NASA announcement

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Think You Can Build a Nuclear Power Plant On the Moon?

If so, NASA would like to hear from you

(Newser) - NASA wants there to be a nuclear power plant on the moon, and it needs your help. The goal is to build a fission reactor within 10 years, and the plan is to get someone else to get it started, the AP reports. In a statement , Battelle Energy Alliance and...

After Incredible Feat, NASA Shares First Close-Up

Ultima Thule looks like a reddish snowman

(Newser) - A NASA spacecraft traveling 4 billion miles from Earth has sent back its first close-up pictures of the most distant celestial object ever explored , and it looks like a reddish snowman. Ultima Thule, as the small, icy object has been dubbed, is an elongated body about 20 miles long, consisting...

NASA Spacecraft Just Did Something Extraordinary

New Horizons made it to Ultima Thule, some 4B miles away

(Newser) - NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has survived the most distant exploration of another world, a tiny, icy object 4 billion miles away that looks to be shaped like a peanut or bowling pin. Word of success came 10 hours after the middle-of-the-night encounter, once flight controllers in Maryland received word...

Screams, Applause, Laughter as Spacecraft Lands on Mars

The three-legged InSight spacecraft traveled 300M miles

(Newser) - A NASA spacecraft designed to burrow beneath the surface of Mars landed on the red planet Monday after a six-month, 300 million-mile journey and a perilous, six-minute descent through the rose-hued atmosphere. Flight controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, leaped out of their seats and erupted...

NASA: 7 Earth-esque Planets Could Potentially Hold Life
NASA Finds 7
Earth-Size Planets
Feb 22, 2017 12:25 PM CST

NASA Finds 7 Earth-Size Planets

40 light-years away, orbiting dwarf star Trappist-1

(Newser) - For the first time, astronomers have discovered seven Earth-size planets orbiting a nearby star—and these new worlds could hold life, reports the AP . NASA and the Belgian-led research team announced the news Wednesday. This cluster of planets is 40 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius. They circle tightly around...

NASA Announces Biggest Evidence Yet for Water on Mars

Could be good news for future astronauts

(Newser) - NASA made its much-hyped big announcement today, and what it comes down to is that scientists have found the strongest evidence yet that there's liquid water on the Red Planet, the Washington Post reports. Last April, using data from the Curiosity rover, researchers noted that perchlorates were present on...

NASA Spots Habitable Earth-Like Planet

Kepler-22b averages 72 degrees and may have oceans

(Newser) - Finally, an Earth-like planet where the weather is nice enough for an occasional visit. Only, it's 600 light-years away. Today NASA announced the existence of Kepler-22b, the first-ever planet discovered in the "habitable zone" of a sun-like star—where temperatures are placid enough to allow for water, ScienceNOW...

NASA Pushes Back Endeavour Again

Shuttle won't launch before May 16

(Newser) - Gabrielle Giffords is getting some extra recovery time before her husband's final space flight: NASA yesterday announced that the shuttle Endeavour would launch no sooner than May 16, reports Space.com. NASA managers made the call after meeting to take stock of repairs to a broken power unit, which...

NASA Scraps Endeavour Launch Tomorrow

Unsure when next opportunity will come

(Newser) - NASA has scrapped tomorrow's tentative launch of space shuttle Endeavour, reports Space.com, saying that it needs more time to fix the broken auxiliary power unit that delayed the launch on Friday. "We're looking more toward the end of the week, maybe next weekend," says a...

NASA Discovers New Form of Life

Arsenic-based lifeforms found on Earth are unlike any previously observed

(Newser) - NASA has discovered a totally new kind of life form, but it’s not an alien—it’s here on Earth. Astrobiologists have found a bacteria living in a poisonous California lake that’s actually partially made of arsenic, it announced in a much-hyped press conference today. Whereas every other...

NASA Press Conference Ignites ET Rumors

Alien idea debunked, but speculation rages

(Newser) - NASA has announced a press conference tomorrow “to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life,” and alien enthusiasts have been wondering: have scientists found ET? An insider’s tweet debunked that rumor, but the net remains abuzz with curiosity over what...

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