Press Releases
Showing 1 to 24 of 975.
Annual Science Conference to Highlight NASA Research
2024.12.06
NASA researchers will present findings on Earth science, planetary science, and heliophysics at the upcoming American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2024 annual meeting in Washington, DC, beginning on Monday, Dec. 9.
NASA Discovers a Long-Sought Global Electric Field on Earth
2024.09.03
A rocket team reports the first successful detection of Earth’s ambipolar electric field: a weak, planet-wide electric field as fundamental as Earth’s gravity and magnetic fields. First hypothesized more than 60 years ago, the ambipolar electric field is a key driver of the “polar wind,” a steady outflow of charged particles into space that occurs.
NASA, ESA Missions Help Scientists Uncover How Solar Wind Gets Energy
2024.08.30
Since the 1960s, astronomers have wondered how the Sun’s supersonic “solar wind,” a stream of energetic particles that flows out into the solar system, continues to receive energy once it leaves the Sun. Now, thanks to a lucky lineup of a NASA and an ESA (European Space Agency)/NASA spacecraft both currently studying the Sun, they […]
NASA Discovers a Long-Sought Global Electric Field on Earth
2024.08.28
An international team of scientists has successfully measured a planet-wide electric field thought to be as fundamental to Earth as its gravity and magnetic fields. Known as the ambipolar electric field, scientists first hypothesized over 60 years ago that it drove atmospheric escape above Earth’s North and South Poles. Measurements from a suborbital rocket have confirmed the existence of the ambipolar field and quantified its strength, revealing its role in driving atmospheric escape and shaping our ionosphere — a layer of the upper atmosphere — more broadly. The paper was published today in the journal Nature.
NASA, LASP Sign Agreement To Advance Space Weather Research, Modeling
2024.08.05
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado (CU) Boulder enacted a collaborative Space Act Agreement Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, to advance research and modeling in the critical field of space weather. NASA and LASP are longtime space science and exploration […]
NASA’s ICON Mission Ends with Several Ionospheric Breakthroughs
2024.07.24
NASA’s ICON mission studied the outermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere called the ionosphere. It provided critical insights into interplay between space weather and Earth’s weather. The mission gathered unprecedented detail of airglow, showed a relationship between the atmosphere’s ions and Earth’s magnetic field lines, and found many firsts
NASA Rocket Discovers New Energization Process in Upper Atmosphere
2024.07.22
When it comes to discoveries about our upper atmosphere, it pays to know your surroundings.
Alphabet Soup: NASA’s GOLD Finds Surprising C, X Shapes in Atmosphere
2024.06.27
Who knew Earth’s upper atmosphere was like alphabet soup? NASA’s Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission has revealed unexpected C- and X-shaped formations in an electrified layer of gas high above our heads called the ionosphere. While these alphabetical shapes have been observed before, GOLD sees them more clearly than other instruments […]
NASA, SpaceX Launch NOAA’s Latest Weather Satellite
2024.06.25
NASA successfully launched the fourth and final satellite in a series of advanced weather satellites for NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) at 5:26 p.m. EDT Tuesday.
NASA Sets Launch Coverage for NOAA Weather Satellite
2024.06.18
NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch and launch activities for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) mission. The two-hour launch window opens at 5:16 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 25, for the satellite’s launch.
NASA Interns Blast Off for Their First Week at Goddard
2024.06.17
Several hundred new faces walked through the gates of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for the first time on June 3. Who is this small army of motivated space-enthusiasts? It’s Goddard’s 2024 summer intern cohort. Across Goddard’s campuses, more than 300 on-site and virtual interns spend the 10-week program contributing across all […]
NASA Interns Blast Off for Their First Week at Goddard
2024.06.17
Across Goddard’s campuses, more than 300 on-site and virtual interns spend the 10-week program contributing across all manners of disciplines, science, engineering, finance, communications, and many more.
NASA Watches Mars Light Up During Epic Solar Storm
2024.06.10
In addition to producing auroras, a recent extreme storm provided more detail on how much radiation future astronauts could encounter on the Red Planet. Mars scientists have been anticipating epic solar storms ever since the Sun entered a period of peak activity earlier this year called solar maximum. Over the past month, NASA’s Mars rovers […]
How NASA Tracked the Most Intense Solar Storm in Decades
2024.05.16
May 2024 has already proven to be a particularly stormy month for our Sun. During the first full week of May, a barrage of large solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) launched clouds of charged particles and magnetic fields toward Earth, creating the strongest solar storm to reach Earth in two decades — and […]
Historic Geomagnetic Storm Dazzles
2024.05.16
Space scientists and sky-watchers were treated to a stunning display of the northern lights in May 2024.
2024 Total Solar Eclipse: Prediction vs. Reality
2024.05.02
Before a total solar eclipse crossed North America on April 8, 2024, scientists at Predictive Science Inc. of San Diego aimed to foresee what the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, would look like during totality. The predictions help researchers understand the accuracy of their models of the Sun’s corona, which extends along its magnetic field. […]
NASA Scientists Gear Up for Solar Storms at Mars
2024.04.29
The Sun will be at peak activity this year, providing a rare opportunity to study how solar storms and radiation could affect future astronauts on the Red Planet. In the months ahead, two of NASA’s Mars spacecraft will have an unprecedented opportunity to study how solar flares — giant explosions on the Sun’s surface — […]
The April 8 Total Solar Eclipse: Through the Eyes of NASA
2024.04.12
On April 8, 2024, the Moon’s shadow swept across North America, treating millions to a breathtaking view of a total solar eclipse. As the Moon passed in front of the Sun, it revealed the Sun’s wispy white outer atmosphere — the corona. Pictures of total solar eclipses are beautiful — they capture a moment happening […]
Sometimes Getting the Perfect Picture Really Is Rocket Science
2024.04.10
NASA Engineer Cindy Fuentes Rosal waves goodbye to a Black Brant IX sounding rocket launching from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia during the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.
Total Solar Eclipse Darkens North America
2024.04.10
Satellites gathered striking views of the Moon’s shadow from above as observers on the ground were awed by the Sun’s corona.
NASA Wallops Launches 3 Rockets During Eclipse in Virginia
2024.04.09
Three Black Brant IX sounding rockets launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia April 8, 2024, during the solar eclipse.
Making Ultra-fast Electron Measurements in Multiple Directions to Reveal the Secrets of the Aurora
2024.04.09
To study the energetic electrons that drive the aurora borealis, NASA is using an innovative approach to develop instrumentation that will enhance our measurement capabilities by more than an order of magnitude—revealing a wealth of new information about the amazing physics happening within the aurora.
Citizen Scientists Invited to Collect Data for NASA During Eclipse
2024.04.01
On April 8, 2024, as the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, thousands of amateur citizen scientists will measure air temperatures and snap pictures of clouds. The data they collect will aid researchers who are investigating how the Sun influences climates in different environments.
NASA to Launch Sounding Rockets into Moon’s Shadow During Solar Eclipse
2024.03.25
NASA will launch three sounding rockets during the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, to study how Earth’s upper atmosphere is affected when sunlight momentarily dims over a portion of the planet.
Showing 1 to 24 of 975.