http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org provides the latest news from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center For decades, Landsat satellites have documented the desiccation of the Aral Sea in Central Asia. Once one of the largest seas in the world, it shrunk to a tenth of its original volume after Russia diverted its feeder rivers in the 1960s. Scientists studying the Aral Sea's changing ecology and retreating shoreline have looked to Landsat—and a new feature of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission will help ensure they get a clear, cloud-free view. http://phys.org/news288461291.html Space & Earth Wed, 22 May 2013 17:10:03 EST news288461291 UPDATE 16:30 p.m. EDT: The M7-class flare was also associated with a coronal mass ejection or CME, another solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of particles into space. While this CME was not Earth-directed, it has combined with an earlier CME, and the flank of the combined cloud may pass Earth. Particles from the CME cannot travel through the atmosphere to harm humans on Earth, but they can affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground. http://phys.org/news288460949.html Space & Earth Wed, 22 May 2013 17:02:39 EST news288460949 On May 20, 2013, NASA and NOAA satellites observed the system that generated severe weather in the south central United States and spawned the Moore, Okla., tornado. http://phys.org/news288373824.html Space & Earth Tue, 21 May 2013 16:50:33 EST news288373824 Pulsars have a number of unusual qualities. Like zombies, they shine even though they're technically dead, and they rotate rapidly, emitting powerful and regular beams of radiation that are seen as flashes of light, blinking on and off at intervals from seconds to milliseconds. A NASA team has built a first-of-a-kind testbed that simulates these distinctive pulsations. http://phys.org/news288290372.html Space & Earth Mon, 20 May 2013 17:39:43 EST news288290372 On 5:24 a.m. EDT on May 17, 2013, the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME, a solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of solar particles into space that can reach Earth one to three days later and affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground. Experimental NASA research models, based on observations from NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, show that the CME left the sun at speeds of around 745 miles per second. The solar material in CMEs cannot pass through the atmosphere to affect humans on Earth. http://phys.org/news288028329.html Space & Earth Fri, 17 May 2013 16:52:27 EST news288028329 NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite known as TRMM measured Cyclone Mahasen's rainfall rates from space as it made landfall on May 16. Mahasen has since dissipated over eastern India. http://phys.org/news288020324.html Space & Earth Fri, 17 May 2013 14:50:04 EST news288020324 The first tropical storm of the Eastern Pacific hurricane season was short-lived. Satellite imagery revealed that Tropical Storm Alvin became a remnant low pressure area 36 hours after it was named. http://phys.org/news288020298.html Space & Earth Fri, 17 May 2013 14:38:30 EST news288020298 NASA's Aqua satellite and NOAA's GOES-15 satellite captured imagery of the Eastern Pacific Ocean's first named tropical storm, Alvin. Aqua and GOES-15 provided imagery of Alvin that provided a look at the overall storm and the temperatures of its cloud tops. http://phys.org/news287943860.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 May 2013 17:24:26 EST news287943860 NASA's TRMM satellite identified areas of heavy rainfall as Cyclone Mahasen made landfall today, May 16, in southern Bangladesh. NASA's Aqua satellite also captured an image of the storm and showed the extent of Cyclone Mahasen's clouds over three countries. http://phys.org/news287943802.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 May 2013 17:23:29 EST news287943802 (Phys.org) —NASA's first mission to sample an asteroid is moving ahead into development and testing in preparation for its launch in 2016. http://phys.org/news287939170.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 May 2013 16:07:13 EST news287939170 (Phys.org) —A team of scientists has won a berth on a tiny satellite to explore one of NASA's most important frontiers in climate studies: the imbalance in Earth's energy budget and the extent to which fast-changing phenomena, like clouds, contribute to that imbalance. http://phys.org/news287938274.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 May 2013 15:51:31 EST news287938274 (Phys.org) —Much like the inside of an operating room, in the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., engineers worked meticulously to implant part of the eyes of the James Webb Space Telescope. They scrubbed up and suited up to perform one of the most delicate performances of their lives. That part of the eyes, the MIRI, or Mid-Infrared Instrument, will glimpse the formation of galaxies and see deeper into the universe than ever before. http://phys.org/news287853747.html Space & Earth Wed, 15 May 2013 16:22:55 EST news287853747 Tropical Cyclone Mahasen has been strengthening and expanding as it moves through the northern Bay of Bengal for a landfall on Thursday, May 16. NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the cyclone as it was hugging the central India coastline. Rainfall data from NASA's TRMM satellite was compiled in an animation to reveal large rainfall totals as the storm tracked through the Bay of Bengal earlier this week. http://phys.org/news287850126.html Space & Earth Wed, 15 May 2013 15:22:39 EST news287850126 The Hurricane Season of the Eastern Pacific Ocean officially begins today, May 15 and the first tropical depression of the season formed. Tropical Depression One-E was seen by NASA's Aqua satellite while it was developing. http://phys.org/news287849831.html Space & Earth Wed, 15 May 2013 15:17:33 EST news287849831 (Phys.org) —Solar activity continued on May 14, 2013, as the sun emitted a fourth X-class flare from its upper left limb, peaking at 9:48 p.m. EDT. http://phys.org/news287842105.html Space & Earth Wed, 15 May 2013 13:08:38 EST news287842105