Latest Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics Stories

GREENBELT, Md., May 21, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Magnetometers built by scientists and engineers at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. for NASA's Mars Atmosphere And Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission have been delivered to the University of California at Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory for integration into the Particles and Field Package. (Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) "The team worked hard and completed delivery of the...

NASA's Kepler mission has been named the winner of the 2012 Aviation Week Laureate Award in the Space category, announced last night at the 55th annual black-tie awards dinner in Washington. Accepting the award on behalf of the Kepler mission team were Roger Hunter, Kepler project manager at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.; and James Fanson, who was the Kepler project manager during mission development at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Fanson is...

According to a new study, a drop in the sun's radiation can trigger unusually cold winters in parts of North America and Europe. The scientists said this finding could improve long-range forecasts and help countries prepare for blizzards. Previously, researchers were just able to see a weak link between solar activity and winter weather.  However, the new study used satellite measurements from NASA's Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) to reveal that differences in UV light...

DENVER, Sept. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has completed building the primary structure of NASA's MAVEN spacecraft at its Space Systems Company facility near Denver. The Mars Atmosphere And Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft is scheduled to launch in November 2013 and will be the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. Photo: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_releases/2011/0926_ss_maven.html In the photo taken on Sept. 8,...

  Scientists from all over the world will be gathering in the Indian Ocean starting next month to study the Madden-Julian Oscillation. This disturbance originates in the equatorial Indian Ocean every 30 to 90 days and is part of the Asian and Australian monsoons, can enhance hurricane activity in the northeast Pacific and Gulf of Mexico, trigger torrential rainfall along the west coast of North America and affect the onset of El Nino. The campaign, known as DYNAMO (Dynamics of the...

  [ View the Video ] One hundred and fifty two years ago, a man in England named Richard Carrington discovered solar flares. It happened at 11:18 AM on the cloudless morning of Thursday, September 1st, 1859. Just as usual on every sunny day, the 33-year-old solar astronomer was busy in his private observatory, projecting an image of the sun onto a screen and sketching what he saw. On that particular morning, he traced the outlines of an enormous group of sunspots. Suddenly, before...

  NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, has provided scientists new information about solar flares indicating an increase in strength and longevity that is more than previously thought. Solar flares are intense bursts of radiation from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots. They are the solar system's largest explosive events and are seen as bright areas on the sun. Their energy can reach Earth's atmosphere and affect operations of Earth-orbiting communication...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, has provided scientists new information about solar flares indicating an increase in strength and longevity that is more than previously thought. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) Solar flares are intense bursts of radiation from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots. They are the solar system's largest explosive events and are seen as bright areas...

Gas giant may hold keys to understanding solar system formation, evolutionSeveral University of Colorado Boulder faculty and students are participating in NASA's Juno Mission to Jupiter, now slated for launch Aug. 5 from Florida's Kennedy Space Center and which is expected to help steer scientists toward the right recipe for planet-making.The primary goal of the mission is to understand the origin and evolution of the massive gas planet, said CU-Boulder Professor Fran Bagenal of the...

The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission reached a major milestone last week when it successfully completed its Mission Critical Design Review (CDR).MAVEN, scheduled for launch in late 2013, will be the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. The goal of MAVEN is to determine the history of the loss of atmospheric gases to space through time, providing answers about Mars climate evolution. It will accomplish this by measuring the current rate of...