Freeze! Watching alloys change from liquid to solid could lead to better metals Posted: 26 Feb 2015 08:11 AM PST If you put a camera in the ice machine and watched water turn into ice, the process would look simple. But the mechanism behind liquids turning to solids is actually quite complex, and understanding it better could improve design and production of metals. A recent investigation aboard the International Space Station contributed to that understanding.

OSIRIS-REx mission successfully completes system integration review Posted: 27 Feb 2015 08:11 AM PST This week marked the completion of an important step on the path to spacecraft assembly, test, and launch operations for the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer or OSIRIS-REx mission.

Core work: Iron vapor gives clues to formation of Earth and moon Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:31 AM PST One of the world's most powerful radiation sources provides scientists clues about Earth's formation and how iron vaporizes.

Old-looking galaxy in a young universe: Astronomers find dust in the early universe Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:29 AM PST Dust plays an extremely important role in the universe -- both in the formation of planets and new stars. But the earliest galaxies had no dust, only gas. Now an international team of astronomers has discovered a dust-filled galaxy from the very early universe. The discovery demonstrates that galaxies were very quickly enriched with dust particles containing elements such as carbon and oxygen, which could form planets.

NASA spacecraft nears historic dwarf planet arrival Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:27 AM PST NASA's Dawn spacecraft has returned new images captured on approach to its historic orbit insertion at the dwarf planet Ceres. Dawn will be the first mission to successfully visit a dwarf planet when it enters orbit around Ceres on Friday, March 6.

Latest selfie from NASA Mars rover shows wide context Posted: 24 Feb 2015 08:11 AM PST A sweeping view of the "Pahrump Hills" outcrop on Mars, where NASA's Curiosity rover has been working for five months, surrounds the rover in Curiosity's latest self-portrait.

'Bright spot' on Ceres has dimmer companion Posted: 25 Feb 2015 08:11 AM PST Dwarf planet Ceres continues to puzzle scientists as NASA's Dawn spacecraft gets closer to being captured into orbit around the object. The latest images from Dawn, taken nearly 29,000 miles (46,000 kilometers) from Ceres, reveal that a bright spot that stands out in previous images lies close to yet another bright area.

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover drills at 'Telegraph Peak' Posted: 25 Feb 2015 08:11 AM PST NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its drill on Tuesday, Feb. 24 to collect sample powder from inside a rock target called "Telegraph Peak." The target sits in the upper portion of "Pahrump Hills," an outcrop the mission has been investigating for five months.

New NASA space cowboy successfully deploys its 'lasso' Posted: 26 Feb 2015 08:11 AM PST Like a cowboy at a rodeo, NASA's newest Earth-observing satellite, the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP), has triumphantly raised its "arm" and unfurled a huge golden "lasso" (antenna) that it will soon spin up to rope the best soil moisture maps ever obtained from space.

New NASA Earth missions expand view of home planet Posted: 26 Feb 2015 08:11 AM PST Four new NASA Earth-observing missions are collecting data from space -- with a fifth newly in orbit -- after the busiest year of NASA Earth science launches in more than a decade.

Living on the edge: Stars found far from galaxy center Posted: 27 Feb 2015 08:11 AM PST Astronomers using data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, have found a cluster of stars forming at the very edge of our Milky Way galaxy. This is the first time astronomers have found stars being born in such a remote location. Clouds of star-forming material at very high latitudes away from the galactic plane are rare and, in general, are not expected to form stars.

‘Superhero vision’ technology measures European lake’s water quality from space Posted: 02 Mar 2015 04:11 AM PST An international team of researchers has demonstrated a way to assess the quality of water on Earth from space by using satellite technology that can visualize pollution levels otherwise invisible to the human eye through 'Superhero vision'.