The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research. Since February 2006, NASA's mission statement has been to "pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research." On September 14, 2011, NASA announced that it had selected the design of a new Space Launch System that it said would take the agency's astronauts farther into space than ever before and provide the cornerstone for future human space exploration efforts by the U.S. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The agency became operational on October 1, 1958. U.S. space exploration efforts have since been led by NASA, including the Apollo moon-landing missions, the Skylab space station, and later the Space Shuttle. Currently, NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and Commercial Crew vehicles.
Mars rover Opportunity examines clay clues in rock
(Phys.org) —NASA's senior Mars rover, Opportunity, is driving to a new study area after a dramatic finish to 20 months on "Cape York" with examination of a rock intensely altered by water.
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Nine-year-old Mars rover passes 40-year-old record
While Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt visited Earth's moon for three days in December 1972, they drove their mission's Lunar Roving Vehicle 19.3 nautical miles (22.210 statute miles ...
May 17, 2013
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Bright explosion on the Moon
For the past 8 years, NASA astronomers have been monitoring the Moon for signs of explosions caused by meteoroids hitting the lunar surface. "Lunar meteor showers" have turned out to be more common than anyone ...
May 17, 2013
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Asteroid 1998 QE2 to sail past Earth nine times larger than cruise ship
(Phys.org) —On May 31, 2013, asteroid 1998 QE2 will sail serenely past Earth, getting no closer than about 3.6 million miles (5.8 million kilometers), or about 15 times the distance between Earth and the ...
May 16, 2013
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Cassini shapes first global topographic map of Titan
(Phys.org) —Scientists have created the first global topographic map of Saturn's moon Titan, giving researchers a valuable tool for learning more about one of the most Earth-like and interesting worlds ...
May 15, 2013
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Entrepreneur giving shuttle truss new uses
(Phys.org) —A truss design devised to help workers process space shuttles continues to find new uses as a space shuttle engineer-turned-entrepreneur adapts it to everything from a solar-powered electric ...
May 15, 2013
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NASA develops key to cosmic carbon's molecular evolution
(Phys.org) —Scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., now have the capability to systematically investigate the molecular evolution of cosmic carbon. For the first time, these scientists ...
May 14, 2013
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Satellites see double jeopardy for Southern California fire season
(Phys.org) —New insights into two factors that are creating a potentially volatile Southern California wildfire season come from an ongoing project using NASA and Indian satellite data by scientists at ...
May 14, 2013
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New public application of Landsat images released
(Phys.org) —Google released more than a quarter-century of images of Earth taken from space Thursday compiled into an interactive time-lapse experience. Working with data from the Landsat Program managed ...
May 13, 2013
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Hubble tells a tale of galactic collisions
(Phys.org) —When we look into the distant cosmos, the great majority of the objects we see are galaxies: immense gatherings of stars, planets, gas, dust, and dark matter, showing up in all kind of shapes. ...
May 13, 2013
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Robotic refueling mission practices new tasks
(Phys.org) —With a historic robotic refueling demo ticked off its checklist, NASA's Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) put down the hose and picked up the screwdriver and utility knife. This latest round of ...
May 13, 2013
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Thermal shield testing on Webb's MIRI
(Phys.org) —NASA engineer Acey Herrera recently checked out copper test wires inside the thermal shield of the Mid-Infrared Instrument, known as MIRI, that will fly aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. ...
May 09, 2013
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Pollen: You can run, but you can't hide
(Phys.org) —It's the yellowish coating on cars. It floats on ponds, blows with the spring breeze and serves as a potent irritant to allergy sufferers. Now a NASA team is targeting pollen—and its work ...
May 08, 2013
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'Tis the season—for plasma changes at Saturn
(Phys.org) —A University of Iowa undergraduate student has discovered that a process occurring in Saturn's magnetosphere is linked to the planet's seasons and changes with them, a finding that helps clarify ...
May 03, 2013
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NASA opens new era in measuring western US snowpack
(Phys.org) —A new NASA airborne mission has created the first maps of the entire snowpack of two major mountain watersheds in California and Colorado, producing the most accurate measurements to date of ...
May 03, 2013
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