NASA Survey Suggests Earth-Sized Planets Are Common

Oct. 28 – Nearly one in four stars similar to the sun may host planets as small as Earth, according to a new study funded by NASA and the University of California.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-357

NASA Trapped Mars Rover Finds Evidence of Subsurface Water

Oct. 28 – The ground where NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit became stuck last year holds evidence that water, perhaps as snow melt, trickled into the subsurface fairly recently and on a continuing basis.

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/oct/HQ_10-278_Stuck_Spirit.html

Two NASA Spacecraft Begin New Exploration Assignments

Oct. 27 – Two NASA spacecraft have been assigned a new mission after successfully completing their original science objectives earlier this year. The new mission is called ARTEMIS, or Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of Moon’s Interaction with the Sun.

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/oct/HQ_10-282_ARTEMIS.html

Scientists Watch for a “Hartley-ID” Meteor Shower

Oct. 27 – A pair of unusual fireballs over Canada and the southeastern USA have experts wondering if Comet Hartley 2 might produce a meteor shower in early November.

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/27oct_hartleyids/

Solar Shield-Protecting the North American Power Grid

Oct. 26 – A new NASA project called “Solar Shield” could help protect the North American power grid from damage caused by solar storms.

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/26oct_solarshield/

NASA’s Kepler Spacecraft Takes Pulse of Distant Stars

Oct. 26 – An international cadre of scientists that used data from NASA’s Kepler spacecraft announced Tuesday the detection of stellar oscillations, or “starquakes,” that yield new insights about the size, age and evolution of stars.

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/oct/HQ_10-276_KASC_Findings.html

International Team of Astronomers to Discuss Kepler Findings

Oct. 22 – The Kepler Asteroseismic Science Consortium (KASC) at Aarhus University in Denmark held a media teleconference on Oct. 26^th to discuss the latest discoveries about stars and their structures using data from NASA’s Kepler spacecraft.
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/oct/HQ_M10-150_Kepler_Update.html

NASA’s Airborne Science Campaign Begins Antarctic Sequel

Oct. 22 – Scientists returned this week to the Southern Hemisphere where NASA’s Operation IceBridge mission is set to begin its second year of airborne surveys over Antarctica. The mission monitors the region’s changing sea ice, ice sheets and glaciers.
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/oct/HQ_10-272_IceBridge.html

NASA Missions Uncover the Moon’s Buried Treasures

Oct. 21 – Nearly a year after announcing the discovery of water molecules on the moon, scientists revealed new data uncovered by NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO.
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/oct/HQ_10-271_LCROSS_LRO.html

NASA Spacecraft Hurtles Toward Active Comet Hartley 2

Oct. 15 – NASA’s Deep Impact/EPOXI spacecraft is hurtling towards Comet Hartley 2 for a 435-mile flyby on Nov. 4. Mission scientists say all systems are go for a close encounter with one of the smallest yet most active comets they have seen.
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/15oct_epoxi/

NASA Study of Haiti Quake Yields Surprising Results

Oct. 14 – The magnitude 7.0 earthquake that caused more than 200,000 causalities and devastated Haiti’s economy in January resulted not from the Enriquillo fault, as previously believed, but from slip on multiple faults – primarily a previously unknown, subsurface fault – according to a study published online this week in Nature Geoscience.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-337

Carbon Dioxide Controls Earth’s Temperature

Oct. 14 – Water vapor and clouds are the major contributors to Earth’s greenhouse effect, but a new atmosphere-ocean climate modeling study shows that the planet’s temperature ultimately depends on the atmospheric level of carbon dioxide.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/co2-temperature.html

NASA’s Hubble Captures First Images of Aftermath of Possible Asteroid Collision

Oct. 13 – NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured the first snapshots of a suspected asteroid collision. The images show an X-shaped object at the head of a comet-like trail of material.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/news/asteroid-collision.html

NASA Mission to Asteroid Gets Help From Hubble Space Telescope

Oct. 8 – NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured images of the large asteroid Vesta that will help scientists refine plans for the Dawn spacecraft’s rendezvous with Vesta in July 2011.
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/oct/HQ_10-254_Vesta_HST.html

Hubble Astronomers Uncover an Overheated Early Universe

Oct. 7 – During a period of universal warming 11 billion years ago, quasars – the brilliant core of active galaxies – produced fierce radiation blasts that stunted the growth of some dwarf galaxies for approximately 500 million years.
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/oct/HQ_10-243_HST_Early_Universe.html

NASA Partnership Sends Earth Science Data to Africa

Oct. 6 – A unique partnership between NASA and agencies in Africa and Europe has sent more than 30 terabytes of free Earth science satellite data to South Africa researchers to support sustainable development and environmental applications in Africa.
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/oct/HQ_10-240_Data_To_Africa.html

NASA Loosens GRIP on Atlantic Hurricane Season

Oct. 6 – NASA wrapped up one of its largest hurricane research efforts after nearly two months of flights that broke new ground in the study of tropical cyclones and delivered data that scientists will be able to analyze for years to come.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-327

NASA’s WMAP Project Completes Satellite Operations Mission: Observed Universe’s Oldest Light

Oct. 6 – After nine years of scanning the sky, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) space mission has concluded its observations of the cosmic microwave background, the oldest light in the universe. The spacecraft has not only given scientists their best look at the remnant glow, but also established the scientific model that describes the history and structure of the universe.
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/oct/HQ_10-244_WMAP.html

NASA, USAID Expand Web-Based Environmental Monitoring System

Oct. 5 – NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have expanded their successful collaboration with international partners to launch an innovative, web-based environmental management system for the Himalayan region. The partners inaugurated this state-of-the-art regional monitoring system, known as SERVIR-Himalaya, at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Oct. 5.
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/oct/HQ_10-241_SERVIR_Himalaya.html

NASA’s WISE Mission Warms Up But Keeps Chugging Along

Oct. 4 – After completing its primary mission to map the infrared sky, NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, has reached the expected end of its onboard supply of frozen coolant. Although WISE has ‘warmed up,’ NASA has decided the mission will still continue. WISE will now focus on our nearest neighbors – the asteroids and comets traveling together with our solar system’s planets around the sun.
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/oct/HQ_10-246_WISE_Mission.html