Tag: Goddard Space Flight Center
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NASA’s GUSTO Prepares to Map Space Between the Stars
Editor’s Note: The GUSTO mission successfully launched on a scientific balloon from Antarctica Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m. local time (Dec. 31, 1:30 a.m EST). The balloon is floating 128,000 feet above Earth’s surface and can be tracked in real-time on…
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NASA’s Lucy Surprises Again, Observes 1st-ever Contact Binary Orbiting Asteroid
NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft took images of asteroid Dinkinesh, discovering that the asteroid has the first-ever contact binary pair orbiting the asteroid.
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Hubble Provides Unique Ultraviolet View of Jupiter
This newly released image from the NASA Hubble Space Telescope shows the planet Jupiter in a color composite of ultraviolet wavelengths. Released in honor of Jupiter reaching opposition, which occurs when the planet and the Sun are in opposite sides…
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NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Preparing for its First Asteroid Flyby
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft is preparing for its first close-up look at an asteroid. On Nov. 1, it will fly by asteroid Dinkinesh and test its instruments in preparation for visits in the next decade to multiple Trojan asteroids that circle…
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NASA’s Webb Discovers New Feature in Jupiter’s Atmosphere
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has discovered a new, never-before-seen feature in Jupiter’s atmosphere. The high-speed jet stream, which spans more than 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) wide, sits over Jupiter’s equator above the main cloud decks. The discovery of this…
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NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Continues Approach to Asteroid Dinkinesh
Since NASA’s Lucy spacecraft first imaged the asteroid Dinkinesh on Sept. 3, 2023, Lucy has traveled over 33 million miles (54 million km) and is now 4.7 million miles (7.6 million km) away from the small asteroid. However, as Dinkinesh…
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NASA’s Webb Finds Carbon Source on Surface of Jupiter’s Moon Europa
Jupiter’s moon Europa is one of a handful of worlds in our solar system that could potentially harbor conditions suitable for life. Previous research has shown that beneath its water-ice crust lies a salty ocean of liquid water with a…
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Webb Maps Surprisingly Large Plume Jetting From Saturn’s Moon Enceladus
A water vapor plume from Saturn’s moon Enceladus spanning more than 6,000 miles – nearly the distance from Los Angeles, California to Buenos Aires, Argentina – has been detected by researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Not only is…
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NASA’s Webb Finds Water, and a New Mystery, in Rare Main Belt Comet
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has enabled another long-sought scientific breakthrough, this time for solar system scientists studying the origins of Earth’s abundant water. Using Webb’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) instrument, astronomers have confirmed gas – specifically water vapor – around…
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NASA’s Webb Scores Another Ringed World with New Image of Uranus
Following in the footsteps of the Neptune image released in 2022, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has taken a stunning image of the solar system’s other ice giant, the planet Uranus. The new image features dramatic rings as well as…