National Aeronautics And Space Administration

Saturn's largest moon is the only body in the solar system besides Earth with lakes, leading scientists to compare it to this planet before life evolved. A study in the current issue of the journal Nature said radar images from a NASA craft show the moon Titan has lakes of liquid methane and ethane. That suggests Titan, with a dense atmosphere like that of primordial Earth, also shares Earth's hydrological cycle of rainfall, formation of lakes and rivers, and evaporation, the study said.

NASA is investigating whether incorrect software commands may have doomed the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, which abruptly fell silent in November after a decade of meticulously mapping the Red Planet. The space agency said that theory was one of several that might explain the failure of the probe, the oldest of six craft exploring Mars.

A NASA astronaut was arrested in Florida early Monday and accused of attacking a woman she considered her rival for the love of another astronaut, Orlando police said. Navy Capt. Lisa Marie Nowak, who flew last summer on a shuttle mission to the International Space Station, drove nearly 1,000 miles from her home in Houston to intercept the woman, who was just arriving at Orlando International Airport, police said. Nowak, 43, accosted 30-year-old Air Force Capt.

NASA astronauts undergo a psychological assessment when they join the space agency, but they face no further evaluations during their careers unless issues arise during their annual flight physicals, the space agency said Tuesday. "No other psychological assessments are done for shuttle astronauts after that initial one unless a concern is raised," said NASA public affairs officer Katherine Trinidad. Navy Capt.

After 19 years of marriage, three children and one magnificent shuttle flight into space, NASA astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak's life was beginning to unravel. The Navy captain had separated from her husband a few weeks ago and, according to papers filed in court, began stalking a female Air Force officer who was dating the astronaut whom Nowak longed for.

NASA announced a review of its screening process Wednesday after the arrest of astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak this week in Florida on charges of assault and attempted murder. Under the space agency's recruitment process, astronaut candidates undergo a battery of behavioral tests and are interviewed by a psychologist and a psychiatrist before being selected. Only 0.7% of candidates are chosen.

A NASA space telescope for the first time has identified molecules in the atmospheres of worlds outside our solar system. Recent observations indicate that two giant gas planets trillions of miles away are cloudier and drier than theorists had predicted. However, just as important as the unprecedented scientific data is the potential the discovery holds for eventually finding life on distant Earth-like bodies.

What would happen if an astronaut came unglued in space and, say, destroyed the ship's oxygen system or tried to open the hatch and kill everyone aboard? That was the question on some minds after Lisa Marie Nowak was arrested in Orlando, Fla., this month on charges that she tried to kidnap and kill a woman she regarded as her rival for another astronaut's affections. It turns out NASA has a detailed set of written procedures for dealing with a suicidal or psychotic astronaut in space.

NASA will delay the first manned flight of the new spacecraft designed to take humans back to the moon because of budget constraints, the agency's director said Wednesday. The craft, called the Orion, won't fly until early 2015, four to six months later than planned, NASA administrator Michael Griffin told legislators.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has snapped never-before-seen images of Saturn from above and below its ring system, the space agency said Thursday. The images were taken in recent weeks by the probe, which blasted off on a mission to study the planet and its bands a decade ago. Over the last two months, the craft has climbed to higher and higher inclinations, providing glimpses of the planet and rings that have excited scientists.