Latest Discovery program Stories

[ Watch the Video: GRAIL's Gravity Tour of the Moon ] Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Scientists using data from NASA's GRAIL mission have determined that the Moon's interior is nearly completely pulverized. The latest finding from the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission suggests that during the Moon's first billion years, it may have endured more fracturing from massive impacts than previously thought. Planetary scientists have stitched...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Twin NASA probes orbiting the moon have generated the highest resolution gravity field map of any celestial body. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The new map, created by the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, is allowing scientists to learn about the moon's internal structure and composition in unprecedented detail. Data from the two washing machine-sized spacecraft also will...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A NASA spacecraft studying Mercury has provided compelling support for the long-held hypothesis the planet harbors abundant water ice and other frozen volatile materials within its permanently shadowed polar craters. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The new information comes from NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft. Its onboard instruments have...

NASA will host a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Nov, 29, to reveal new observations from the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury. The briefing will be held in the NASA Headquarters auditorium, located at 300 E St. SW in Washington. Science Journal has embargoed details until 2 p.m. on Nov. 29. The news conference will be carried live on NASA Television and the agency's website. NASA's Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging, or MESSENGER...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA will host a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Nov. 29, to reveal new observations from the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury. The briefing will be held in the NASA Headquarters auditorium, located at 300 E St. SW in Washington. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO ) Science Journal has embargoed details until 2 p.m. on Nov. 29. The news conference will be carried live on NASA...

BOULDER, Colo., Oct. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. and the non-profit B612 Foundation have signed a contract for Ball to create prototype infrared imaging sensors for the Sentinel Mission, a deep space mission to protect Earth by providing early warning of threatening asteroids. Ball's detector design characterization initiates the first phase of developing Sentinel's 20-inch diameter, space-based infrared telescope. (Photo:...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online An asteroid approximately the size of a city block will be completing its closest ever fly-by in our planet's history early next year, and one prominent American university is planning a "viewing party" to commemorate the occasion. The University of Central Florida (UCF) announced on Saturday that they would be hosting a special event on February 15, 2013, to watch asteroid 2012 DA14 come within 14,000 miles of Earth. Several...

MIAMI, Oct. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In less than a week, Miami-based brand Deep Impact Boats will exhibit over 6 new, custom built boats at the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show (October 25-29th.) Each boat is unique as they each have tailored parts and finishes to demonstrate the unlimited options available to customers. According to General Manager Tim Gallagher, Deep Impact boats are perfect for those customers with selective taste, they are able to manufacture the boat...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft has revealed the giant asteroid Vesta has its own version of ring around the collar. Two new papers, based on observations from the low-altitude mapping orbit of the Dawn mission, show volatile, or easily evaporated, materials have colored Vesta's surface in a broad swath around its equator. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The volatiles were released from minerals likely...

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online After spending the last year-and-a-half orbiting Mercury, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft is revealing new information about the planet that lies closest to the sun. New x-ray data from the space probe shows that the planet contains high levels of magnesium and sulfur on its surface, making its composition quite different than that of other planets. MESSENGER's X-ray spectrometer shows a planet whose northern volcanic plains formed...