NASA on Thursday announced that its Kepler telescope has discovered what is being described as the most Earth-like planet to date. The newly confirmed Kepler-452b is the first near-Earth-size planet ever discovered orbiting in the habitable zone — the area around a star where liquid water could pool on the surface — of a G2-type star, just like our sun, NASA said. The discovery of Kepler-452b brings the total number of confirmed planets to 1,030. And out of all of those planets, Kepler-452b and its star "most closely resemble the Earth and our Sun," John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, said in a statement. "This exciting result brings us one step closer to finding an Earth 2.0." Since Kepler launched in 2009, 12 planets less than twice the size of Earth have been discovered in the habitable zones of their stars. At this point, scientists don't know if Kepler-452b can support life or not. What is known is that … [Read more...] about NASA Discovers Earth’s ‘Bigger, Older Cousin’
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NASA Finds 7 New Earth-Sized Planets
The quest for life outside Planet Earth just got a lot more interesting. NASA on Wednesday revealed it has discovered a "treasure trove" of Earth-sized planets. Dubbed TRAPPIST-1, the system consists of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting around a single, nearby star. Three of these planets are located in what NASA calls the "habitable zone," meaning the area around the parent star where a rocky planet is most likely to have water. While NASA has identified Earth-like planets before, this discovery sets a new record for the largest number of habitable-zone planets found around a single star outside our solar system. The space agency said all seven planets in TRAPPIST-1 could have liquid water under the right atmospheric conditions, but the three in the habitable zone are most promising. "This discovery could be a significant piece in the puzzle of finding habitable environments, places that are conducive to life," Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission … [Read more...] about NASA Finds 7 New Earth-Sized Planets
NASA’s Raven Ready for ISS
The fact we have had a space station circling the Earth for nearly 20 years demonstrates the talent present inside NASA. But space is hard, and there's lots of procedures us humans still haven't figured out how to do outside of Earth's atmosphere. One of those is a relative navigation system, which would allow a satellite to be visited by a service craft without human involvement. That is the problem the Raven technology module aims to fix, and it's about to be sent to the International Space Station aboard the 10th SpaceX commercial resupply mission. Satellites already orbiting Earth have not been designed for servicing and therefore don't have any markings as a guide for an approaching autonomous service craft. They are also traveling at 16,000mph in the dark, adding to the complexity of making such a system work reliably and without a catastrophic collision occurring. Raven is roughly the same size as a piece of carry-on luggage and needs to act as a satellite hunter. The final … [Read more...] about NASA’s Raven Ready for ISS
NASA Celebrates Mars Rover’s Fourth Anniversary with a Game
Ever want to be a robot? How about a Mars robot, travelling around the planet in search of new, discovering new findings, interesting experiments to conduct and scientific findings to beam back to Earth-based researchers? While a full 'Martian Robot Simulator' game probably isn't in the works, since it wouldn't give you very much to do unless there was some crazy sci-fi component attached to the game, NASA still released a smaller game to celebrate the Curiosity rover's fourth year on the Red Planet. "We're excited about a new way for people on the go to engage with Curiosity's current adventures on Mars and future exploration by NASA's Mars 2020 rover too. Using social networks, the user can share the fun with friends. The interest that is shared through gameplay also helps us open a door to deeper literacy in science, technology, engineering and mathematics," reads a statement from Michelle Viotti, who manages Mars Public Engagement Initiatives at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. … [Read more...] about NASA Celebrates Mars Rover’s Fourth Anniversary with a Game
NASA Tests New ‘Eyes’ for Mars 2020 Rover
NASA is giving its Mars 2020 rover new 'eyes'. The space agency just announced it successfully tested a new 'Lander Vision System (LVS)' for its Mars 2020 rover. The prototype vision system launched 1,066ft into the air in Mojave, California, aboard a uniquely made rocket. Made together with Masten Space Systems, the specially designed launcher platform will help guide the rocket to a "precise landing at a pre-designated target," NASA said. The camera-based navigation system photographs the terrain beneath a descending spacecraft and matches it with on-board maps, allowing the craft to detect its location in relation to nearby hazards, such as boulders and outcroppings. "With it, the platform can then direct the craft towards a safe landing at its primary target site or divert touchdown toward better terrain if there are hazards in the approaching target area," NASA explained. Andrew Johnson, Principal Investigator in the LVS development, said the tests prove that the system will … [Read more...] about NASA Tests New ‘Eyes’ for Mars 2020 Rover