US Interns, Texas, Bulgarian Students to Hear from Space Station Astronauts
Students across the globe have opportunities this week to hear from astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The Earth-to-space calls air live on NASA Television, as well as the NASA app, and the agency’s website, where they are also available on-demand. On Wednesday, July 28, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency […]
What is a Haboob?
A haboob (Arabic: هَبوب, romanized: habūb, lit. ’blasting/drifting’) is a type of intense dust storm carried on an atmospheric gravity current, also known as a weather front. Haboobs occur regularly in dry land area regions throughout the world. Like haboobs that occur in the Middle East, haboob occurrences in North America are often created by the collapse of a thunderstorm. This is a local or mesoscale event, and at […]
What is a Dust Devil? (video)
A dust devil is a strong, well-formed, and relatively short-lived whirlwind, ranging from small (half a metre wide and a few metres tall) to large (more than 10 m wide and more than 1 km tall). The primary vertical motion is upward. Dust devils are usually harmless, but can on rare occasions grow large enough to pose a threat […]
New “Destructive” Severe Thunderstorm Warning category to trigger Wireless Emergency Alerts on mobile phones
July 22, 2021 – Severe thunderstorms can be life-threatening, but not all severe storms are the same. Hazardous conditions range from tornadoes, large hail storms, and widespread straight-line winds called derechoes, to cloud-to-ground lightning and flash flooding. Starting August 2, the National Weather Service will better convey the severity and potential impacts from thunderstorm winds and […]
Student artwork decorates South Central Extension corridor
Phoenix, AZ – Cities become more vibrant and inviting when public art is on display and the South Central community is no different. As construction on the South Central Extension/Downtown Hub project continues, Valley Metro is finding ways to enhance the area through art. Students from three different schools in south Phoenix created several pieces […]
NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for the Europa Clipper Mission
NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, to provide launch services for Earth’s first mission to conduct detailed investigations of Jupiter’s moon Europa. The Europa Clipper mission will launch in October 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The […]
Renewable Energy OK, but Not Too Close to Home
When it comes to transitioning from carbon-based to renewable source energy systems, Americans are on board. They’re less keen, however, having these new energy infrastructures—wind turbines or solar farms—built close to their homes, which creates hurdles for policymakers. That’s according to a study from University of Georgia researcher Thomas Lawrence. Lawrence and an international team […]
Americans Riding Public Transportation in Greater Numbers
Some Areas Seeing More Than 80 Percent of Pre-Pandemic Ridership WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced today that transit ridership is rebounding in communities across the nation. Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s actions to tackle the pandemic, more Americans are on the move. As Americans are going to work, […]
Media Invited to Learn About NASA Mission to Study Intense Storms
NASA is inviting media to learn more about an upcoming airborne science campaign to study intense summer thunderstorms over the central United States, which will aid scientists in their understanding of how such storms affect Earth’s atmosphere and climate change. The event will be held via WebEx at 11 a.m. EDT Tuesday, July 27. […]
Blue Origin safely launches four commercial astronauts to space and back
Blue Origin successfully completed New Shepard’s first human flight today with four private citizens onboard. The crew included Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, Wally Funk and Oliver Daemen, who all officially became astronauts when they passed the Kármán Line, the internationally recognized boundary of space. Upon landing, the astronauts were greeted by their families and Blue Origin’s ground operations team for a celebration in the West Texas desert. A Historic Mission Wally Funk, 82, became […]