IRIS Science Cafe #2 - The Mission 23 Apr 2014, 12:00 am

You asked us about the structure of the sun and how it functions. Come learn more about how the center of our solar system really works!

LADEE Project Scientist Update: The Legacy Lives On! 22 Apr 2014, 12:00 am

The LADEE spacecraft has impacted the Moon, capping an extremely successful operational mission. Science analysis will continue for months, as the science teams churn through the data and write papers about their findings. So LADEE is gone, but its science legacy lives on!

Why Earth Matters to NASA: A Conversation with Harrison Ford 22 Apr 2014, 12:00 am

Actor Harrison Ford was on location at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., last November to film a segment of Showtime's "Years of Living Dangerously" documentary on climate change.

For an Immune Cell, Microgravity Mimics Aging 21 Apr 2014, 12:00 am

NASA and the National Institute on Aging have teamed up to support space station research that may advance medical care and quality of life.

NASA Completes LADEE Mission with Planned Impact on Moon's Surface 18 Apr 2014, 12:00 am

Ground controllers at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., have confirmed that NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft impacted the surface of the moon, as planned, between 9:30 and 10:22 p.m. PDT Thursday, April 17.

'Starship View' of Earth and Moon Captured by NASA Jupiter Probe (Video) 10 Dec 2013, 4:45 pm

Display the item's primary content. NASA's Juno spacecraft captured an amazing "starship-like view" of Earth and the moon as it made a speedy flyby past our planet on its way to Jupiter in October.

Hi Juno! Ham Radio Operators Call NASA’s Jupiter Spacecraft | Video 10 Dec 2013, 3:28 pm

Display the item's primary content. See how amateur ham radio operators beamed messages to NASA’s Jupiter-bound Juno spacecraft during its Earth flyby of Oct. 9, 2013. Did their morse code messages of hello reach Juno?

Robonaut 2, NASA's Humanoid Space Robot, Will Get Legs Soon (Video) 10 Dec 2013, 3:11 pm

Display the item's primary content. NASA's robotic astronaut helper is getting its space legs. The space agency is developing two lower limbs for Robonaut 2, a robot designed to eventually help astronauts with tasks on the International Space Station.

Starship-Style Earth Fly-By From Jupiter-Bound Probe | Video 10 Dec 2013, 2:54 pm

Display the item's primary content. This cosmic pirouette of Earth and our moon was captured by the Juno spacecraft as it flew by Earth on Oct. 9, 2013. Set be inserted into Jupiter orbit in August 2016.

Saturn’s Strange Vortex | Space Wallpaper 10 Dec 2013, 2:16 pm

Display the item's primary content. This colorful space wallpaper from NASA's Cassini mission is the highest-resolution view of the unique six-sided jet stream at Saturn's north pole known as "the hexagon." Image obtained on Dec. 10, 2012 and released Dec. 4, 2013.

Arp 81: 100 Million Years Later 

Arp 81: 100 Million Years Later

The El Gordo Massive Galaxy Cluster 

It is bigger than a bread box.

Massive Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 2841 

It is one of the more massive galaxies known.

Ash and Lightning above an Icelandic Volcano 

Why did a picturesque

Earth-size Kepler-186f 

Earth-size Kepler-186f

Earth Science Radar Imaging Mission Travels to Central and South America 23 Apr 2014, 12:00 pm

This photo of volcanoes in Guatemala was taken from NASA's C-20A aircraft during a four-week Earth science radar imaging mission deployment over Central and South America. The conical volcano in the center is "Volcan de Agua." The two volcanoes behind it are, right to left, "Volcan de Fuego" and "Acatenango." "Volcan de Pacaya" is in the foreground. The radar imaging mission got underway in early April when the C-20A departed its base in Palmdale, Calif., to collect data over targets in the Gulf Coast area of the southeastern United States. The aircraft, a modified Gulfstream III, is carrying NASA's Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) instrument in a specialized pod. Developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., UAVSAR measures ground deformation over large areas to a precision of 0.04 to 0.2 inches (0.1 to 0.5 centimeters). The mission schedule calls for the aircraft to make stops in 10 international and U.S. locations, including the Gulf Coast. Research during the deployment is covering a variety of topics, including volcanoes, glaciers, forest structure, levees, and subsidence. It is also providing vegetation data sets for satellite algorithm development. The volcanoes of Central and South America are of interest because of the hazard they pose to nearby population centers. A majority of the research will focus on gathering volcano deformation measurements, with many flight lines being repeats from previous deployments. Surface deformation often precedes other signs of renewed volcanic activity. > Read more > Earth Right Now Image Credit: NASA/Stu Broce

Satellite View of the Americas on Earth Day 22 Apr 2014, 12:00 pm

Today, April 22, 2014 is Earth Day, and what better way to celebrate than taking a look at our home planet from space. NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured this stunning view of the Americas on Earth Day, April 22, 2014 at 11:45 UTC/7:45 a.m. EDT. The data from GOES-East was made into an image by the NASA/NOAA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. In North America, clouds associated with a cold front stretch from Montreal, Canada, south through the Tennessee Valley, and southwest to southern Texas bringing rain east of the front today. A low pressure area in the Pacific Northwest is expected to bring rainfall in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, stretching into the upper Midwest, according to NOAA's National Weather Service. That low is also expected to bring precipitation north into the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. Another Pacific low is moving over southern Nevada and the National Weather Service expects rain from that system to fall in central California, Nevada, and northern Utah. Near the equator, GOES imagery shows a line of pop up thunderstorms. Those thunderstorms are associated with the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The ITCZ encircles the Earth near the equator. In South America, convective (rapidly rising air that condenses and forms clouds) thunderstorms pepper Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and northwestern and southeastern Brazil. GOES satellites provide the kind of continuous monitoring necessary for intensive data analysis. Geostationary describes an orbit in which a satellite is always in the same position with respect to the rotating Earth. This allows GOES to hover continuously over one position on Earth's surface, appearing stationary. As a result, GOES provide a constant vigil for the atmospheric "triggers" for severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, flash floods, hail storms and hurricanes. For more information about GOES satellites, visit: www.goes.noaa.gov/ or goes.gsfc.nasa.gov/

SpaceX Dragon Grappled to Canadarm2 21 Apr 2014, 12:00 pm

On Sunday, April 20, 2014, the Expedition 39 crew aboard the International Space Station welcomed nearly two-and-a-half tons of supplies and scientific payloads to the station with the arrival of the third SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo spacecraft. This image of SpaceX Dragon grappled by Canadarm2 was sent down by Flight Engineer Steve Swanson to Instagram with the message, "We have a Dragon. All is good." With Dragon securely in the grasp of Canadarm2, the robotics officer at Mission Control remotely operated the arm to install the capsule to its port on the Earth-facing side of the Harmony module. Once Dragon was in place, Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio monitored the Common Berthing Mechanism operations for first and second stage capture of the cargo ship, assuring that the vehicle was securely attached to the station with a hard mate. Second stage capture was completed at 10:06 a.m. EDT as the station flew 260 miles above Brazil. Image Credit: NASA

Liftoff of SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Carrying Dragon Resupply Spacecraft 18 Apr 2014, 12:00 pm

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rises above the lightning masts on Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, carrying the Dragon resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station. Liftoff was during an instantaneous window at 3:25 p.m. EDT on Friday, April 18. Dragon is making its fourth trip to the space station. The SpaceX-3 mission, carrying almost 2.5 tons of supplies, technology and science experiments, is the third of 12 flights under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract to resupply the orbiting laboratory. > Read more Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Cape Canaveral Launch Site Seen From the International Space Station 18 Apr 2014, 12:00 pm

NASA astronaut Steve Swanson captured this view of Cape Canaveral, Florida from the International Space Station, sharing it on Instagram on April 14, 2014. At Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, SpaceX is preparing to launch its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, loaded with nearly 5,000 pounds of supplies and experiment hardware, on its third commercial resupply mission to the space station. The SpaceX-3 launch is scheduled for Friday, April 18 at 3:25 p.m. EDT with an instantaneous launch window. The U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron predicts a 40 percent chance of favorable conditions at launch time. A launch Friday will send Dragon on a course to rendezvous with the station Sunday morning. Commander Koichi Wakata and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio will capture the space freighter using the Canadarm2 robotic arm at 7:14 a.m. to set it up for its berthing to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module. The backup launch opportunity for the launch of SpaceX-3 is Saturday, April 19 at 3:02 p.m. > International Space Station on Instagram > SpaceX-3 Launch Blog Image Credit: NASA