NASA - Page 11

Watch: Pluto Probe Phones Home

NASA’s v space probe has phoned home to say it’s successfully passed Pluto. There were scenes of jubilation when the space agency was contacted by the craft, almost 24 hours after it first crossed paths with the dwarf planet. Sky’s Mark

The Associated Press

NASA Prepares For a Close Encounter With Pluto

When the probe gets closer, maybe we’ll discover Pluto’s heart is broken, because we don’t call it a planet any more. Have we tried asking Pluto if it identifies as a planet? Why aren’t we more concerned about making it feel unsafe with exclusionary astro-normative trigger language?

Pluto NASA

China Plans Mission to ‘Dark’ Side of Moon

China is working on a lunar project with plans to land a space probe and rover on the “dark” side of the moon, according to one of the top engineers in its Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP). If the mission is successful, it would be the first time that a probe has ever landed on the far side of the moon.

moon-upi

NASA Map: Risk of U.S. Megadrought Increases

A new map unveiled by the NASA Earth Observatory this week shows that the risk of “megadrought”–a severe drought lasting for up to 35 years – is increasing, and not just for the already drought-stricken California.

NASA megadrought (NASA)

Buzz Aldrin to NASA: ‘Get Your Ass to Mars’

Apollo 11 and Gemini 12 astronaut Buzz Aldrin has been enlisting the help of famous scientist Stephen Hawking, actress Marily Monroe, Albert Einstein’s birthday, Pi Day, landmark Stonehenge and other iconic entities in a series of social media posts promoting his plan for NASA to make a space voyage to the red planet, Mars.

Aldrin and Mars (Twitter)

NASA: California Has One Year of Water Left

In an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, NASA senior water scientist Jay Famiglietti warned that California only has about one year’s worth of water supply left in its snowpack, reservoirs, and groundwater storage. If conservation efforts are not ramped up, and soon, the state could be facing a full-blown “crisis.”

Steve Yeater/AP

Ted Cruz Unhappy with NASA’s New Focus on Global Warming

As chairman of the Senate Space, Science, and Competitiveness Subcommittee, Texas Republican Ted Cruz is on a mission — to get NASA back on course regarding it’s original focus, space, and less on what many view as pseudo-science: global warming research.

AP Photo/Marta Lavandier

‘Breathtaking’ adjustments to Arctic temperature record. Is there any ‘global warming’ we can trust?

Here’s a video that you absolutely must see. Not, I hasten to warn you, because it’s exciting, well-produced or informative; rather, because of the fascinating light it sheds on the debate about global warming in general and also, in particular, on the ongoing controversy about whether organisations like NASA and NOAA are playing fast and loose with the world’s temperature data sets.

Arctic Reuters

Ted Cruz: We Need More Space Exploration

“We should once again lead the way for the world in space exploration,” Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) said during his announcement of being named chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science, Space, and Competitiveness. This committee has direct oversight of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Ted Cruz - Texas Senate Chamber