDump and Permanently Missing Intervals Checker, aim to free up the team’s focus on situational awareness, anomaly response, […]
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Hubble Captures a Star’s Swan Song
Hubble Captures a Star’s Swan Song Hubble has captured an image of Kohoutek 4-55, a planetary nebula located 4,600 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus, showcasing the star’s final display before it exhausts its fuel. The image features swirling clouds of ionized atoms thrown into space by a dying star, with different colors indicating the […]
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GLOBE Mission Earth Supports Career Technical Education
GLOBE Mission Earth Supports Career Technical Education GLOBE Mission Earth (GME) supports career technical education (CTE) programs by connecting students to real-world science and NASA data, making science more relevant and engaging. GME’s integration of GLOBE protocols in CTE programs helps students develop essential skills like data literacy, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication, which are […]
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How NASA Science Data Defends Earth from Asteroids
How NASA Science Data Defends Earth from Asteroids NASA’s open science data practices help identify asteroids that pose a hazard to Earth by sharing scientific data widely, allowing researchers to determine the risk posed by the near-Earth asteroid population. The Minor Planet Center collects and verifies vast numbers of asteroid and comet position observations from […]
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GLOBE, NASA, and the Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School in Queens, New York
GLOBE, NASA, and the Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School in Queens, New York A high school teacher, Ms. Deanna Danke, partnered with NASA to engage her students in scientific investigations that connected to their everyday lives. Her students participated in collecting tree height data using the GLOBE Observer Trees Tool, which provided valuable contributions to […]
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NASA Measures Moonlight to Improve Earth Observations
NASA Measures Moonlight to Improve Earth Observations NASA recently conducted a series of night flights over its Armstrong Flight Research Center in California to measure the Moon’s reflected sunlight using an airborne instrument called air-LUSI. The air-LUSI mission observed the Moon at different phases and measured the amount of light reflected by the lunar surface, […]
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Linear Sand Dunes in the Great Sandy Desert
Linear Sand Dunes in the Great Sandy Desert The Great Sandy Desert in northwest Australia features linear sand dunes that are approximately 25 meters high and separated by 0.5 to 1.5 kilometers. Astronauts have captured stunning photos of these dunes, including one taken on March 25, 2013, from the International Space Station. The dunes appear […]
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Have We Been to Uranus? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 56
Have We Been to Uranus? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 56 Voyager II spacecraft flew by Uranus in 1986, making it the only time humans have visited the planet. The extreme world revealed by Voyager II has an atmosphere made of methane and hydrogen, with dramatic seasonal variability due to its tilted axis. Uranus’ […]
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Station Nation: Meet Nick Kopp, SpaceX Dragon Flight Lead
Station Nation: Meet Nick Kopp, SpaceX Dragon Flight Lead Nick Kopp is a Dragon flight lead at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, leading the agency’s efforts to prepare, launch, and return cargo missions to the International Space Station. Kopp has been working for NASA for about 15 years, starting at Marshall Space Flight Center […]
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NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Studies Trove of Rocks on Crater Rim
NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Studies Trove of Rocks on Crater Rim NASA’s Perseverance rover has been collecting and caching Martian rock samples from the Jezero crater, which will be returned to Earth for further analysis as part of NASA’s Mars Sample Return Program. The rover has discovered a serpentine-rich rock sample called “Tablelands” that contains […]
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NASA Webb’s Autopsy of Planet Swallowed by Star Yields Surprise
NASA Webb’s Autopsy of Planet Swallowed by Star Yields Surprise The James Webb Space Telescope has observed an exoplanet being swallowed by its host star, providing unprecedented insights into this rare event. The telescope detected a hot circumstellar disk of molecular gas around the star, which was not expected to be present in the aftermath […]
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NASA’s SpaceX 32nd Resupply Mission Launches New Research to Station
NASA’s SpaceX 32nd Resupply Mission Launches New Research to Station NASA’s SpaceX 32nd Resupply Mission launches new research to the International Space Station, including experiments on vision-based navigation, spacecraft air quality, and plant growth. The mission includes investigations on robotic spacecraft guidance, smartphone video guidance sensor technology, and aerosol monitors to protect crew health and […]
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Race isn’t a ‘biological reality,’ contrary to recent political claims − here’s how scientific consensus on race developed in the 20th century
Race isn’t a ‘biological reality,’ contrary to recent political claims − here’s how scientific consensus on race developed in the 20th century The concept of “race” as a biological reality is a human invention, not a natural phenomenon. The idea that humans can be divided into fixed groups based on physical characteristics like height or […]
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Fill-in-the-blank training primes AI to interpret health data from smartwatches and fitness trackers
Fill-in-the-blank training primes AI to interpret health data from smartwatches and fitness trackers Researchers are developing new ways to train machine learning algorithms to interpret health data from smartwatches and fitness trackers using a technique called pretraining, which allows them to learn relationships between bio-signals and disorders with fewer labels. The pretraining process involves teaching […]
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Hubble Helps Determine Uranus’ Rotation Rate with Unprecedented Precision
Hubble Helps Determine Uranus’ Rotation Rate with Unprecedented Precision Hubble Space Telescope has made new measurements of Uranus’ interior rotation rate with unprecedented precision, achieving a level of accuracy 1,000 times greater than previous estimates. The team used Hubble’s long-term monitoring of Uranus to analyze more than a decade of observations of the planet’s aurorae, […]
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NASA Science Supports Data Literacy for K-12 Students
NASA Science Supports Data Literacy for K-12 Students NASA supports data literacy for K-12 students through various initiatives, including Science Activation programs and partnerships with educators and researchers. The Data Science Education K-12: Research to Practice Conference was held in February 2025, featuring presentations from NASA’s Science Activation program and other partners on topics such […]
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Mike Drury: A 40-Year Legacy of Precision
Mike Drury: A 40-Year Legacy of Precision Mike Drury has spent over 40 years working at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, starting as a temporary technician and rising to become the deputy integration and testing manager for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Drury credits his training by “old-timers” who taught him how to approach […]
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Welcome to the Mission Support Directorate
Welcome to the Mission Support Directorate Mission Support Directorate (MSD) enables NASA’s missions by planning and executing budgets for safety, security, and mission services. MSD executes strategy and governance to ensure Mission Support is financially sound, aligned with agency goals, and serving NASA’s missions effectively. MSD addresses financial, operational, legal, and reputational risks to ensure […]
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Shark AI uses fossil shark teeth to get middle school kids interested in paleontology and computer vision
Shark AI uses fossil shark teeth to get middle school kids interested in paleontology and computer vision Shark AI is an educational curriculum that uses fossil shark teeth to teach middle school students about paleontology and computer vision, aiming to make AI accessible to all teachers. The curriculum consists of five modules aligned with national […]
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Sols 4505-4506: Up, up and onto the Devil’s Gate
Sols 4505-4506: Up, up and onto the Devil’s Gate The Curiosity rover has completed its drive up the steep side of “Devil’s Gate,” a small butte that forms part of the ridge along the top of a canyon, and is now looking down into the next canyon for the first time. The rover passed a Slip Risk Assessment Process […]
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Welcome to the Mission Support Directorate (MSD)
Welcome to the Mission Support Directorate (MSD) Mission Support Directorate (MSD) plays a crucial role in ensuring NASA’s missions are successful by providing necessary capabilities and services. MSD works closely with various departments, including financial office, engineering authority, and international relations, to plan and execute budgets, design projects, and manage collaborations. Key responsibilities of MSD […]
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Welcome to MSD
Welcome to MSD Mission Support Directorate (MSD) plays a crucial role in ensuring NASA’s missions are successful by providing planning, execution, and governance for mission support budgets. MSD addresses various risks to ensure resilience and mission success, including financial, operational, legal, and reputational risks. The organization works closely with mission directorates and centers to prioritize […]
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Sixty Years in Canberra: NASA’s Deep Space Network
Sixty Years in Canberra: NASA’s Deep Space Network NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) facility in Canberra, Australia is celebrating its 60th anniversary, marking six decades of supporting space exploration. The DSN has been instrumental in communicating with spacecraft, including Voyager 2, which can only receive commands and data via the Canberra complex due to its […]
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Findings from the Field: A Research Symposium for Student Scientists
Findings from the Field: A Research Symposium for Student Scientists The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) launched the Findings from the Field journal in 2017 to give students a platform for authentic scientific inquiry and peer review. The Findings Student Research Symposium was launched in 2022, bringing together nearly 100 young scientists aged 5-12 […]
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Boats can spread termites all over the world
Boats can spread termites all over the world Termites are spreading globally due to human activity, particularly through private boats, which can transport them across continents. The recreational boating industry is likely exacerbating the problem, as boats provide an ideal environment for termites to travel far beyond their native habitats. Invasive termite species like Formosan […]
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