Tag: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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NASA might privatize one of its great observatories
Artist’s concept of the Spitzer Space Telescope seen against the infrared sky. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC) Management of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope could be turned over to an academic institution or private operator in 2019 once the space agency’s funding for the observatory runs out, a senior NASA manager said this week. Launched in August…
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Opportunity rover peers into ‘Perseverance Valley’
Toward the right side of this scene is a broad notch in the crest of the western rim of Endeavour Crater. Wheel tracks in that area were left by NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity as it observed “Perseverance Valley” from above in the spring of 2017. The valley is a major destination for the rover’s…
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Jupiter images thrill, inspire public participation
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION A JunoCam view of Jupiter as processed by Seán Doran, an artist who interprets imagery sent back from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The image is based on earlier processing by Gerald Eichstädt, using custom software. Credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstädt/Seán Doran Processing images from the camera aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft orbiting…
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First images of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot reach Earth
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION An enhanced color view of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot from the Juno spacecraft flyby Monday. Credit: NASA / SWRI / MSSS / Greg Smye-Rumsby / Astronomy Now Two days after NASA’s Juno spacecraft streaked over Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, pictures of the solar system’s largest, most powerful storm,…
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NASA marks 20 years of continuous Mars exploration
This portion of a classic 1997 panorama from the IMP camera on the mast of NASA’s Mars Pathfinder lander includes “Twin Peaks” on the horizon, and the Sojourner rover next to a rock called “Yogi.” Credit: NASA/JPL NASA’s Mars Pathfinder probe dropped to the surface of Mars for an airbag-cushioned landing 20 years ago Tuesday,…
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Dawn mission managers await NASA decision on spacecraft’s future
Artist’s concept of the Dawn spacecraft with one of its ion engines firing. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech The future of NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, running low on hydrazine fuel and now flying around the dwarf planet Ceres without the help of internal pointing wheels, will be decided in the coming weeks by top space agency managers. Scientists have…
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Cassini survives closest brush with Saturn’s inner ring
This unprocessed image from Cassini’s camera taken Sunday shows Saturn (upper right) and a portion of the planet’s rings refracted through Saturn’s atmosphere. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute Barreling through space near the inner edge of Saturn’s wispy D ring, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft shielded itself from bits of ice and dust Sunday as the probe made…
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Earlier launch of NASA’s Psyche mission touted as cost-saving measure
Artist’s concept of the Psyche spacecraft, which will conduct a direct exploration of an asteroid thought to be a stripped planetary core. Credit: SSL/ASU/P. Rubin/NASA/JPL-Caltech A NASA spacecraft set to explore a metallic asteroid for the first time will launch in 2022, a year earlier than originally planned, and reach its destination in 2026, four…
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Jupiter surprises in first trove of data from NASA’s Juno mission
This image shows Jupiter’s south pole, as seen by NASA’s Juno spacecraft from an altitude of 32,000 miles (52,000 kilometers). Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Betsy Asher Hall/Gervasio Robles The first months of observations of the solar system’s biggest planet from NASA’s Juno spacecraft have revealed huge swirling polar cyclones, previously-undetected structures and motions beneath Jupiter’s distinctive clouds,…
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NASA’s Cassini spacecraft aims to skirt Saturn’s innermost ring
Cassini took this image of Saturn and its rings May 13. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute Fresh off its fifth passage through a gap between Saturn’s atmosphere and rings, NASA’s robotic Cassini spacecraft is looping toward a close brush with the planet’s innermost ring next week, when the probe will again use its high-gain antenna as…