NASA News

June 15, 2024

Top Headlines

NASA's Roman Mission Gets Cosmic 'Sneak Peek' from Supercomputers

June 12, 2024 — Researchers used supercomputers to create nearly 4 million simulated images depicting the ...

How Do Supermassive Black Holes Get Super Massive?

June 11, 2024 — By combining forefront X-ray observations with state-of-the-art supercomputer simulations of the buildup of galaxies over cosmic history, researchers have provided the best modeling to date of the growth of the supermassive black holes found in the ...

Scientists Spot More Milky Way-Like Galaxies in Early Universe

June 11, 2024 — Scientists are peering into the past and uncovering new clues about the early universe. Since light takes a long time to travel through space, they are now able to see how galaxies looked billions of years ago. The astronomers have discovered that ...

How the Immune System Goes Awry During Space Travel and the Implications for Human Aging on Earth

June 11, 2024 — Researching the immune system in space could have payoffs for human aging on earth. Scientists have revealed how the lack of gravity affects the cells of the immune system at single cell ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:56pm EDT

Mysterious Mini-Neptunes

June 13, 2024 — This study discovered mini-Neptunes around four red dwarfs using observations from a global network of ground-based telescopes and the TESS space telescope. These four mini-Neptunes are close to ...

New Biomarker Database Designed to Improve Astronaut Health May Also Be Useful to Earthlings

June 11, 2024 — As space travel becomes more frequent, a new biomarker tool was developed by an international team of researchers to help improve the growing field ...

Would Astronauts' Kidneys Survive a Roundtrip to Mars?

June 11, 2024 — The structure and function of the kidneys is altered by space flight, with galactic radiation causing permanent damage that would jeopardise any mission to Mars, according to a new study led by ...

Hubble Finds Surprises Around a Star That Erupted 40 Years Ago

June 10, 2024 — Astronomers have used new data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the retired SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) as well as archival data from other missions to revisit one ...

NASA's Webb Opens New Window on Supernova Science

June 10, 2024 — Peering deeply into the cosmos, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is giving scientists their first detailed glimpse of supernovae from a time when our universe was just a small fraction of its ...

Webb Telescope Reveals Asteroid Collision in Neighboring Star System

June 10, 2024 — Astronomers have captured what appears to be a snapshot of a massive collision of giant asteroids in Beta Pictoris, a neighboring star system known for its early age and tumultuous planet-forming ...

The Solar System May Have Passed Through Dense Interstellar Clouds 2 Million Years Ago, Altering Earth's Climate

June 10, 2024 — Astrophysicists calculate the likelihood that Earth was exposed to cold, harsh interstellar clouds, a phenomenon not previously considered in ...

In a Significant First, Researchers Detect Water Frost on Solar System's Tallest Volcanoes

June 10, 2024 — An international team of planetary scientists has detected patches of water frost sitting atop the Tharsis volcanoes on Mars, which are not only the ...

Small, Cool and Sulfurous Exoplanet May Help Write Recipe for Planetary Formation

June 10, 2024 — Astronomers observing exoplanet GJ 3470 b saw evidence of water, carbon dioxide, methane and sulfur dioxide. Astronomers hope the discovery of this ...

In New Experiment, Scientists Record Earth's Radio Waves from the Moon

June 7, 2024 — Odysseus, a tenacious lander built by the company Intuitive Machines, almost didn't make it to the moon. But an experiment aboard the spacecraft managed to capture an image of Earth as it might look ...

Lake Under Mars Ice Cap Unlikely

June 7, 2024 — Researchers have provided a simple and comprehensive -- if less dramatic -- explanation for bright radar reflections initially interpreted as liquid water beneath the ice cap on Mars' south ...

'Weird' New Planet Retained Atmosphere Despite Nearby Star's Relentless Radiation

June 5, 2024 — A rare exoplanet that should have been stripped down to bare rock by its nearby host star's intense radiation somehow grew a puffy atmosphere instead -- the latest in a string of discoveries ...

Olivine Unlocks the Secrets of the Moon's Interior

June 5, 2024 — New partitioning coefficients of first-transition row elements, Ga and Ge between olivine and silicate melt have been reported. New high-temperature experiments have investigated the effects of ...

Researchers Call for Strengthening Sustainability Regulations in Laws Governing Space Exploration

June 3, 2024 — Researchers call for strengthening existing planetary protection policies beyond the space surrounding Earth to include requirements for preserving the Lunar and Martian ...

Martian Meteorites Deliver a Trove of Information on Red Planet's Structure

May 31, 2024 — Mars has a distinct structure in its mantle and crust with discernible reservoirs, and this is known thanks to meteorites that scientists have analyzed. These results are important for understanding ...

Glimpses of a Volcanic World: New Telescope Images of Jupiter's Moon Io Rival Those from Spacecraft

May 30, 2024 — Combining a new imaging instrument with the powerful adaptive optics capabilities of the Large Binocular Telescope, astronomers have captured a volcanic event on Jupiter's moon Io at a ...

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Finds Most Distant Known Galaxy

May 30, 2024 — Over the last two years, scientists have used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to explore what astronomers refer to as Cosmic Dawn -- the period in the first few hundred million years after the ...

New Technique Offers More Precise Maps of the Moon's Surface

May 29, 2024 — A new study may help redefine how scientists map the surface of the Moon, making the process more streamlined and precise than ever ...

Mystery of 'Slow' Solar Wind Unveiled by Solar Orbiter Mission

May 28, 2024 — Scientists have come a step closer to identifying the mysterious origins of the 'slow' solar wind, using data collected during the Solar Orbiter spacecraft's first close journey to the ...

Birth of Universe's Earliest Galaxies Observed for First Time

May 23, 2024 — Researchers have now seen the formation of three of the earliest galaxies in the universe, more than 13 billion years ago. The sensational discovery contributes important knowledge about the ...

Intriguing Nearby World Sized Between Earth, Venus

May 23, 2024 — Astronomers have discovered a planet between the sizes of Earth and Venus only 40 light-years ...

First Pictures from Euclid Satellite Reveal Billions of Orphan Stars

May 23, 2024 — The first scientific pictures from the Euclid satellite mission have revealed more than 1,500 billion orphan stars scattered throughout the Perseus cluster of ...

Potentially Habitable 'Exo-Venus' With Earth-Like Temperature Discovered

May 23, 2024 — Astronomers have made the rare and tantalizing discovery of an Earth-like exoplanet 40 light-years away that may be just a little warmer than our own world. The potentially-habitable planet, named ...

Using Wobbling Stellar Material, Astronomers Measure the Spin of a Supermassive Black Hole for the First Time

May 22, 2024 — Astronomers have a new way to measure how fast a black hole spins, by using the wobbly aftermath from its stellar feasting. The results offer a new way to probe supermassive black holes and their ...

Webb Telescope Offers First Glimpse of an Exoplanet's Interior

May 20, 2024 — A surprisingly low amount of methane and a super-sized core hide within the cotton candy -- like planet WASP-107 ...

Hubble Views the Dawn of a Sun-Like Star

May 15, 2024 — Looking like a glittering cosmic geode, a trio of dazzling stars blaze from the hollowed-out cavity of a reflection nebula in a new image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The triple-star ...

Robotic 'SuperLimbs' Could Help Moonwalkers Recover from Falls

May 15, 2024 — SuperLimbs, a system of wearable robotic limbs, can physically support an astronaut and lift them back on their feet after a fall, helping them conserve energy for other essential ...

Astrophysicists Discover a Novel Method for Hunting the First Stars

May 9, 2024 — A recent study has discovered a novel method for detecting the first-generations stars, known as Population III (Pop III) stars, which have never been directly detected. These potential discoveries ...

Possible Atmosphere Surrounding Rocky Exoplanet

May 8, 2024 — Researchers may have detected atmospheric gases surrounding 55 Cancri e, a hot rocky exoplanet 41 light-years from Earth. This is the best evidence to date for the existence of any rocky planet ...

Iron Fingerprints in Nearby Active Galaxy

May 8, 2024 — After starting science operations in February, Japan-led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) studied the monster black hole at the center of galaxy NGC ...