Record number of Americans apply to #BeAnAstronaut at NASA

Feb 20, 2016, at 03:30 pm

California, Feb 20 ( (Just Earth News/IBNS) More than 18,300 people applied to join NASA’s 2017 astronaut class, almost three times the number of applications received in 2012 for the most recent astronaut class, and far surpassing the previous record of 8,000 in 1978.

NASA scientists, engineers receive Presidential early career awards

Feb 20, 2016, at 03:29 pm

California, Feb 20 (Just Earth News/IBNS) President Obama Thursday named six NASA researchers as recipients of the 2016 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). These recipients, and 100 other federal researchers, will receive their awards in a ceremony later this year in Washington.

Study finds Aboriginal children experience high burden of unintentional injury

Feb 19, 2016, at 10:15 pm

Melbourne, Feb 19 (IBNS) New research shows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are more than one and a half times more likely to be hospitalised for unintentional injuries than non-Indigenous children, prompting calls for more targeted child injury prevention programs.

NASA introduces new, wider set of eyes on the Universe

Feb 19, 2016, at 03:44 pm

California, Feb 19 (IBNS) After years of preparatory studies, NASA is formally starting an astrophysics mission designed to help unlock the secrets of the universe -- the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST).

Hubble directly measures rotation of cloudy 'Super-Jupiter'

Feb 19, 2016, at 03:29 pm

California, Feb 19 (IBNS) Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have measured the rotation rate of an extreme exoplanet by observing the varied brightness in its atmosphere. This is the first measurement of the rotation of a massive exoplanet using direct imaging.

Pluto's 'Hulk-like' Moon Charon: A possible ancient ocean?

Feb 19, 2016, at 03:18 pm

California, Feb 19 (IBNS): Pluto’s largest moon may have gotten too big for its own skin.

How a NASA team turned a smartphone into a satellite business

Feb 18, 2016, at 02:53 pm

California, Feb 18 (IBNS) Satellites aren’t small or cheap. The Solar Dynamics Observatory launched by NASA in 2010 weighs about 6,800 pounds and cost $850 million to build and put into orbit.

NASA plant researchers explore question of deep-space food crops

Feb 18, 2016, at 02:42 pm

California, Feb 18 (Just Earth News/IBNS) NASA plant physiologist Ray Wheeler, Ph.D., and fictional astronaut Mark Watney from the movie "The Martian" have something in common — they are both botanists.

NASA TV to broadcast U.S. cargo ship departure from space station

Feb 17, 2016, at 09:34 pm

California, Feb 17 (IBNS) After delivering more than 7,000 pounds of cargo to support dozens of science experiments from around the world, Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft is set to leave the International Space Station Friday, Feb. 19.

Glow from the Big Bang allows discovery of distant black hole jet

Feb 17, 2016, at 02:50 pm

California, Feb 17 (Just Earth News/IBNS) Astronomers have used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to discover a jet from a very distant supermassive black hole being illuminated by the oldest light in the Universe. This discovery shows that black holes with powerful jets may be more common than previously thought in the first few billion years after the Big Bang.

NASA releases Mar 8 total solar eclipse visualizations

Feb 16, 2016, at 01:38 am

California, Feb 15 (JEN/IBNS) People in parts of Southeast Asia will see the sun in a new light on Mar 8, 2016 EST, (March 9 local time) during a total solar eclipse that will last over a minute in every location on its path, NASA said.

Nutrient slowed cancer cell growth in early-stage breast cancer: Study

Feb 15, 2016, at 11:59 pm

Washington, Feb 15 (Just Earth News/IBNS) One of the first clinical studies to look at the effect of sulforaphane on breast tissues of women diagnosed with breast cancer showed that this compound was well tolerated and slowed the growth of cancer cells, especially at early stages, Oregon State University said.

Flowering Zinnias on space station set stage for deep-space food crop research

Feb 14, 2016, at 02:48 pm

California, Feb 14 (IBNS) Zinnia plants from the Veggie ground control experiment at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida were harvested Feb 11 in the same way that crew member Scott Kelly will harvest the zinnias growing in the Veggie system aboard the International Space Station on Feb 14—Valentine’s Day.

Particles in love: Quantum mechanics explored in new study

Feb 14, 2016, at 12:01 am

California, Feb 13 (IBNS) Here's a love story at the smallest scales imaginable: particles of light. It is possible to have particles that are so intimately linked that a change to one affects the other, even when they are separated at a distance.

NASA, University Study shows rising seas slowed by increasing water on land

Feb 12, 2016, at 11:01 pm

California, Feb 12 (IBNS) New measurements from a NASA satellite have allowed researchers to identify and quantify, for the first time, how climate-driven increases of liquid water storage on land have affected the rate of sea level rise.

Gravitational waves detected, scientists thrilled all over the globe

Feb 12, 2016, at 05:02 pm

Washington, Feb 12 (IBNS) For the first time, scientists have observed ripples in the fabric of spacetime called gravitational waves, arriving at the earth from a cataclysmic event in the distant universe, according to the LIGO Hanford observatory.

Meteorite did not kill Indian man, NASA says

Feb 10, 2016, at 08:22 pm

Washington/ New Delhi, Feb 10 (IBNS) American space agency NASA has refused to accept reports that an Indian driver was killed in Tamil Nadu by a meteorite.

New satellite-based maps to aid in climate forecasts

Feb 10, 2016, at 07:49 pm

California, Feb 10 (IBNS) New, detailed maps of the world’s natural landscapes created using NASA satellite data could help scientists better predict the impacts of future climate change.

NASA's GPM Satellite examines violent thunderstorms

Feb 06, 2016, at 09:17 pm

California, Feb 6 (IBNS) Severe weather moved through the southern U.S. on February 2 and 3, and NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM core satellite examined the violent thunderstorms.

Apollo Astronaut Edgar Mitchell dies at age 85

Feb 06, 2016, at 09:15 pm

California, Feb 6 (IBNS) Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, lunar module pilot on Apollo 14, passed away Thursday in West Palm Beach, Fla., on the eve of the 45th anniversary of his lunar landing.

NASA's James Webb Space telescope primary mirror fully assembled

Feb 06, 2016, at 01:10 am

California, Feb 5 (IBNS) The 18th and final primary mirror segment is installed on what will be the biggest and most powerful space telescope ever launched.

Pluto's mysterious, floating hills

Feb 05, 2016, at 02:56 pm

Los Angeles, Feb 5 (IBNS) The nitrogen ice glaciers on Pluto appear to carry an intriguing cargo: numerous, isolated hills that may be fragments of water ice from Pluto’s surrounding uplands.

NASA's Juno Spacecraft burns for Jupiter

Feb 04, 2016, at 09:09 pm

California, Feb 4 (IBNS) NASA's solar-powered Juno spacecraft successfully executed a maneuver to adjust its flight path on Thursday.

Solar thermal power and applications are being ignored in today's world of cheap photovoltaics: CSE

Feb 04, 2016, at 08:55 pm

New Delhi, Feb 4 (IBNS): Solar thermal has many applications where the heat of the sun is directly used for many industrial, residential and commercial purposes – but it has not yet found much support in the country.

NASA Space launch system's first flight to send small sci-tech satellites into space

Feb 03, 2016, at 03:07 pm

New York, Feb 3 (Just Earth News/IBNS): The first flight of NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), will carry 13 CubeSats to test innovative ideas along with an uncrewed Orion spacecraft in 2018.

Orion crew module for Exploration Mission-1 arrives at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

Feb 02, 2016, at 09:31 pm

California, Feb 2 (IBNS) The Orion crew module pressure vessel for NASA’s Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) arrived on Tuesday at the Shuttle Landing Facility operated by Space Florida at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Todd May named Marshall Space Flight Center Director

Feb 02, 2016, at 02:28 pm

California, Feb 2 (IBNS) NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has named Todd May director of the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. May was appointed Marshall deputy director in August 2015 and has been serving as acting director since the Nov. 13 retirement of Patrick Scheuermann.

Sandy selfie sent from NASA Mars Rover

Jan 30, 2016, at 03:13 pm

California, Jan 30 (IBNS) The latest self-portrait from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the car-size mobile laboratory beside a dark dune where it has been scooping and sieving samples of sand.

Pluto's widespread water ice

Jan 29, 2016, at 02:48 pm

California, Jan 29 (Just Earth News/IBNS): New data from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft point to more prevalent water ice on Pluto’s surface than previously thought.

NASA to announce science, technology missions for first flight of Space Launch System

Jan 29, 2016, at 02:41 pm

California, Jan 29 (IBNS) NASA Television will air the announcement of the selection of a fleet of small satellites to launch on the inaugural flight of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS).