Image: Artist’s rendering of the OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft firing thrusters near the surface of the asteroid Apophis. Credit: Heather Roper, NASA graphic designer Because of the potential to deepen our understanding of the solar system and beyond, NASA this week extended the missions of eight of its spacecraft, including OSIRIS-REx—and NAU planetary geologist Chris Haberle will be one
Photo: The flight mirrors for the James Webb Space Telescope undergo cryogenic testing at NASA Marshall. Credit: Ball Aerospace In one of the most exciting developments in astronomy in the 21st century, NASA is launching the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) today—and Northern Arizona University astronomers, planetary astronomers and their students will use the massive observatory to expand
NASA has appointed a University of Arizona professor to lead a project to track asteroids that potentially could crash into Earth. The mission involves launching a telescope into a high orbit to locate such near-Earth objects using the infrared radiation they emit. Amy Mainzer, a professor of planetary sciences, will lead a team building the
A huge, already damaged radio telescope in Puerto Rico that has played a key role in astronomical discoveries for more than half a century completely collapsed on Tuesday. The telescope’s 900-ton receiver platform and the Gregorian dome — a structure as tall as a four-story building that houses secondary reflectors — fell onto the northern
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