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December 20, 2012

From Cassini for the Holidays: A Splendor Seldom Seen
Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 19, 2012
Just in time for the holidays, NASA's Cassini spacecraft, in orbit around Saturn for more than eight years now, has delivered another glorious, backlit view of the planet Saturn and its rings. On Oct. 17, 2012, during its 174th orbit around the gas giant, Cassini was deliberately positioned within Saturn's shadow, a perfect location from which to look in the direction of the sun and take a backlit view of the rings and the dark side of the planet. Looking back towards the sun is a geometry r ... read more

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Cassini Spots Mini Nile River on Saturn Moon Scientists with NASA's Cassini mission have spotted what appears to be a miniature, extraterrestrial likeness of Earth's Nile River: a river valley on Saturn's moon Titan that stretches more than 20 ... more		Titan, Saturn's Largest Moon, Icier than Scientists Thought Scientists have long suspected that a vast ocean of liquid water lies under the crusty exterior of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. New analysis suggests that the internally generated heat that keeps t ... more		NASA's Cassini Sees Abrupt Turn in Titan's Atmosphere Data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft tie a shift in seasonal sunlight to a wholesale reversal, at unexpected altitudes, in the circulation of the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan. At the south pole, ... more
				Cassini Finds a Video Gamers' Paradise at Saturn You could call this "Pac-Man, the Sequel." Scientists with NASA's Cassini mission have spotted a second feature shaped like the 1980s video game icon in the Saturn system, this time on the moon Teth ... more		NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building Prepared for Multiple Rockets The Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is undergoing renovations to accommodate future launch vehicles. A project of Ground Systems Development and Operatio ... more

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

Cassini Halloween Treat: Titan Glows in the Dark A literal shot in the dark by imaging cameras on NASA's Cassini spacecraft has yielded an image of a visible glow from Titan, emanating not just from the top of Titan's atmosphere, but also - surpri ... more		Saturn's giant storm reveals the planet's churning atmosphere A recent study of the giant storm whirling on Saturn for the past two years, which became known as the "Great Springtime Storm", has given planetary scientists new clues about the planet's weather. ... more		US missile defense still plagued by technical doubts Northrop Grumman, US Navy Complete Triton Unmanned Aircraft's First Flight Lockheed Martin Completes Milestone for Training Element of United States Ballistic Missile Defense System General Dynamics to Deliver U.S. Army's Newest Tactical Ground Station Intelligence System Lockheed Martin Conducts First EMD Flight Test of New GMLRS Warhead Defense Acquisition Board approves Standard Missile-6 full-rate production DARPA Seeks Technology to Radically Improve Dismounted Squad Situational Awareness, Communication Effectiveness		Giant impact scenario may explain the unusual moons of Saturn Among the oddities of the outer solar system are the middle-sized moons of Saturn, a half-dozen icy bodies dwarfed by Saturn's massive moon Titan. According to a new model for the origin of the Satu ... more
				The sound in Saturn's rings: RUB-Physicists explain nonlinear dust acoustic waves in dusty plasmas Dusty plasmas can be found in many places both in space and in the laboratory. Due to their special properties, dust acoustic waves can propagate inside these plasmas like sound waves in air, and ca ... more		What's Baking on Titan? Radar images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft reveal some new curiosities on the surface of Saturn's mysterious moon Titan, including a nearly circular feature that resembles a giant hot cross bun and ... more

Solar systems for home and business

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

A Long and Winding Road: Cassini Celebrates 15 Years Today, NASA's Cassini spacecraft celebrates 15 years of uninterrupted drive time, earning it a place among the ultimate interplanetary road warriors. Since launching on Oct. 15, 1997, the spac ... more		Bouncing on Titan ESA's Huygens probe bounced, slid and wobbled its way to rest in the 10 seconds after touching down on Saturn's moon, Titan, in January 2005, a new analysis reveals. The findings provide novel insig ... more		Volcanoes Cause Climate Gas Concentrations to Vary Allosaurus fed more like a falcon than a crocodile Study reveals how fishing gear can cause slow death of whales Research offers promising new approach to treatment of lung cancer A Local Footprint's Global Footprint A Roadmap for the Future of Astrobiology Small but speedy: Short plants live in the evolutionary fast lane		Navigating the Seas of Titan Humanity has landed a rover on Mars. Now, say scientists, it's time to land a boat on Titan. This outlandish scenario could become reality, according to engineers presenting their proposals at the E ... more
				Titan Shows Surprising Seasonal Changes Detailed observations of Saturn's moon Titan have now spanned 30 years, covering an entire solar orbit for this distant world. Dr. Athena Coustenis from the Paris-Meudon Observatory in France has an ... more		Does Triton Have a Subsurface Ocean? Triton was discovered in 1846 by the British astronomer William Lassell, but much about Neptune's largest moon still remains a mystery. A Voyager 2 flyby in 1989 offered a quick peak at the satellit ... more

Curiosity Rover Explores 'Yellowknife Bay'

Charitum Montes: a cratered winter wonderland

Opportunity Continues Rock Studies

GRAIL Lunar Impact Site Named for Astronaut Sally Ride

NASA probes crash into the moon

Apollo's Lunar Dust Data Being Restored

From Cassini for the Holidays: A Splendor Seldom Seen

Cassini Spots Mini Nile River on Saturn Moon

Titan, Saturn's Largest Moon, Icier than Scientists Thought

Mr Xi in Space

China plans manned space launch in 2013: state media

China to launch manned spacecraft

	Saturn and its Largest Moon Reflect Their True Colors Posing for portraits for NASA's Cassini spacecraft, Saturn and its largest moon, Titan, show spectacular colors in a quartet of images being released. One image captures the changing hues of Saturn' ... more		NASA Goddard Team to Demonstrate Miniaturized Spectrometer-on-a-Chip The Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) is big. It's powerful and it discovered, among other things, that Saturn's mysterious moon Enceladus was one of the very few worlds in the solar system tha ... more		Mars Landing Sky Show Every time NASA lands a rover on Mars--or even makes the attempt--it is cause for celebration. On August 5th, the heavens themselves are aligning to mark the event. Only a few hours before the ... more		Giant Ice Avalanches On Iapetus Provide Clue To Extreme Slippage Elsewhere In The Solar System "We see landslides everywhere in the solar system," says Kelsi Singer, graduate student in Earth and planetary sciences in Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, "but Saturn's icy ... more

Solar Industry Capital Spending Hits Seven-Year Low in 2013

Innovation could bring flexible solar cells, transistors, displays

More emphasis needed on recycling and reuse of Li-ion batteries

Israel eyes Syrian missile threat to gas fields

Sempra U.S. Gas and Power, Consolidated Edison Development announce solar partnership

Areva, world's 2nd uranium company heavily present in Niger

Magnetic fingerprints of superfluid helium-3

River networks on Titan point to a puzzling geologic history		Cassini Spots Daytime Lightning on Saturn		Saturn's Rings are Back		Cassini Flies High to View Saturn's Rings Again		The Titanian Seasons Turn, Turn, Turn
The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Dust		Titan's tides point to hidden ocean		Cassini Shows Why Jet Streams Cross-Cut Saturn		Cassini Sees Tropical Lakes on Saturn Moon		Milky Way Cupcakes: A Savior for NASA's Non-manned Missions?

Enceladus Plume is a New Kind of Plasma Laboratory

Seeking Signs of Life at the Glacier's Edge

Cassini Spots Tiny Moon, Begins to Tilt Orbit

Cassini, Saturn Moon Photographer

Cassini to Probe Enceladus Gravity, Take Pictures

SwRI Scientists Assess Age Of Titan's Organic Atmosphere

Cassini Finds Saturn Moon has Planet-Like Qualities

NASA Research Estimates How Long Titan's Chemical Factory Has Been in Business

Cassini Sees Objects Blazing Trails in Saturn Ring

Cassini Finds Titan Lake is Like a Namibia Mudflat

Cassini Successfully Flies over Enceladus

UF-led team uses new observatory to characterize low-mass planets orbiting nearby star

A magnetic surprise for Venus Express

Cassini makes simultaneous measurements of Saturn's nightside aurora and electric current system

The sounds of Mars and Venus are revealed for the first time

Icy Moons through Cassini's Eyes

How the Equatorial Ridge on Saturn's Moon Iapetus Formed

Enceladus, Janus and Dione Rev 163 Raw Preview

Is it Snowing Microbes on Enceladus?

Happy Birthday Titan!

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