Space Exploration News

A simple schematic of the configuration of the solar wind-driven Earth magnetosphere and the rapidly rotating Saturn magnetosphere. Image credit: Xu et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-69666-9.

Saturn’s Magnetic Shield is Skewed, Offering Clues to Alien Worlds

Apr 1, 2026 by News Staff

Archival data from ESA’s Cassini mission reveal that Saturn’s protective magnetic bubble is lopsided, shaped not just by the solar wind but by its...

Nickel is present in bright magnesium-sulfate veins in Jezero crater on Mars, supporting an authigenic origin. Image credit: Manelski et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-70081-3.

Nickel-Rich Rocks Discovered by Perseverance Hint at Complex Chemistry on Early Mars

Apr 1, 2026 by News Staff

New findings from Neretva Vallis, an ancient river channel that once transported water into Jezero crater on Mars, reveal unusually high nickel levels...

An artist’s impression of the asteroid 2025 MN45. Image credit: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory / NOIRLab / SLAC / AURA / P. Marenfeld.

Earth’s Building Blocks Came from Close to Home, Planetary Scientists Say

Mar 31, 2026 by News Staff

A new analysis of isotopic signatures across planets and meteorite parent bodies suggests our home world formed entirely from inner solar system material,...

This image of 3I/ATLAS was captured by the Navigation Camera (NavCam) onboard Juice in November 2025. Image credit: ESA / Juice / NavCam.

How Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Met Unlikely Observer

Mar 24, 2026 by News Staff

On its way to Jupiter, ESA’s Juice spacecraft briefly turned its gaze toward a rare interstellar visitor, 3I/ATLAS, capturing valuable data from an object...

Hayabusa-2 image of the asteroid Ryugu as seen from a distance of 3.7 miles. A particularly large crater is visible near the center of the image. Image credit: JAXA / University of Tokyo / Kochi University / Rikkyo University / Nagoya University / Chiba Institute of Technology / Meiji University / University of Aizu / AIST.

DNA’s Building Blocks May Have Arrived from Space, Asteroid Ryugu Samples Suggest

Mar 17, 2026 by News Staff

Samples returned by JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 mission from the C-type asteroid (162173) Ryugu contain all five canonical nucleobases — purines (adenine...

This artist’s illustration shows the ejection of a cloud of debris after NASA’s DART spacecraft collided with the asteroid Dimorphos. Image credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser.

NASA’s Planetary Defense Test Changed Binary Asteroid’s Orbit around the Sun

Mar 9, 2026 by News Staff

New measurements show that the DART impact in 2022 not only shortened the orbit of the moonlet Dimorphos around its parent asteroid, Didymos, but also...

This is an artist's impression of a rocky and water-rich asteroid being torn apart by the strong gravity of the white dwarf star GD 61. Image credit: Mark A. Garlick, Space-art.co.uk / University of Warwick / University of Cambridge.

Extremophile Bacteria May Hitch Rides on Asteroid Fragments

Mar 4, 2026 by News Staff

Earlier work has demonstrated that an extremophile bacterium species called Deinococcus radiodurans can survive the radiation, cold, and desiccation associated...

This is an artist’s concept of the Jupiter’s moon Ganymede; two auroral ovals can be seen over northern and southern mid-latitudes. Image credit: NASA / ESA / G. Bacon, STScI / J. Saur, University of Cologne.

Ganymede’s Auroral Patches Reveal Shared Physics with Earth’s Aurorae

Mar 2, 2026 by News Staff

Scientsts from the United States, Europe and China have used the Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) onboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft to map detailed patch...

NASA astronaut Michael Scott Hopkins performs a microgravity experiment on the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA.

Fungi on International Space Station Show Surprising Metal Extraction Skills

Feb 18, 2026 by News Staff

As human space exploration pushes farther from Earth, the need for sustainable ways to obtain local resources is becoming increasingly urgent, as routine...

A small mare ridge in Northeast Mare Imbrium taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera. Image credit: NASA / GSFC / Arizona State University.

Moon is More Geologically Active than Previously Thought

Feb 18, 2026 by News Staff

Planetary scientists have identified thousands of small mare ridges (SMRs) across the Moon’s maria, pointing to active tectonic forces that may shape...

This mosaic of Saturn and its largest moon Titan combines six images -- two each of red, green and blue spectral filters -- to create this natural color view. The images were obtained with Cassini’s wide-angle camera on May 6, 2012, at a distance of approximately 778,000 km (483,000 miles) from Titan. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Saturn’s Ring System, Hyperion and Titan May Have Originated in Collision of Two Proto-Moons

Feb 12, 2026 by Natali Anderson

In a paper to be published in the Planetary Science Journal, scientists from SETI Institute, Southwest Research Institute, Caltech and the Observatoire...

This perspective view from ESA’s Mars Express shows three of Mars’ famously colossal volcanoes (from left to right): Arsia, Pavonis and Ascraeus Mons. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin.

New Research Uncovers Hidden Complexity beneath Martian Surface

Feb 12, 2026 by News Staff

New orbital data reveal that the most recently active volcanic systems on Mars weren’t simple one-off blasts into space; instead, long-lived magmatic...

Illustration of the electrodynamic interaction between Enceladus and Saturn; the primary Alfvén wing is shown in blue, and the reflected Alfvén wings in magenta; the arrow indicates the corotation direction of the Enceladus plasma torus. Image credit: Fabrice Etifier, École Polytechnique.

Enceladus Plays Bigger Role in Shaping Saturn’s Space Environment than Previously Thought

Feb 9, 2026 by News Staff

A new analysis of data from four instruments aboard NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has demonstrated the crucial role that Saturn’s small icy moon Enceladus...

Magellan radar image of Venus displaying several pit chains and the identified skylight, marked as A, potentially providing access to the subsurface (i.e., empty void); the white arrow indicates the radar illumination direction. Image credit: NASA / Carrer et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-68643-6.

Hidden Caves on Venus? New Analysis Suggests Massive Lava Tube beneath Venusian Surface

Feb 9, 2026 by Sergio Prostak

Using archival radar data from NASA’s Magellan spacecraft, planetary researchers have identified a vast underground conduit beneath the surface in the...

This graphic shows the long-chain organic molecules decane, undecane, and dodecane, and NASA’s Curiosity rover. Image credit: NASA / Dan Gallagher.

Mars Organics Can’t Be Fully Explained by Geological Processes Alone, NASA Study Says

Feb 9, 2026 by Natali Anderson

Known non-biological sources, from meteorites to surface chemistry, fall short of accounting for organic compounds detected by NASA’s Curiosity rover,...

This visible-light image of Jupiter was created from data captured on January 11, 2017 using Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. Near the top, a long brown feature called a ‘brown barge’ extends 72,000 km (nearly 45,000 miles) in the east-west direction. The Great Red Spot stands out prominently in the lower left, while the smaller feature nicknamed Red Spot Jr. (known to Jovian scientists as Oval BA) appears to its lower right. Image credit: NASA / ESA / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / Wong et al. / de Pater et al. / M. Zamani.

Jupiter is Smaller and More ‘Squashed’ than Previously Believed, New Juno Data Reveal

Feb 4, 2026 by Natali Anderson

Using high-precision radio-occultation measurements from NASA’s Juno mission and incorporating the effects of zonal winds, planetary scientists derived...

This close-up color image of a small-scale dust storm on Mars was acquired by the HRSC instrument on ESA’s Mars Express in April 2018. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Even Local Dust Storms Can Drive Water Loss on Mars, Study Suggests

Feb 4, 2026 by News Staff

Mars almost certainly once held abundant water. Until now, observations have shown that most atmospheric water loss occurs during the Red Planet’s southern...

In this composite image, red pixels mark locations on Europa’s surface where ammonia-bearing compounds were detected; purple indicates no such detection. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Ammonia-Bearing Compounds Detected on Europa for First Time

Jan 30, 2026 by News Staff

A new analysis of archival data from the Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) on board NASA’s Galileo spacecraft has revealed the first evidence...

This artist’s concept depicts a cutaway view showing Europa’s ice shell. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / Koji Kuramura / Gerald Eichstädt.

Europa’s Ice Shell is Much Thicker than Previously Thought

Jan 29, 2026 by News Staff

New microwave measurements from NASA’s Juno spacecraft reveal Europa’s ice shell may stretch nearly 29 km (18 miles) deep, reshaping planetary scientists’...