Space view of warm Sochi

Space view of warm Sochi

The 2014 Winter Olympics officially began with an extravagant opening ceremony in Sochi, Russia, today (Feb. 7), and even NASA has embraced the spirit of the games with striking new satellite views of Olympic sites from orbit. The newly released photos of Sochi Winter Olympics venues from space were captured by a NASA instrument on the Earth-watching […]

Who, or what, dropped that jelly donut on Mars?

Who, or what, dropped that jelly donut on Mars?

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Mars Exploration Rover Mission, Cornell, JPL, NASA] What if a rock that looked like a jelly donut suddenly appeared on Mars? That’s just what happened in front of the robotic Opportunity rover currently exploring the red planet. The unexpectedly placed rock, pictured above, was imaged recently by Opportunity after […]

Followed by a moon shadow: 1989 Neptune images from Voyager 2 reviewed 20 years later

Followed by a moon shadow: 1989 Neptune images from Voyager 2 reviewed 20 years later

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION,  NASA, JPL – Processed Image Copyright: Ted Stryk] Despina is a tiny moon of Neptune … discovered in 1989, in images from the Voyager 2 spacecraft taken during its encounter with the solar system’s most distant gas giant planet. But looking through the Voyager 2 data 20 years later, […]

A view of Saturn that would have been impossible from Earth

A view of Saturn that would have been impossible from Earth

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION / NASA/JPL/SSI; Composition: Gordan Ugarkovic] This image of Saturn could not have been taken from Earth. No Earth based picture could possibly view the night side of Saturn and the corresponding shadow cast across Saturn’s rings. Since Earth is much closer to the Sun than Saturn, only the day […]

Reviewers find spiritual dimension in hit film ‘Gravity’

Reviewers find spiritual dimension in hit film ‘Gravity’

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION] It has picked up almost universally positive reviews and is being tipped for Oscars glory next year. Now Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity has begun to pick up praise from a surprising source – Christian critics who say the 3D space spectacular celebrates the presence of God in the universe. Paul […]

What if all satellites stopped working?

What if all satellites stopped working?

Here is what might happen if we suddenly encountered a day without satellites… 08:00 There was nothing sudden. Planes did not fall out of the sky, the lights didn’t go out or the water supplies fail. At least, not at first. … But outside, the loss of global satellite communications was putting the world in […]

Thunder and lightning on Saturn?

Thunder and lightning on Saturn?

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLTUION] / Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA It was one of the largest and longest lived storms ever recorded in our Solar System. First seen in late 2010, the above cloud formation in the northern hemisphere of Saturn started larger than the Earth and soon spread completely around […]