In a new initiative that runs until July 12, NASA is inviting the public to share ideas and comments about how the space agency can be inclusive and more representative of the public at large. On June 15, the space agency announced the program, dubbed Mission Equity, and released a request for information (RFI) called “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities in NASA Programs, Contracts and Grants.” The goal of the RFI is to determine what roadblocks the agency is currently ignoring that prevent underserved and underrepresented communities…
Read MoreMonth: July 2021
‘Last Ice Area’ in the Arctic may not survive climate change
The “Last Ice Area,” an Arctic region known for its thick ice cover, may be more vulnerable to climate change than scientists suspected, a new study has found. This frozen zone, which lies to the north of Greenland, earned its dramatic name because even though its ice grows and shrinks seasonally, much of the sea ice here was thought to be thick enough to persist through summer’s warmth. But during the summer of 2020, the Wandel Sea in the eastern part of the Last Ice Area lost 50% of its…
Read MoreMost Americans think intelligent aliens exist, and half think they have visited Earth
For the last few weeks, the imminent release of a U.S. intelligence report on unidentified flying objects (UFOs) had stirred excitement across the United States. So it’s not surprising to find that most Americans believe in intelligent life inhabiting other worlds, according to a survey conducted before the report was made public on June 25. Approximately 65% of Americans concur that extraterrestrials exist, and about 51% say that UFO sightings reported by members of the U.S. military represent visits from intelligent aliens, according to a survey conducted by the Pew…
Read MoreExclusive: Filmmakers hunt for the truth in new documentary trailer for ‘On the Trail of UFOs: Dark Sky’
[embedded content] America is currently in the throes of UFO mania these days, especially with the Pentagon’s recent inconclusive report to Congress on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) recently emerging after Navy footage showed strange objects buzzing over the ocean at hypersonic speeds. Not since the 1970s when author Erich von Daniken’s “Chariots of the Gods” topped book sales charts and Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” mined box office gold has there been such interest in ufology and getting to the scientific realities of uncanny sightings. Now a…
Read MoreNASA’s Perseverance rover is taking its own wheel for Mars drives
NASA’s Perseverance rover is picking up the pace on Mars thanks to technology that helps the robot avoid running into trouble on its otherworldly drives. That technology, called AutoNav, is a navigation system that maps terrain and plans routes without the rover needing to rely as heavily on guidance from Earth. AutoNav is four or five times more powerful than equivalent technology tested on NASA’s previous Mars rover, Curiosity, which means Perseverance will be able to take more direct routes and travel faster, in turn allowing the rover to do…
Read MoreSpaceX tracking camera captures epic video of Falcon 9 rocket landing
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket landed successfully back on Earth after delivering dozens of satellites to polar orbit this week — and a tracking camera at the launchpad caught the rocket’s flawless touchdown on tape. The Transporter-2 mission lifted off at 3:11 p.m. EST (1511 GMT) on Wednesday (June 30) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Originally slated to launch on June 25, the mission was delayed a few days to allow for more prelaunch checkouts. Then, another 24-hour delay occurred on Tuesday…
Read MoreHurricane Elsa, 1st of season, could hit Florida next week
The first hurricane of the 2021 season, named Elsa, formed Friday morning (July 2), and is on track to impact islands in the Caribbean Sea and possibly Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Elsa — currently a Category 1 hurricane, with wind speeds between 74 and 95 mph (119 and 153 km/h) — is the earliest fifth named Atlantic storm on record, CNN reported. The four names on the 2021 list ahead of Elsa (Ana, Bill, Claudette and Danny) were given to tropical storms that didn’t reach high…
Read MoreNASA Scientists Available for Interviews on Hurricanes, Tropical Storms
The center of Hurricane Elsa has formed to the east of the Windward and southern Leeward islands and is expected to bring heavy rainfall to those areas over the weekend, according to an update Friday from the National Hurricane Center.
Read MoreSpace Station Science Highlights: Week of June 28, 2021
Scientific investigations conducted the week of June 28 aboard the International Space Station included studies on characterization of microbial pathogens, magnetic assembly of colloid structures, and plant gene expression.
Read MoreNASA Posts Agencywide Media Accreditation Policy
NASA has issued a formal policy that standardizes the criteria and process for media accreditation to cover events and activities at all agency locations.
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