Latest Goddard Space Flight Center Stories

NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) is scheduled to launch Feb. 11 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. A joint NASA and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) mission, LDCM will add to the longest continuous data record of Earth's surface as viewed from space. LDCM is the eighth satellite in the Landsat series, which began in 1972. The mission will extend more than 40 years of global land observations that are critical in many areas, such as energy and water management, forest...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A multi-year NASA airborne science mission is on its way to California to help scientists better understand how to measure and forecast air quality globally from space. Two NASA aircraft equipped with scientific instruments will fly over the San Joaquin Valley between Bakersfield and Fresno in January and February to measure air pollution. One aircraft will fly within 1,000 feet of the ground. (Logo:...

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center NASA's Aqua satellite looked at Cyclone Narelle in visible and infrared light to understand the behavior of the storm. NASA's MODIS and AIRS instruments provided those data, respectively, and they showed that Narelle is gaining strength as it approaches the northern coast of Western Australia. Watches and Warnings are posted for the western coast of Western Australia over the next several days as Narelle continues to move on a southerly track, where it...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) is scheduled to launch Feb. 11 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. A joint NASA and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) mission, LDCM will add to the longest continuous data record of Earth's surface as viewed from space. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) LDCM is the eighth satellite in the Landsat series, which began in 1972. The mission will extend...

GREENBELT, Md., Jan. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Visitor Center in Greenbelt, Md., will host this month's Sunday Experiment on Jan. 20 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. EST. The Sunday Experiment is a free afternoon for children of all ages and their families to discover NASA Goddard's exciting missions. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The Jan. 20 Sunday Experiment will explore NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)...

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Infrared and near-infrared NASA satellite imagery provided signs to forecasters that Tropical Cyclone Narelle is intensifying as it moves southwest paralleling Western Australia coastline. Warnings have been posted as Narelle nears. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM) issued the following watch and warnings for Narelle on Jan. 9: A cyclone watch is in effect for coastal areas from Whim Creek to Coral Bay. A Blue alert is in effect for coastal and...

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Tropical Depression Sonamu has been consistently slow moving over the last couple of days, and that has not changed. NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of the stubborn storm lingering in the South China Sea, and it still contained some strong thunderstorms. When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Depression Sonamu on Jan. 8 at 0641 UTC (1:41 a.m. EST/U.S.), the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard took an infrared...

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center The eighth tropical cyclone to form during the Southern Indian Ocean cyclone season formed from low pressure System 98S and became Tropical Cyclone Narelle. NASA's TRMM satellite passed over System 98S and saw the hallmark "hot towers" that indicated the storm would soon likely intensify into Tropical Storm Narelle. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite passed over System 98S on Jan. 7 at 0901 UTC (4:01 a.m. EST/U.S.) hours before...

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Once a cyclone, now a tropical depression, Sonamu is being battered by moderate wind shear and an intrusion of dry air is it has practically stalled in the South China Sea. On Sunday, Jan. 6, Tropical Storm Sonamu's maximum sustained winds were near 40 knots (46 mph/74 kph). Sonamu's center was located about 255 nautical miles (258.9 miles/416.7 km) southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, near 7.2 north and 108.9 east and continued to move west. At that...

NASA will hold a news briefing at 1 p.m. EST on Thursday, Jan. 10, about the upcoming launch of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). The briefing will be held in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW, Washington. The news conference will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website. LDCM is a collaboration between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey that will continue the Landsat Program's 40-year data record of monitoring Earth's landscapes from...