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NASA-Designed Greenhouse Gas-Detection Instrument Launches
Developed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the imaging spectrometer will provide actionable data to help reduce emissions that contribute to global warming. Tanager-1, the Carbon Mapper Coalition’s first satellite, which carries a state-of-the-art, NASA-designed greenhouse-gas-tracking instrument, is in Earth…
NASA Data Shows July 22 Was Earth’s Hottest Day on Record
July 22, 2024, was the hottest day on record, according to a NASA analysis of global daily temperature data. July 21 and 23 of this year also exceeded the previous daily record, set in July 2023. These record-breaking temperatures are…
NASA Returns to Arctic Studying Summer Sea Ice Melt
What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic, and a new NASA mission is helping improve data modeling and increasing our understanding of Earth’s rapidly changing climate. Changing ice, ocean, and atmospheric conditions in the northernmost part of…
Watch Carbon Dioxide Move Through Earth’s Atmosphere
What we’re looking at This global map shows concentrations of carbon dioxide as the gas moved through Earth’s atmosphere from January through March 2020, driven by wind patterns and atmospheric circulation. Because of the model’s high resolution, you can zoom…
NASA Mission Flies Over Arctic to Study Sea Ice Melt Causes
It’s not just rising air and water temperatures influencing the decades-long decline of Arctic sea ice. Clouds, aerosols, even the bumps and dips on the ice itself can play a role. To explore how these factors interact and impact sea…
Twin NASA Satellites Ready to Help Gauge Earth’s Energy Balance
Editor’s note: NASA and Rocket Lab now are targeting no earlier than 3 p.m. NZST, Wednesday, June 5 (11 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, June 4), for the launch of the second CubeSat for the agency’s PREFIRE mission. Follow NASA’s Small Satellites blog for more details.…
5 Things to Know About NASA’s Tiny Twin Polar Satellites
Editor’s note: The date for NASA’s first PREFIRE launch has changed to no earlier than Saturday, May 25. Additional updates can be found on NASA’s Small Satellites blog. Called PREFIRE, this CubeSat duo will boost our understanding of how much heat Earth’s…
How ‘Glowing’ Plants Could Help Scientists Predict Flash Drought
An unusual boost in plant productivity can foreshadow severe soil water loss. NASA satellites are following the clues. Flaring up rapidly and with little warning, the drought that gripped much of the United States in the summer of 2012 was…
NASA Teammates Recall Favorite Memories Aboard Flying Laboratory
After flying more than three decades and 158 science campaigns, just one flight remains. NASA’s DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory will make its final flight May 15 to Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho, where it will be used to train…
Meet NASA Women Behind World’s Largest Flying Laboratory
NASA’s DC-8 aircraft – the world’s largest flying science laboratory – began its science missions in 1987 and since then, has flown in service of the science community over places like Antarctica, Greenland, and Thailand. Aircraft like the DC-8 have…
