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Planetary Environments Laboratory (699) Press Releases & Feature Stories Archive

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Artist's conception of OSIRIS-REx landing on an asteroid.

NASA's Asteroid Sample Return Mission Moves into Development

05.16.2013
OSIRIS-REx, NASA’s first mission to sample an asteroid, is moving ahead into development and testing in preparation for its launch in 2016.
Artist's rendition of the Maven satellite orbiting Mars

NASA Invites Public to Send Names And Messages to Mars

05.01.2013
Members of the public are invited to enter a haiku contest and to submit their names to be carried aboard the MAVEN spacecraft, which will orbit Mars.
The Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer (NGIMS) instrument, shown here at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md

Final MAVEN Instrument Integrated into Spacecraft

04.03.2013
The Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer, which will measure the composition of Mars' upper atmosphere, has been integrated into NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft.
the rocks of the

NASA Rover Finds Conditions Once Suited for Ancient Life on Mars

03.12.2013
An analysis of rock sample by the SAM and CheMin instruments on NASA's Curiosity rover shows that the Yellowknife Bay area of Mars was once wet and had conditions favorable for living microbes.
Scoop marks in the sand at 'Rocknest'

NASA Mars Rover Fully Analyzes First Soil Samples

12.03.2012
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) suite and other instruments on NASA's Mars Curiosity rover analyzed Martian soil for the first time, and found a complex chemistry there.
artist's conception of MSL on Mars

Curiosity Shakes, Bakes, and Tastes Mars with SAM

12.03.2012
NASA's Curiosity rover analyzed its first solid sample of Mars in November with a variety of instruments, including the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite. The sample of Martian soil came from the patch of windblown material called "Rocknest."
The chip set for the OASIS instrument

NASA Innovator of Year Hunts for Extraterrestrial Amino Acids

11.15.2012
Designed to search for organic chemicals formed in the solar system, the Organics Analyzer for Sampling Icy Surfaces (OASIS) has 100 times greater sensitivity than its predecessors.
Inlet covers for the Sample Analysis at Mars

Rover's 'SAM' Lab Instrument Suite Tastes Soil

11.13.2012
A pinch of fine sand and dust became the first solid sample deposited into the biggest instrument on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity: the Sample Analysis at Mars, or SAM.
Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument

SAM Gives First Clues to Changes in Martian Atmosphere

11.02.2012
Curiosity's Goddard-built SAM instrument suite has taken significant steps toward understanding how Mars may have lost much of its original atmosphere, which is now about 100 times thinner than Earth's.

Stephanie Getty Wins 2012 Innovator of the Year Award

10.31.2012
Stephanie Getty's innovative concepts for instruments to detect amino acids and other organic compounds on comets, asteroids and icy moons earned her the top honor from NASA Goddard's Office of the Chief Technologist.
MAVEN Structure

Next Mars Mission Enters Final Phase Before Launch

09.11.2012
NASA's Mars Atmosphere And Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission has passed a critical milestone, Key Decision Point-D or KDP-D, and will proceed to system delivery, integration and test, and launch.
SAM

The Curiosity Rover's Onboard Chemistry Lab

08.05.2012
Tucked inside the Curiosity rover is SAM, a miniature chemistry lab designed to unlock the secrets of Mars.
Carbonaceous Meteorite Chip

Testing at Goddard: The Astrobiology Analytical Lab

08.03.2012
In Goddard's Astrobiology Analytical Lab, scientists look for clues to two of the world's biggest mysteries: How did we get here? And are we alone? The answers may lie in carbon-rich meteorites.
Artist's concept of excess left-hand aspartic acid created in asteroids and delivered to Earth via meteorite impacts

Meteorite Fragments Reveal a Clue to How Life Turned Left

07.25.2012
The work offers the strongest evidence so far that liquid water inside an asteroid leads to a strong preference for left-handed over right-handed forms of some common amino acids found in proteins.
Surrounded by darkness, Dr. Josh Sebree in a tie dyed lab coat and goggles changes the colors of liquids in beakers.

Students Competing in Chemistry Olympiad Visit NASA Goddard

07.23.2012
Nearly 300 of the world's top chemistry students came to Goddard on July 23, 2012, as part of the 44th International Chemistry Olympiad.
Artist's concept of the Curiosity rover on Mars.

Public invited to celebrate Curiosity

07.18.2012
On July 28, the public is invited to learn about Curiosity, the Mars rover scheduled to land on Aug. 6, and SAM, its miniature chemistry lab. Hands-on activities for kids and presentations by SAM scientists and engineers are featured.
Mars Chamber

The Mars Chamber

07.18.2012
The environment on Mars is recreated in a test chamber where the twin of Curiosity's Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite is kept. Watch the video to learn more.
Artist concept features NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover.

Goddard Scientists Selected as Participating Scientists in Mars Science Laboratory and Cassini Missions

12.15.2011
Five scientists from NASA Goddard have been selected as Participating Scientists in NASA's Mars Science Laboratory and Cassini missions.

Asteroids, Mars and Drought Among NASA News Highlights at AGU

12.01.2011
NASA researchers will present new findings on a wide range of Earth and space science topics at the 2011 fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
Complete list of NASA-related AGU news briefings
This artist's concept shows the MAVEN spacecraft orbiting Mars.

New NASA Missions to Investigate How Mars Turned Hostile

11.18.2011
Two new NASA missions, one that will roam the surface and another that will orbit the planet and dip briefly into its upper atmosphere, will try to discover what transformed Mars into it's current uninhabitable state.
The core structure of the MAVEN spacecraft under construction at Lockheed Martin

MAVEN Mission Primary Structure Complete

09.26.2011
Lockheed Martin completed building the primary structure of the MAVEN spacecraft at its Space Systems Company facility near Denver.
Artistic representation of a meteorite and nucleo bases

DNA Building Blocks Can Be Made in Space

08.08.2011
NASA-funded researchers have evidence that some building blocks of DNA, the molecule that carries the genetic instructions for life, found in meteorites were likely created in space. The research gives support to the theory that a "kit" of ready-made parts created in space and delivered to Earth by meteorite and comet impacts assisted the origin of life.
his is one of the Tagish Lake meteorite fragments. Credit: Michael Holly, Creative Services, University of Alberta.

Asteroid Served up "Custom Orders" of Life's Ingredients

06.09.2011
Some asteroids may have been "factories" capable of churning out life's ingredients, but one appears to have been less like a rigid assembly line and more like a flexible diner that doesn't mind making changes to the menu.
Conceptual image of OSIRIS-REx.

NASA Selects OSIRIS-REx as Next New Frontiers Mission

05.25.2011
Goddard will manage this 2016 mission to return samples from asteroid 1999 RQ36 and provide the OVIRS instrument, with Solar System Exploration Division staff in a range of project scientist, instrument scientist, and science co-investigator roles. Project Scientist: Joe Nuth, with Jason Dworkin as deputy and Lucy Lim as assistant PS; OVIRS Instrument Scientist: Dennis Reuter, with Amy Simon-Miller as deputy IS; Science Co-Investigators: Danny Glavin and David Rowlands.
The original box containing archived spark discharge samples prepared by Stanley Miller in 1958. For unknown reasons, Miller never analyzed these even though this is his first experiment using hydrogen sulfide.

"Lost" Miller Experiment Gives Pungent Clue to Origin of Life

03.23.2011
Hydrogen sulfide, the malodorous compound produced by rotten eggs, may have been an important ingredient in the recipe for life, according to a recently discovered experiment performed by Stanley Miller in 1958.
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  • Last Updated: 05/17/2013