December 14, 2017 RELEASE 17-098*Artificial Intelligence, NASA Data Used to Discover Eighth Planet Circling Distant Star* With the discovery of an eighth planet, the Kepler-90 system is the first to tie with our solar system in number of planets. */Credits: NASA/Wendy Stenzel /* Our solar system now is tied for most number of planets around a single star, with the recent discovery of an eighth planet circling Kepler-90, a Sun-like star 2,545 light years from Earth. The planet was discovered in data from NAS ...Continue Reading

December 14, 2017 RELEASE 17-099*NASA Astronaut Bresnik and Crewmates Return to Earth From Space Station* Three crew members who have been living and working aboard the International Space Station returned to Earth on Thursday, landing in Kazakhstan after opening a new chapter in the scientific capability of humanity’s premier microgravity laboratory. Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik of NASA and Flight Engineers Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency) and Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos landed at 3:37 a. ...Continue Reading

:Product: Solar Region Summary :Issued: 2017 Dec 14 0030 UTC # Prepared jointly by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, # Space Weather Prediction Center and the U.S. Air Force. # Joint USAF/NOAA Solar Region Summary SRS Number 348 Issued at 0030Z on 14 Dec 2017 Report compiled from data received at SWO on 13 Dec I. Regions with Sunspots. Locations Valid at 13/2400Z Nmbr Location Lo Area Z LL NN Mag Type None IA. H-alpha Plages without Spots. Locations Valid at 13/2400Z Dec Nmbr Location Lo 2691 ...Continue Reading

December 13, 2017 MEDIA ADVISORY MEDIA ADVISORY: M17-150*NASA Television Updates Broadcast Schedule for Cargo Resupply Mission* The Canadarm2 robotic arm prepares to release the SpaceX Dragon Commercial Resupply Services-6 cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station. NASA and SpaceX are now targeting no earlier than Dec. 15 for the company’s 13th cargo mission to the space station, using the refurbished Dragon capsule from the CRS-6 mission. */Credits: NASA/* NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX n ...Continue Reading

:Product: Solar Region Summary :Issued: 2017 Dec 13 0030 UTC # Prepared jointly by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, # Space Weather Prediction Center and the U.S. Air Force. # Joint USAF/NOAA Solar Region Summary SRS Number 347 Issued at 0030Z on 13 Dec 2017 Report compiled from data received at SWO on 12 Dec I. Regions with Sunspots. Locations Valid at 12/2400Z Nmbr Location Lo Area Z LL NN Mag Type 2691 S03E16 220 0010 Bxo 04 03 Beta IA. H-alpha Plages without Spots. Locations Valid at 12/ ...Continue Reading

The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (12 December 2017) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Latest Images: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/ * California Wildfire Emissions https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=91427&src=eoa-iotd * New Island Made of Tuff Stuff https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=91412&src=eoa-iotd * Night Lights of the Levant https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=91409&src=eoa-iotd * IceBridge Blues htt ...Continue Reading

The following sections have been updated in the past 1 day. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- UNIQUE IMAGERY (1 updated event, 1 new image) -- SNOW IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES A band of snow spanned several U.S. states in early December, 2017. * A Band of Snow in the Southeast (Image from Dec 11, 2017; Posted Dec 12, 2017) https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=91424&src=nha -------------------------------------------------------------------- ...Continue Reading

December 12, 2017 RELEASE 17-095*NASA Establishes Advisory Group for National Space Council * Members of the National Space Council are seen during the council's first meeting, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017, at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. The National Space Council, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, heard testimony from representatives from civil space, commercial space, and national security space industry representatives. */Credits: NASA/Joel Kows ...Continue Reading

December 12, 2017 MEDIA ADVISORY M17-149*Washington Students to Speak with NASA Astronaut on Space Station Today* View of Mark Vande Hei, Expedition 53 Flight Engineer, inspecting the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) for upcoming Extravehicular Activity. */Credits: NASA/* Students from nine school districts in Port Orchard, Washington, will speak with a NASA astronaut living, working and doing research aboard the International Space Station at 1:10 p.m. EST today. The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call will ai ...Continue Reading

------------------------------------------------------------------------ The following sections have been updated in the past 7 days. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- FIRES (1 updated event, 5 new images) -- Why the SoCal Fires are So Fierce With thousands of homes threatened by intense wildfires burning in southern California, we checked in with NASA Propulsion Laboratory scientist Natasha Stavros to learn more about the destructive blazes. https://earthobservatory.nasa ...Continue Reading