Imagine cutting retractable doors in the side of a 747 airliner, installing a 17-ton telescope, and flying to the stratosphere to solve one of astronomy's greatest puzzles. That's what NASA and the German Aerospace Center plan to do with a cutting-edge airborne observatory named SOFIA.
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LCROSS Finds Water on the Moon
The argument that the Moon is a dry, desolate place no longer holds water. At a press conference today, researchers revealed data from NASA's LCROSS mission indicating that water exists in a permanently shadowed lunar crater.
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Can Spirit be Freed?
On Monday, NASA will begin transmitting commands to its Mars exploration rover Spirit as part of an escape plan to free the venerable robot from its Martian sand trap.
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The 2009 Leonid Meteor Shower
The 2009 Leonid meteor shower peaks on Nov. 17th with a sprinkling of meteors over North America and a possible outburst over Asia.
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A Tale of Planetary Woe
Long ago, something calamitous happened to Mars, transforming a hospitable world into the apparently lifeless desert we see today. Many scientists believe the Red Planet lost most of its atmosphere, but how? A new NASA mission named MAVEN is specifically designed to answer that question.
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Hidden Territory on Mercury Revealed
The MESSENGER spacecraft's third flyby of the planet Mercury has given scientists an almost complete view of the planet's surface and revealed some dramatic changes in Mercury's comet-like tail.
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A Mars Rover Named "Curiosity"
NASA's next Mars rover, a super-capable robot named "Curiosity," will push Mars exploration to a new level.
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Giant Ring Discovered Around Saturn
Just when you thought every big thing in the Solar System had already been discovered, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has found an extraordinary new ring around Saturn.
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The Sun's Sneaky Variability
It might not be obvious to the naked eye, but the sun is a variable star. A sensor slated for launch onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory will probe the sun's "sneaky variability" with better time and spectral resolution than ever before.
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NASA Mission to Study the Moon's Fragile Atmosphere
NASA is planning a mission to study the Moon's fragile atmosphere--before it's too late.
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The 2009 Orionid Meteor Shower
Caused by debris from Halley's Comet, the 2009 Orionid meteor shower peaks on Wednesday, Oct. 21st, and forecasters say it could be an unusually good show.
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Giant Ribbon Discovered at the Edge of the Solar System
NASA's IBEX spacecraft has discovered a vast, glowing ribbon at the edge of the solar system. One mission scientist calls the discovery "shocking" and says theorists are "working like crazy" to explain the finding.
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Lunar Lander Floats on Electric-blue Jets
How do you fly on a world with no atmosphere? Wings won't work and neither do propellers. The space agency is perfecting the art of "airless flying" using a prototype lunar lander at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
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Microwaving Water from Moondust
NASA scientists have figured out how to extract water from lunar soil. Their approach is as easy as using a microwave oven.
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The Fall of the Maya: 'They Did it to Themselves'
Archeologists are using NASA satellites and supercomputers to crack the mystery of the ancient Maya. New findings suggest the Maya may have played a key role in their own downfall.
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LCROSS Viewer's Guide
On Friday morning, Oct. 9th, you can watch a pair of spacecraft crash into the Moon with your own eyes. The purposeful impacts are the climax of NASA's LCROSS mission to unearth signs of water in lunar soil. Today's story tells how and where to look.
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Cosmic Rays Hit Space Age High
NASA spacecraft are measuring record-high levels of cosmic rays--a side-effect of the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century. This development could have implications for the amount of shielding astronauts need to take when they explore deep space.
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Meteorite Impacts Expose Ice on Mars
Fresh meteorite impacts are exposing underground ice on Mars. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is beaming back must-see photos of the process at work.
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Water Molecules Found on the Moon
Using instruments on three separate spacecraft, scientists have discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the Moon.
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MESSENGER Set for Final Flyby of Mercury
NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft is set to make its third and final flyby of the planet Mercury on Sept. 29th. The encounter is expected to produce hundreds of images of previously unseen terrain and confirm the strange elliptical shape of Mercury's equator.
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