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December 24, 2012

Cassini Instrument Learns New Tricks
Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 24, 2012
For seven years, a mini-fridge-sized instrument aboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft reliably investigated weather patterns swirling around Saturn; the hydrocarbon composition of the surface of Saturn's moon Titan; the aerosol layers of Titan's haze; and dirt mixing with ice in Saturn's rings. But this year the instrument - the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer - has been testing out some new telescopic muscles. This Friday, Dec. 21, the spectrometer will be tracking the path of Venus across th ... read more

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Saturn's Transit of Venus on Dec. 21, 2012 Last June, astronomers urged sky watchers to observe the transit of Venus. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, they said. The black disk of the second planet wouldn't crawl across the face of t ... more		From Cassini for the Holidays: A Splendor Seldom Seen 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. ... more		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

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

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		US Navy And Lockheed Martin Deliver Secure Communications Satellite For Mobile Users Second Generation Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System Intercepts Ballistic Missile Target Northrop Grumman Proves Concept for New B-2 Satellite Communication System Making frequency-hopping radios practical F-35A Completes High Angle Of Attack Testing Carrier-based unmanned jet launch set to open new markets Gunmen kill two NATO drivers in Pakistan: officials		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		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

Solar systems for home and business

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

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		Research into carbon storage in Arctic tundra reveals unexpected insight into ecosystem resiliency World's melting glaciers making large contribution to sea rise H1N1 discovered in marine mammals TD Alvin Marks Starts Of US Hurricane Season Sea level: One-third of its rise comes from melting mountain glaciers Corals turn to algae for stored food when times get tough Tropical air circulation drives fall warming on Antarctic Peninsula		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		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

Opportunity For Some Shoulder Workout At Copper Cliff

Clays on Mars: More Plentiful Than Expected

Curiosity Rover Explores 'Yellowknife Bay'

Apollo's Lunar Dust Data Being Restored

GRAIL Lunar Impact Site Named for Astronaut Sally Ride

NASA probes crash into the moon

From Cassini for the Holidays: A Splendor Seldom Seen

Cassini Instrument Learns New Tricks

Cassini Spots Mini Nile River on Saturn Moon

Mr Xi in Space

China plans manned space launch in 2013: state media

China to launch manned spacecraft

	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		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

New insights into how materials transfer heat could lead to improved electronics

Groundwater unaffected by shale gas production in Arkansas

Stacking 2-D materials produces surprising results

Artificial Forest for Solar Water-Splitting

Moth-Inspired Nanostructures Take the Color Out of Thin Films

Stanford Engineers' New Metamaterial Doubles Up on Invisibility

NIST demonstrates significant improvement in the performance of solar-powered hydrogen generation

Mars Landing Sky Show		Giant Ice Avalanches On Iapetus Provide Clue To Extreme Slippage Elsewhere In The Solar System		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

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