Berliner Space Camp 2013: Zukunft Mars

Berliner Space Camp 2013: Zukunft Mars

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

NASA - Targeting Earth Photographs From Orbit

NASA - Targeting Earth Photographs From Orbit

After Earth deelt bezorgdheid over onze toekomst

After Earth deelt bezorgdheid over onze toekomst

Un molinete cósmico

Un molinete cósmico

NASA VIDEO: THE WATER ON THE MOON

FROM: NASA

Water on the Moon
 Since the 1960s, scientists have suspected that frozen water could survive in cold, dark craters at the moon's poles. While previous lunar missions have detected hints of water on the moon, new data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter pinpoints areas near the south pole where water is likely to exist. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

THE SUN OVER EARTH'S HORIZON

FROM: NASA
The sun is captured in a "starburst" mode over Earth's horizon by one of the Expedition 36 crew members aboard the International Space Station, as the orbital outpost was above a point in southwestern Minnesota on May 21, 2013. Image Credit: NASA

CHANGING FATE: REDIRECTING AN ASTEROID

FROM: NASA

This artist's rendering shows what capturing an asteroid could look like. NASA's FY2014 budget proposal includes a plan to robotically capture a small near-Earth asteroid and redirect it safely to a stable orbit in the Earth-moon system where astronauts can visit and explore it. Performing these elements for the proposed asteroid initiative integrates the best of NASA's science, technology and human exploration capabilities and draws on the innovation of America's brightest scientists and engineers. It uses current and developing capabilities to find both large asteroids that pose a hazard to Earth and small asteroids that could be candidates for the initiative, accelerates our technology development activities in high-powered solar electric propulsion and takes advantage of our hard work on the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, helping to keep NASA on target to reach the President's goal of sending humans to Mars in the 2030s. Image Credit: NASA/Advanced Concepts Lab

LANDSAT 8 SATELLITE CONTROL TRANSFERED TO U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

FROM: NASA

Landsat 8 Satellite Begins Watch
WASHINGTON -- NASA transferred operational control of the Landsat 8 satellite to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in a ceremony in Sioux Falls, S.D.

The event marks the beginning of the satellite's mission to extend an unparalleled four-decade record of monitoring Earth's landscape from space. Landsat 8 is the latest in the Landsat series of remote-sensing satellites, which have been providing global coverage of landscape changes on Earth since 1972. The Landsat program is a joint effort between NASA and USGS.

NASA launched the satellite Feb. 11 as the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). Since then, NASA mission engineers and scientists, with USGS collaboration, have been putting the satellite through its paces -- steering it into its orbit, calibrating the detectors, and collecting test images. Now fully mission-certified, the satellite is under USGS operational control.

"Landsat is a centerpiece of NASA's Earth Science program," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in Washington. "Landsat 8 carries on a long tradition of Landsat satellites that for more than 40 years have helped us learn how Earth works, to understand how humans are affecting it and to make wiser decisions as stewards of this planet."

Beginning Thursday, USGS specialists will collect at least 400 Landsat 8 scenes every day from around the world to be processed and archived at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science Center in Sioux Falls. The newest satellite joins Landsat 7, which launched in 1999 and continues to collect images. Since 2008, USGS has provided more than 11 million current and historical Landsat images free of charge to users over the Internet.

"We are very pleased to work with NASA for the good of science and the American people," said U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell in Washington. "The Landsat program allows us all to have a common, easily accessible view of our planet. This is the starting point for a shared understanding of the environmental challenges we face."

Remote-sensing satellites such as the Landsat series help scientists observe the world beyond the power of human sight, monitor changes to the land that may have natural or human causes, and detect critical trends in the conditions of natural resources.

The 41-year Landsat record provides global coverage at a scale that impartially documents natural processes such as volcanic eruptions, glacial retreat and forest fires and shows large-scale human activities such as expanding cities, crop irrigation and forest clear-cuts. The Landsat Program is a sustained effort by the United States to provide direct societal benefits across a wide range of human endeavors including human and environmental health, energy and water management, urban planning, disaster recovery, and agriculture.

With Landsat 8 circling Earth 14 times a day, and in combination with Landsat 7, researchers will be able to use an improved frequency of data from both satellites. The two observation instruments aboard Landsat 8 feature improvements over their earlier counterparts while collecting information that is compatible with 41 years of land images from previous Landsat satellites.

President Obama Speaks on Technology in Schools | The White House

President Obama Speaks on Technology in Schools | The White House

NASA'S Spitzer Sees Milky Way's Blooming Countryside

NASA'S Spitzer Sees Milky Way's Blooming Countryside

Week In Images

Week In Images

Mars Express

Mars Express

Diez años en Marte: nuevos mapas mineralógicos revelan la historia del Planeta Rojo

Diez años en Marte: nuevos mapas mineralógicos revelan la historia del Planeta Rojo

Appel aux médias suisses: L'ATV-4 va livrer une cargaison essentielle à la station spatiale

Appel aux médias suisses: L'ATV-4 va livrer une cargaison essentielle à la station spatiale