New Atlas

Environment Audio available

Giant cavity found eating away at Antarctic glacier from underneath

Michael Irving January 30, 2019

NASA’s ongoing Operation IceBridge has found a gigantic cavity underneath Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, which shows that the area has suffered even more drastic ice loss in recent years than previously thought – and it’s accelerating.

Space Audio available

Parker Solar Probe plunges back towards the Sun

David Szondy January 30, 2019

After coming within a record 15 million miles (24 million km) of the Sun's surface on November 5, 2018. NASA's Parker Solar Probe has completed its first orbit and is heading back for another fiery close encounter.

Artist's concept of the Parker Solar Probe

Space Audio available

NASA's Curiosity rover is on the move across Mars

Nick Lavars January 28, 2019

For more than a year now, NASA’s Curiosity rover has toiled away in a region of Mars known as Vera Rubin Ridge, but it has now headed off for new territory. The robot has turned its attention to a clay-heavy area of Mount Sharp, but didn't wave goodbye without snapping a farewell selfie first.

The Curiosity rover's final selfie at the Vera Rubin Ridge

Space

NASA attempts new rescue strategy for Opportunity Mars rover

David Szondy January 28, 2019

NASA is starting a more aggressive campaign to reawaken the Opportunity Mars rover, which has been silent since June 10, 2018. It will send a series of radio commands aimed at getting the robotic explorer to reactivate or bypass systems that may have been shut down when it lost power.

Space

Weird new landmarks on Ultima Thule come into focus with sharpest image yet

Michael Irving January 24, 2019

On January 1 the New Horizons probe whizzed past Ultima Thule, a tiny world on the fringe of the solar system. The latest image shows the object closer and in higher resolution than ever before. With that improved clarity comes some intriguing new landmarks on the rocky surface.

The latest image of Ultima Thule shows strange pockmarks and light patches

Space Audio available

Opportunity still silent on 15th anniversary of its Martian landing

David Szondy January 24, 2019

NASA's Opportunity rover celebrated a bittersweet anniversary marking 15 years since the rover arrived on Mars. On January 24, 2004, the robotic explorer set down on the Red Planet, but continues its radio silence that began on June 10, 2018 when it was engulfed in a global dust storm.

An artist's concept portrays Opportunity on the surface of Mars

Space Audio available

Astronaut scans reveal rapid white matter changes and brains that float higher

Nick Lavars January 24, 2019

How the space environment impacts the human body is the source of much intrigue for scientists at NASA and beyond. A fascinating new study has sought to provide answers, uncovering some thought-provoking changes in the brains of astronauts before and after missions into space.

How does spending long periods in space impact the human body?

Space Audio available

How long is a Saturnian day? Now we know

David Szondy January 19, 2019

Reset your interplanetary watches because data from NASA's Cassini probe has finally answered the question of how long a day on Saturn is. Using the planet's giant rings as a natural seismograph, a team of scientist calculated that Saturn rotates once every 10 hours, 33 minutes and 38 seconds.

Data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft has allowed astronomers to calculate the length of a Saturnian day

Space Audio available

Saturn's rings may be far younger than we thought

David Szondy January 17, 2019

Saturn's rings may not only vanish in 100 million years, but they may have only been around for as little as 10 million years. Using data gathered in the last days of NASA's Cassini mission, a team has concluded that the rings may have been created sometime between 10 and 100 million years ago.

An artist's concept of the Cassini orbiter crossing Saturn's ring plane

Space

NASA fixes Hubble's faulty camera

Michael Irving January 16, 2019

Hubble appears to be back in working order, with full science operations scheduled to resume by the end of this week. The Wide Field Camera 3 on the aging space telescope was struck by a technical fault on January 8, and NASA engineers now believe they’ve fixed the problem.

NASA has resolved a technical fault with the Hubble Space Telescope, which should return to full ...