Topic: NASA Ames Research Center
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In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Space Robots
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What's new with Titan? Five intriguing findings about Saturn's moon
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In Pictures: Space Photos of the Day: Asteroids
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In Pictures: Space photos of the day 09/28
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In Pictures: Space photos of the day 08/16
All Content
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Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
NASA is exploring ways to send a flotilla of small satellites to a destination, rather than one large orbiter. In a first test, three tiny satellites are now on orbit and beeping back at Earth. Why the idea could be an aid to scientific research.
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Curiosity hits 'pay dirt': Mars was habitable, evidence suggests (+video)
The Mars rover Curiosity analyzed the inside of a rock it drilled and found that the sample was likely formed in standing water 'so benign' you likely could have drunk it, researchers say.
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Millionaire plans to send couple to Mars in 2018. Is that realistic? (+video)
The Inspiration Mars Foundation, led by space tourist and multimillionaire Dennis Tito, announces its plan to send a married couple on a flyby mission to the Red Planet beginning in 2018.
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Mars might still harbor life, say scientists
Liquid water might flow seasonally at some places on Mars, potentially supporting microbial life, say some researchers.
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NASA telescope spots smallest planet yet
Located some 210 light years from Earth, Kepler-37b is only slightly larger than our moon, making it the smallest planet ever discovered.
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Discovery of smallest planet yet a 'milestone' in search for another Earth
The Kepler space telescope has found a planet smaller than Mercury orbiting a distant star. The discovery suggests Kepler has the precision to find a planet more like Earth.
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Astronomers discover smallest planet ever
Orbiting a star some 215 light-years away, Kepler-37b is smaller than Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system.
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Space shuttle Endeavour lifts off for last time, heading to California
The space shuttle Endeavour, bolted atop a Boeing 747 jumbo jet, left its Florida home port for the last time on Wednesday and headed to California to begin a new mission as a museum exhibit.
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NASA's Mars program riding on a rover heading for touch down
The one-ton Mars rover named Curiosity is set to land on the red planet at around 1:31 am Eastern time.
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'Star Trek' actors star in new Mars rover landing videos (+video)
William Shatner and Wil Wheaton, the 'Star Trek' icons who portrayed Captain Kirk and Wesley Crusher, appear in two new NASA videos promoting the Curiosity Mars rover, which is scheduled to land on Mars on Aug. 5.
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Transit of Venus: Skywatchers rejoice in rare space event (+video)
Around the world on Tuesday, civilians and scientists alike took advantage of the rare transit of Venus across the sun.
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SpaceX launch: private industry inspires new generation of rocketeers (+video)
SpaceX launch a reminder that NASA isn't the only game in town anymore. Aspiring engineers, rocket designers, space geeks look to 'New Space' companies to boldly go where only governments used to go.
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Football stadium to host world's largest solar eclipse party
The eclipse will occur in the afternoon and early evening on Sunday, during which time the moon will pass between Earth and the sun, casting a shadow on the planet.
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Janice Voss, shuttle astronaut, remembered for NASA contributions
Janice Voss began her NASA career while still a student at Purdue University. Janice Voss was one of six women to fly at least five times on the space shuttle.
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NASA discovers 26 new alien planets in 11 solar systems
The findings nearly double the number of bona fide planets found outside our solar system by the Kepler space observatory.
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Why 2012 could be the year we find a habitable planet
Other than the one we're currently living on, that is. As discoveries of alien planets accelerates, the discovery of an "alien Earth" could be just over the horizon.
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New earth-like planet discovered by NASA spacecraft (Video)
NASA's Kepler deep space probe has found a planet, similar to Earth, that orbits a bright star like the sun.
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Europa: secret lakes could fuel life on Jupiter moon
New research suggests that lakes of liquid water could be buried in the icy crust of Europa, a moon of Jupiter. The processes that create the lakes could also provide nutrients crucial for life on Europa, the scientists say.
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Steve Jobs: Businessman, innovator, visionary
Steve Jobs passed on Wednesday. Steve Jobs was more than Apple's CEO, he helped make computers a household necessity and ushered in the iPod, iPhone and other must-have gadgets. Considered one of the greatest American CEOs of his generation, Steve Jobs' career path was a long, winding road that included several major hurdles.
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NASA launches 100-year quest to send humans to the stars
A joint NASA-Pentagon project, called the 100 Year Starship Study, aims to get inventive minds thinking about how human interstellar space travel can become a reality by next century.
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Alien fossils found in meteorite? Scientists urge skepticism.
Alien fossils have been discovered in meteorites from outer space, claims a NASA astrobiologist. Other scientists are urging caution.
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In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Space Robots
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Kepler telescope's astonishing haul: 54 planet-candidates in 'habitable zone'
The Kepler space telescope is designed to look for planets like Earth that could have life. But no one expected it to find 54 planet-candidates at Goldilocks distances from their stars – not too warm or cold for life as we know it – in its first four months of operation.
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Kepler-10b: NASA discovers smallest planet outside our solar system
The planet Kepler-10b, spotted by NASA's planet-hunting space telescope, is just 1.4 times larger than Earth.
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What's new with Titan? Five intriguing findings about Saturn's moon
Like many a robotic planetary mission, you've gotta love the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn – a joint effort between NASA and the European Space Agency. It launched in 1997 and for the past six years (yes, it took some time to get there), Cassini has been the gift that keeps on giving. Saturn's largest moon, Titan, continues to be one of Cassini's most intriguing targets. It's the only planetary satellite with a thick atmosphere – a hydrocarbon haze that makes a smoggy day in Los Angeles look crystal clear by comparison. And although it's a cold moon, with lakes of liquid methane, Titan has many of the compounds that on Earth were the building blocks for organic life. It's high on the list of "let's go back" destinations among astrobiologists. So far, Cassdini has performed 73 flybys of Titan, including eight this year. Here are some of this year's eye-popping discoveries associated with Cassini's observations of Titan.
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