News Archive / Author: Laurel Kornfeld
Laurel Kornfeld is an amateur astronomer and freelance writer from Highland Park, NJ, who enjoys writing about astronomy and planetary science. She studied journalism at Douglass College, Rutgers University, and earned a Graduate Certificate of Science from Swinburne University’s Astronomy Online program. Her writings have been published online in The Atlantic, Astronomy magazine’s guest blog section, the UK Space Conference, the 2009 IAU General Assembly newspaper, The Space Reporter, and newsletters of various astronomy clubs. She is a member of the Cranford, NJ-based Amateur Astronomers, Inc. Especially interested in the outer solar system, Laurel gave a brief presentation at the 2008 Great Planet Debate held at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, MD.
Articles By Laurel Kornfeld
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Ceres’ surface found to contain building blocks for life
December 14th, 2018The surface of the dwarf planet Ceres holds high levels of organic material, according to a new study of images returned by NASA's Dawn spacecraft. This provides a tantalizing glimpse into the possibility of life throughout our solar system.
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Interstellar: Voyager 2 goes where only one has gone before
December 14th, 2018NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft has become the second probe to enter interstellar space, as confirmed by data returned by several of the science instruments on board the spacecraft.
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New Horizons course correction puts spacecraft on target to Ultima Thule
December 10th, 2018NASA's New Horizons spacecraft conducted the most distant ever course-correction maneuver by any spacecraft on Sunday, Dec. 2, firing its thrusters for just 105 seconds to adjust its velocity by approximately 2.2 miles per hour.
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OSIRIS-REx arrives at Bennu asteroid
December 4th, 2018NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft has successfully arrived at its destination, the asteroid Bennu.
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MarCO CubeSats perform successfully during InSight landing
November 28th, 2018Two CubeSats successfully monitored InSight's entry, descent, and landing on Mars and returned data to Earth hours before NASA's Mars orbiters came into position to transmit the data.
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Eternal Ice Age: Unusual ridges near Pluto’s Sputnik Planitia formed by ancient glaciers
November 28th, 2018Oddly-shaped ridges located adjacent to Pluto's Sputnik Planitia were created by ancient nitrogen ice glaciers, according to a group of scientists led by the SETI Institute's Oliver White.
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JPL’s Lucky Nuts work! InSight lander safely touches down on Mars
November 26th, 2018After traveling some 33.9 million miles (54.6 million kilometers), NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) robotic lander safely touched down on the surface of Mars at the Elysium Planitia region at 2:52 p.m. EST (11:52 a.m. PST / 19:53 GMT) today, Monday, Nov. 26.
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How two NASA missions will rewrite what we know about our solar system
November 24th, 2018An asteroid in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter and a Kuiper Belt Object four billion miles away will both have their mysteries unveiled when NASA missions explore them in December and January.
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A spaceflight era closes with end of Dawn and Kepler missions
November 3rd, 2018The Kepler and Dawn spacecraft both ran out of fuel, marking the end of an era that transformed our understanding of both our solar system and others.
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A single mission could orbit Pluto and explore the Kuiper Belt
October 30th, 2018While the New Horizons' mission is still exploring the Kuiper Belt a new mission could accomplish what the spacecraft has - and much more.
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New Horizons team previews Ultima Thule flyby
October 27th, 2018With the Ultima Thule flyby just 10 weeks away, the New Horizons team detailed plans for the spacecraft's trajectory and science gathering mission.
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Birthing place of stars captured in recent Spitzer Space Telescope imagery
October 25th, 2018NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope - has taken a peek into a nursery for stars.
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NASA contracts with Astrobotic to develop software for icy moon landings
October 18th, 2018Astrobotic has been given the nod by NASA to produce software that is planned to land spacecraft on the distant moons in the outer solar system.
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Air Force contracts with Blue Origin for use of New Glenn reusable rocket
October 14th, 2018Commercial space company Blue Origin has landed a contract to carry out a critical aspect of Department of Defense missions.
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Engine burn puts New Horizons on track to Ultima Thule
October 9th, 2018The New Horizons spacecraft is heading toward its next destination - using an extreme maneuver at the very edge of the solar system.
