The two Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft will explore coronal mass ejections' origin, evolution, and interplanetary consequences during their two-year mission. The STEREO mission aims to improve our understanding of space weather and its impact on Earth systems.
The Venus mission aims to study the planet's surface and atmosphere, with a focus on volcanoes and potential biological activity. The spacecraft will use advanced instruments to detect 'hotspots' in the clouds and make a positive detection of volcanoes.
The Deep Impact mission revealed several dozen impact craters on Comet Tempel 1, with a powdery layer tens of meters deep. The comet's surface is composed of a fine-grained, loosely glued layer of organic powder and ice, sparking new questions about its composition and the formation of the solar system.
Physicists Eric Linder and Robert Caldwell separate dark energy scenarios through satellite searches, offering a way to distinguish among dark energy possibilities. The Joint Dark Energy Mission experiments may be able to determine which scenario is correct.
A recent study highlights the dangers of Solar Proton Events (SPEs) and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) on a manned Mars mission. The researcher recommends improving space weather monitoring and developing lightweight mechanisms to detect dangerous space weather, as well as creating more robust models for propagation over larger distances.
Scientists at Galileo Pharmaceuticals confirm a significant link between inflammation and glucose regulation in metabolic disease. The study demonstrates that administration of a proprietary dual 5- and 15-lipoxygenase inhibitor reduces resting glucose levels by approximately 20% without affecting insulin levels.
Scientists at NASA have developed a way to process radar data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite, providing 3D snapshots of hurricanes. This allows forecasters to access information on heavy rainfall rates and cloud heights within three hours, helping them make more accurate forecasts.
A Brown University geologist is part of a joint space mission to study a comet's composition. The Deep Impact mission will provide a first-ever look inside a comet when an impactor hits Tempel 1, helping scientists understand how comets shaped the solar system.
Researchers at Penn State are developing new approaches to integrating control and condition monitoring systems for Intelligent Vehicle Health Management. This will enable equipment to continue operating when something breaks or is about to fail, reducing the need for human intervention on long, unmanned deep space missions.
The American Urological Association has awarded Novartis Pharmaceuticals its annual health science award in recognition of the company's support for the organization's educational, scientific, and research goals. The award acknowledges Novartis' contributions to promoting urologic care through continuing medical education.
Scientists at PNNL develop MicroCATS, a system to produce propellant from Martian resources, regenerating breathable air and enabling life support. The goal is to advance microtechnology principles for larger-scale Mars missions by 2030.
A University of Chicago instrument has discovered dust particles around Saturn's moon Enceladus, sparking interest in a possible dust cloud or connection to the E-ring. The findings could help scientists better understand Enceladus' role as a source of water ice particles in the E-ring.
The European Space Agency recommends a mission that combines key technologies from BeagleNet, ExoMars and NASA to search for life on Mars. The rover will include instruments to study seismic phenomena and a drill capable of penetrating the surface.
The NASA-led Swift mission has successfully measured the distances to two gamma-ray bursts, both originating from over 9 billion light years away. These direct distance measurements, achieved with Swift's Ultraviolet/OpticalTelescope (UVOT), represent a major milestone for the mission since its launch in 2004.
Researchers found that Papuan women blend elements from their ancestral customs and the Catholic faith to form their own group identity. Initiation rituals are part of life experiences, embedded in social and religious context.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers and the Cassini-Huygens Mission will be discussed, highlighting new discoveries and future exploration plans. The AAAS annual meeting also features presentations on climate change, urban decision-making, and revolutionary engine architectures.
Physicist Gary Zank and his team at UCR will study the heliosphere and interstellar space with the $134-million IBEX mission. The team aims to confirm or refute predictions about the hydrogen wall, a boundary comprised of hydrogen atoms and protons.
The Deep Impact mission aims to study the composition of Comet Tempel 1 by deploying a copper probe into its surface. The probe will capture images and spectra of the comet's interior, shedding light on the early solar system's formation.
The Mars rover mission has discovered evidence of prolonged presence of salty, acidic water on Mars' surface, making it a potential habitable place. The findings suggest that conditions were suitable for life to exist in the past.
Indiana University geologists David Bish and Juergen Schieber will join NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, a rover mission set to launch in 2009. The rover will explore a local region as a potential habitat for past or present life, shedding light on the Martian surface's composition.
A nuclear-powered space mission to Neptune, expected to launch between 2016 and 2018, aims to gather data on the planet's atmosphere and its largest moon Triton. The mission will employ electrical and optical sensors to study Neptune's atmospheric elemental ratios, gravity, and magnetic fields.
The Mars rover Opportunity has found evidence that liquid water once flowed through the region of Meridiani Planum, a vast plain on Mars. This discovery suggests that conditions in this area may have been habitable for life at some point in Martian history.
Intellectual property experts argue that the NIH proposed policy does not alter existing copyright law, but rather builds on current practice to facilitate public access to research. This change is seen as advancing the NIH's aim to use today's information technologies to fulfill its public mission.
The College of Engineering at Virginia Tech is launching three new programs to improve retention and graduation rates for under-represented engineering students. The programs, funded by a $2 million NSF grant, will offer mentoring, academic development, and residential learning environments to support freshman and transfer students.
Gross and Frank Wilczek discovered asymptotic freedom, a force that grows stronger with distance, allowing for the calculation of experiment results. This finding has implications for experiments and provides clues to new physics beyond the Standard Model.
Scientists use satellites, computer models, and ground stations to study the unique aerosol laboratory created by desert dust, smoke, and man-made emissions. The UAE2 mission aims to improve computer climate models and predictions of climate behavior in response to changes in aerosol concentrations.
TRMM has provided significant scientific research data over seven years, aiding NOAA and other agencies in monitoring rainfall and storms. NASA will continue to operate the satellite through the 2004 hurricane season to capture additional storm data.
Researchers confirm albedo changes in Martian soil, correlating with changes seen from Mars orbiters, providing ground-truth information. The findings indicate important variations in mineral and dust composition.
Scientists measured a 0.1% reduction in sunlight reaching Earth during a June 8 Venus transit using NASA's SORCE satellite data. This event is comparable to the estimated 50-year decrease in sunlight that occurred during the Little Ice Age in the 17th century.
The MESSENGER mission will explore Mercury's searing surface, oddball atmosphere, and bizarre magnetic field. The LASP's $8.7 million Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer will address questions about the planet's mineral composition, gas distribution, and core.
FalconView has been adopted by a wide variety of aircraft and expanded to include new features such as illumination-planning and SkyView, allowing for more efficient mission planning and situational awareness. The software is now being adapted to the Joint Mission Planning System, further increasing its versatility.
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) will be decommissioned by NASA, marking the end of its outstanding contribution to Earth observations. TRMM's unique precipitation observations have provided unprecedented insights into rainfall-producing cloud systems over tropical land masses and oceans.
Aura, NASA's latest Earth-observing satellite, was launched to study the health of the Earth's atmosphere, focusing on ozone layer recovery and climate change. The satellite will survey the atmosphere from the troposphere to the stratosphere, using four instruments to collect data on air quality and its impact on the planet.
The MOST team discovered that star Procyon shows no pulsations, overturning 20 years of previous research and forcing future space missions to revise their strategies. The tiny satellite measured brightness variations more precisely than any other instrument, revealing a new perspective on the stars in our Galactic backyard.
Computer models show Io's volcanic eruptions vaporize sodium, potassium, silicon, and iron gases into its atmosphere. Researchers found single-atom and molecular forms of these elements, which could lead to unusual gas formations.
The University of Colorado will build two instruments for a satellite launched in 2006 to study noctilucent clouds. The Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere mission aims to understand changes in cloud brightness and frequency, which may be linked to increasing carbon dioxide levels.
The UK is leading a European mission to explore comets, which are ancient bodies offering clues to the Universe's secrets. The Rosetta spacecraft will deploy a lander to study the comet's surface, analyzing its composition and search for signs of life.
Los Alamos is leading reactor design for the JIMO mission, which would orbit icy moons to study their makeup and potential for sustaining life. The lab is developing key technologies such as nuclear fuel, beryllium components, and diagnostic instruments for a safe and reliable space reactor.
Dr. Squyres and over 40 team members will undergo a sleep study to adapt to Mars' 24-hour day/night cycle during the two-rover mission. The team will work six-sol weeks with varying weekend lengths, aiming to mitigate 'Martian jet lag'.
Scientists from the Open University and University of Kent will analyze samples from Comet Wild 2, which was brought back by NASA's STARDUST mission. The cometary particles provide a window into the past, helping to answer fundamental questions about the solar system's formation.
The ICESat mission is measuring the surface elevations of large ice sheets covering Antarctica and Greenland, determining how they are changing. The satellite's data are helping scientists understand how life on Earth is affected by changing climate, and providing critical observations of atmospheric particles.
New calculations suggest that recycling of material through small moons can lengthen the lifetime of rings and moons. This process, known as cosmic recycling, allows for the re-accretion of fragments into new moons, extending the persistence of ring systems.
Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and NASA have developed a process to convert inedible wheat grass into activated carbon, absorbing nitrogen oxides and producing fertilizer. This technology could support a crew of six astronauts on a three-year Mars mission by recycling waste and conserving materials.
Two NSF-backed public television science programs, 'Galileo's Battle for the Heavens' and 'The Secret Life of the Brain,' won Emmys in Historical Programming and Outstanding Science categories, respectively. The programs were funded under NSF grants and explored unique stories of science that would have taken volumes to tell.
A new study finds that NASA's Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) can detect habitable planets near significantly more massive stars than the sun. The satellite will use interferometry to measure the position of stars and detect tiny wobbles caused by orbiting planets.
A new study found that current low-dose oral contraceptives significantly increase plasma concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP), an inflammatory biomarker associated with cardiovascular disease. CRP levels were two times higher among OC users than non-users, regardless of diet assignment or phase of the menstrual cycle.
The THEMIS mission aims to pinpoint the location of substorms that produce auroral eruptions. Five satellites will track the motion of plasma along the sun-Earth line, providing insights into the processing of solar wind energy. The mission has the potential to resolve a long-standing problem in understanding space weather.
Researchers examined how transformational and transactional leadership predicted unit potency, cohesion, and performance. They found that both styles led to improved performance in simulated combat training exercises.
The University of Michigan College of Engineering will unveil the Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer (FIPS), a revolutionary instrument for NASA's MESSENGER Mission to Mercury. The FIPS project demonstrates how high-performance, low-weight instruments can be used to explore the solar system without risk to human life.
Geneva Aerospace successfully tested a variable autonomy control system that allows a single human operator to control three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during a mission. The demonstration showed advanced yet affordable technologies can enable non-aviators to coordinate multiple UAVs, significantly reducing logistical burden.
NASA's Aqua satellite and a P-3 Orion aircraft are conducting a joint research effort to gather data on snowfall and rainfall in Wakasa Bay, Japan. The study aims to improve the accuracy of global hydrologic cycle data and better understand precipitation patterns in the north Pacific.
Researchers investigate how simple plants like moss grow when deprived of gravity, exploring the role of light and internal forces. The study aims to understand the cellular mechanisms guiding plant growth and development in space.
The Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer satellite will study the bubble of hot gas between nearby stars, helping scientists understand local galaxy regions and supernova origins. With its high resolution, CHIPSat will measure individual lines to determine physical conditions in the hot gas.
The Stardust spacecraft is using a flyby of asteroid Annefrank to prepare for its primary mission to capture particles from Wild 2. The asteroid's small size and distance from the spacecraft mean images won't be detailed, but it provides a crucial test for the spacecraft's systems.
Researchers conducted a high-tech simulation to test the Mars Exploration Rover mission, which will arrive on Mars in early 2004. The test aimed to understand the nature and accumulation patterns of Mars' signature red dust, crucial for ensuring astronaut safety.
The NASA Living With a Star program aims to understand the dynamics of the Earth-Sun system. The Stanford-led SDO mission will study the Sun's magnetic fields, creating 3D images of solar magnetic regions and surface fields, to predict destructive flares and solar storms.
The AIM mission will investigate the sudden increase of noctilucent clouds near the equator, potentially linked to global warming. Temperature measurements indicate cooling at high altitudes, which may explain the rising cloud observations.
The Aquarius mission will provide global maps of salt concentration on the ocean surface, allowing scientists to closely monitor ocean circulation and heat transport. The mission will help advance understanding of ocean-atmosphere interactions and potentially inform strategies to mitigate the impacts of natural events.
The University of Colorado at Boulder has been selected by NASA to build two instruments for a satellite that will probe polar mesospheric clouds. The $92 million mission, Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM), aims to study these clouds and their role in the Earth's atmosphere.
The CONTOUR spacecraft, launched from Cape Canaveral, will provide the closest look yet at a comet's nucleus. It will orbit Earth until August 15 before firing its main engine and entering a comet-chasing orbit around the sun.