Dawn Nears Start of Year-Long Stay at Giant Asteroid

NASA's Dawn spacecraft is on track to begin the first extended visit to a large asteroid. The mission expects to go into orbit around Vesta on July 16 and begin gathering science data in early August. Vesta resides in the main asteroid belt and is thought to be the source of a large number of meteorites...

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MESSENGER Provides New Data about Mercury

After nearly three months in orbit about Mercury, MESSENGER's payload is providing a wealth of new information about the planet closest to the Sun, as well as a few surprises.img alt="Targeted color imaging – Degas crater" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620289520460975202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD1TLLOQHmHAqPNRc2pMRgDsT4plafq_r25LjFAkDLGdB42sKgm8HHx7Ts35EnQoALSmyBtImsjOCznTJ_ocmIEHHjA1YWHPGxUzww3rUEymxeQrspwVhdz06ldtam2CqEIid-pLUGfec3/s400/Targeted-color-imaging-Degas-crater.jpg"...

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STEREO Sees Complete Far Side

The far side unveiled! This is the first complete image of the solar far side, the half of the sun invisible from Earth. Captured on June 1, 2011, the composite image was assembled from NASA's two Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft. STEREO-Ahead's data is shown on the left half...

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Landsat 5 Satellite Sees Tornado Track near Sturbridge, Massachusetts

On June 1, 2011, a supercell thunderstorm developed over western Massachusetts. The storm produced an EF3 tornado that cut a 39-mile (63-kilometer) track of destruction across southwest and south-central Massachusetts. Not only did the long-lived tornado remain on the ground for many miles, but it also...

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