• SDO’s 2013 solar spring eclipse season has begun

    NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has eclipse seasons twice a year near each equinox. Earth passes directly between the Sun and produces a series of eclipses from the point of view of the spacecraft.The first eclipse of the SDO Spring 2013 Eclipse Season

  • Van Allen Probes reveal a new radiation belt around Earth

    NASA’s Van Allen Probes mission has discovered a previously unknown third radiation belt around Earth, revealing the existence of unexpected structures and processes within these hazardous regions of space.Previous observations of Earth’s Van Allen belts have long

  • What’s Up for March 2013

    The first of this year’s two potential bright comets is visible for those who can see low on the western horizon and find out which spacecraft is on a 10-year mission to catch up with another comet.Credit: JPL

  • Flight dynamics: Navigating in space

    ESA’s Flight Dynamics team uses cutting-edge computational techniques to plan, determine and control complex spacecraft trajectories. They apply fundamental physics and mathematics to 21st century spacecraft orbiting Earth and voyaging deep into our Solar System.The

  • Curiosity becomes first rover ever to drill Martian rock

    Adding another milestone to its achievements, Curiosity has successfully drilled a Martian rock, thereby obtaining sample from its interior. Curiosity is the first rover ever to perform such drilling on a rock beyond Earth, NASA reported on February 20, 2013. Powdered

  • Asteroid 2012 DA14 sequence and Chelyabinsk meteor trajectory

    This exceptional sequence made by the Virtual Telescope, shows asteroid 2012 DA14, soon after its close approach at about 27 500 km above the Earth surface. At the imaging time, it was moving at the amazing rate of 2450"/min (0.7deg/min). The robotic telescope…