Best Of NASA

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has clocked more than a decade of service at the Red Planet and has yielded scientific discoveries and magnificent views of a distant world. These images taken by MRO's HiRISE camera are not in true color because they include infrared information in order to be optimized for geological science.

Data from the Suomi NPP satellite is used by NASA scientists to map the full three-dimensional structure of volcanic clouds, allowing a more accurate forecast of where the volcanic ash is spreading. The information will be used by air traffic management to re-route flights around the hazardous ash clouds, which can damage airplane engines.

Nearly 10 billion years ago, the black hole at the center of a distant galaxy produced a powerful outburst, and light from this blast began arriving at Earth in 2012. Astronomers using data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and other space- and ground-based observatories have shown that a record-breaking neutrino seen around the same time likely was born in the same event.

Not Far From Earth Dark Bodies Of Rock Circle The Sun In Lonely Orbits These Near Earth Objects Or Neos Are Asteroids Found Outside The Traditional Belt Between Mars And Jupiter Protected From The Gravitational Tugs And Tumbles That Affect Objects Found Closer To The Gas Giant These Asteroids May Contain Clues About The Origins Of The Solar System

Some 4 billion years ago, the sun shone with only about three-quarters the brightness we see today. Powerful solar explosions may have provided the crucial energy needed to warm Earth, despite the sun's faintness. The eruptions also may have furnished the energy needed to turn simple molecules into the complex molecules such as RNA and DNA that were necessary for life.

Improving hurricane forecasts means testing historical storms with today's sophisticated models and supercomputers. NASA and NOAA work together in gathering ground and satellite observations, as well as experimenting with forecast models. As a result of this collaboration, model resolution has increased, and scientists are discovering more about the processes that occur within these storms.