Latest Jet Propulsion Laboratory Stories

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory On Mars, as on Earth, sometimes things can take on an unusual appearance. A case in point is a shiny-looking rock seen in a recent image from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. Some casual observers might see a resemblance to a car door handle, hood ornament or some other type of metallic object. To Ronald Sletten of the University of Washington, Seattle, a collaborator on Curiosity's science team, the object is an interesting study in how wind and the natural...

PASADENA, Calif., Feb. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Curiosity rover has, for the first time, used a drill carried at the end of its robotic arm to bore into a flat, veiny rock on Mars and collect a sample from its interior. This is the first time any robot has drilled into a rock to collect a sample on Mars. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO ) The fresh hole, about 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters) wide and 2.5 inches (6.4 centimeters) deep...

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online NASA announced on Thursday its Curiosity rover has performed a mini drilling test on Mars for the first time. The drill, according to NASA, went through percussion and rotation tests to bore into about 0.8-inches of rock on Mars, generating cuttings for evaluation in advance of the rover's first sample-collection drilling. NASA said this test was confirmed in data received from Mars late Wednesday at the Jet Propulsion...

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory The tangle of clouds and stars that lie in Orion's sword is showcased in a new, expansive view from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. Orion, the famous hunter, is visible in evening skies throughout the world from about December through April. The constellation appears tranquil and still to the naked eye, but lying in its sword, at what appears to be a slightly fuzzy star, is a turbulent cauldron of stellar birth. WISE scanned the...

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory The small near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass very close to Earth on February 15, so close that it will pass inside the ring of geosynchronous weather and communications satellites. NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office can accurately predict the asteroid's path with the observations obtained, and it is therefore known that there is no chance that the asteroid might be on a collision course with Earth. Nevertheless, the flyby will provide a unique...

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Space enthusiasts will be able to get "up close and personal" (bring your camera) with a full-scale replica of the Curiosity Mars rover before the free Jan. 23 public premiere of the documentary film "The Changing Face of Mars." The model, about the size of a small SUV automobile, will be on display outside Caltech's Beckman Auditorium in Pasadena, Calif. Also on display will be the "first image of Mars." The unusual origins of this historic image is one...

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory A new NASA-led study finds that when it comes to combating global warming caused by emissions of ozone-forming chemicals, location matters. Ozone is both a major air pollutant with known adverse health effects and a greenhouse gas that traps heat from escaping Earth's atmosphere. Scientists and policy analysts are interested in learning how curbing the emissions of these chemicals can improve human health and also help mitigate climate change....

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory This week, fizzy ocean water and the alkaline fluid that bubbles up from deep ocean vents are coursing through a structure at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. that is reminiscent of the pillared Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz. Scientists with the NASA Astrobiology Institute's JPL Icy Worlds team have built this series of glass tubes, thin barrels and valves with a laser and a detector system. The set-up mimics the conditions at...

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory The NASA mission that had the nation holding its breath as it tested an ingenious but never-before-used landing technique, and continues to amaze with new discoveries about Mars has been selected as the 2013 recipient of the Space Foundation's John L. "Jack" Swigert, Jr., Award for Space Exploration. NASA's Mars Science Laboratory project is using the rover Curiosity to investigate whether the study area within Gale Crater has offered environmental...

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online NASA's Curiosity rover is making its way towards a flat rock with pale veins that could provide more insight into the history of Mars. Once the rover rolls up to the rock in the coming days, NASA engineers plan on drilling it for a sample during the Mars Science Laboratory mission. Curiosity sits inside Mars' Gale Crater, investigating whether the planet ever had conditions to host microbial life. The rover landed on the Red Planet...