NASA // Current

Now, web surfers can explore Mars

Nasa and Microsoft launched an interactive website that allows web surfers to become... more

karthikmns
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Nasa and Microsoft launch 'explore Mars' website

Nasa and Microsoft have launched an interactive website that allows users to explore... more

slagface
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3 days ago
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The Decade, in 7 Minutes

Newsweek has boiled down the the first decade of this millennium into a seven minute... more

Manatee_man
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Let There Be Light

The Kepler Mission will make finding potentially habitable exoplanets easier than... more

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Telescope Captures Close-Up Of Sun's 'Bubbling' Surface

Last Wednesday, Germany's Max Plank Institute for Solar System Research released... more

atomiclegion
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5 days ago
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NASA discovers water on the moon!

NASA announced a spacecraft that purposely slammed into the moon has turned up... more

electricbrave
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7 days ago
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Water on the MOON

Another confirmation for water on moon by nASA.... more

zamurai127
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NASA discovers water on the moon!

~y2009m11d13-NASA--discovers-water-on-the-moon

stormchaser4850
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Mississippi Storm History: What happened on this date (November 12)

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stormchaser4850
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NASA finally finds water on moon

NASA has announced that after 6 billion years water has been found on the moon.... more

phxboy
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Signs From Above

Our take on the week: The release of an apocalyptic movie prompts NASA to debunk 2012... more

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The end of the World? 2012

Nasa says no, but isn't Nasa a government corporation? Would they tell the truth?... more

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Hey 2012 End of the World Believers!

Turn Out the World isn't going to end on 2012! Good for us!
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Remember the Y2K scare? It came and went without much of a whimper because of adequate planning and analysis of the situation. Impressive movie special effects aside, Dec. 21, 2012, won't be the end of the world as we know. It will, however, be another winter solstice.

Much like Y2K, 2012 has been analyzed and the science of the end of the Earth thoroughly studied. Contrary to some of the common beliefs out there, the science behind the end of the world quickly unravels when pinned down to the 2012 timeline. Below, NASA Scientists answer several questions that we're frequently asked regarding 2012.

Question (Q): Are there any threats to the Earth in 2012? Many Internet websites say the world will end in December 2012.
Answer (A): Nothing bad will happen to the Earth in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012.

Q: What is the origin of the prediction that the world will end in 2012?
A: The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth. This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012. Then these two fables were linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012 -- hence the predicted doomsday date of December 21, 2012.

Q: Does the Mayan calendar end in December 2012?
A: Just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar does not cease to exist on December 21, 2012. This date is the end of the Mayan long-count period but then -- just as your calendar begins again on January 1 -- another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar.

Q: Could a phenomena occur where planets align in a way that impacts Earth?
A: There are no planetary alignments in the next few decades, Earth will not cross the galactic plane in 2012, and even if these alignments were to occur, their effects on the Earth would be negligible. Each December the Earth and sun align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy but that is an annual event of no consequence.

"There apparently is a great deal of interest in celestial bodies, and their locations and trajectories at the end of the calendar year 2012. Now, I for one love a good book or movie as much as the next guy. But the stuff flying around through cyberspace, TV and the movies is not based on science. There is even a fake NASA news release out there..."
- Don Yeomans, NASA senior research scientist Q: Is there a planet or brown dwarf called Nibiru or Planet X or Eris that is approaching the Earth and threatening our planet with widespread destruction?
A: Nibiru and other stories about wayward planets are an Internet hoax. There is no factual basis for these claims. If Nibiru or Planet X were real and headed for an encounter with the Earth in 2012, astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye. Obviously, it does not exist. Eris is real, but it is a dwarf planet similar to Pluto that will remain in the outer solar system; the closest it can come to Earth is about 4 billion miles.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.htmlTurn Out the World isn't going to end on 2012! Good for us!... more