Featured Projects and Programs
Kepler Spacecraft Operation May Halt, But the Mission is Not Over
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Kepler Spacecraft Operation May Halt, But the Mission is Not Over
NASA announced today through a press conference that Kepler, its planet-hunting spacecraft, is currently malfunctioning and observations have been halted. Due to failure of one of the reaction wheels, the space telescope is now unable to point accurately toward the region of the sky that it has been observing continuously for 4 years to search for Earth-size planets around other stars. -
Has Kepler Found Ideal SETI-target Planets?
NASA's Kepler mission has discovered a new planetary system that is home to five small planets around a slightly smaller star than our Sun.
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NASA Doubles Down on Exoplanets and the SETI Institute Will Be Part of the Search
NASA's Astrophysics Explorer Program has selected the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) Mission to fly in 2017. SETI Institute scientist Jon M. Jenkins, co-investigator for data processing for both TESS and Kepler, will lead the development, design and operations of the TESS Data Processing Group (DPG) at NASA Ames Research Center.
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SETI Institute Search for Exolife Hangout
SETI Institute scientists, Dale Andersen, Lori Fenton, Franck Marchis and Cynthia Phillips discuss various research topics including life in extreme environments (extremophiles), life on Mars, Europa and future missions, and exoplanets. Moderated by Jill Tarter.
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Curiosity Rover on Mars Predicted to Encounter Moving Sand Dunes
The dunes in Gale Crater on Mars, near the landing site of the Curiosity rover, are moving. Until a few years ago, it was thought that the surface of Mars was largely inactive, with its landscapes no longer undergoing any significant modification. The identification of widespread active sand dune migration is one of several recent discoveries that has disproved this claim.
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What Lessons Can We Learn from the Chelyabinsk Meteor?
Vatican Astronomer Guy Consolmagno, Director of the Carl Sagan Center David Morrison, and Planetary Astronomer Franck Marchis discuss the recent meteor impact in Chelyabinsk, Russia.
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We are proud to announce the Second Annual MarsFest (formerly Mars and the Mojave Festival) in Death Valley National Park from March 1st to March 3rd, 2013!
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Herschel Finds Old Star Possibly Making Planets
A star thought to have passed the age when it can form planets may in fact be creating new worlds. The disk of material surrounding the surprising star called TW Hydrae may be massive enough to make even more planets than we have in our own solar system.
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Kepler Mission Announces 461 New Planet Candidates, Two in Habitable Zone
The Kepler mission announced the discovery of 461 new planet candidates. Four of the potential new planets are less than twice the size of Earth and orbit in their sun's "habitable zone," the region in the planetary system where liquid water might exist on the surface of a planet.
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SETI Institute Researcher Strikes Scientific Gold with Meteorite
Scientists found treasure when they studied an exceptional meteorite recovered April 22, 2012 at Sutter's Mill, the gold discovery site that led to the 1849 California Gold Rush.
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