Space Exploration News

Illustration taken from orbiter data identifying the coastal shelf region on Mars; analogous features on Earth are signatures of our global oceans, and only form over long periods of time. Image credit: A. Zaki.

Newly-Identified Geological Feature Points to Vast, Long-Dried Up Ocean in Northern Plains of Mars

Apr 20, 2026 by News Staff

A continent-like shelf beneath the Martian surface hints that a vast ocean once covered up to a third of Mars, reshaping the long-running debate over its...

This colorful view of Mercury was produced by using images from the color base map imaging campaign during MESSENGER’s primary mission. These colors are not what Mercury would look like to the human eye, but rather the colors enhance the chemical, mineralogical, and physical differences between the rocks that make up the planet’s surface. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Mercury’s Sulfur-Rich Magma May Rewrite How Solar System’s Innermost Planet Formed

Apr 15, 2026 by News Staff

New research from Rice University suggests sulfur keeps Mercury’s interior molten at lower temperatures, offering new clues to how the planet’s strange...

Jupiter (lower left) has a strong magnetic field which creates a cavity in its circumplanetary disk; Saturn (upper right) lacks a strong magnetic field so its circumplanetary disk evolves without a cavity. Image credit: Yuri I. Fujii / L-INSIGHT / Kyoto University / Shinichiro Kinoshita.

Jupiter’s Strong Magnetic Field May Explain Why It Has So Many Large Moons

Apr 7, 2026 by News Staff

The Jovian system has four large moons, including the largest moon in the Solar System, Ganymede, whereas the Saturnian system is dominated by one giant...

This mosaic image of asteroid Bennu is composed of 12 images collected on December 2, 2018 by OSIRIS-REx’s PolyCam instrument from a range of 15 miles (24 km). Image credit: NASA / NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / University of Arizona.

Asteroid Bennu’s Minerals and Organic Matter Occur in Distinct Chemical Domains: Study

Apr 6, 2026 by News Staff

A new nanoscale analysis of the Bennu sample OREX-800066-3 returned by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission shows that organic compounds and minerals cluster into...

Illustration of the predicted hexagonal carbon hydride compound under Neptune-like interior conditions. In this structure, carbon forms the outer spiral chains (yellow) and hydrogen forms the inner spiral chains (blue), consistent with the quasi-one-dimensional superionic behavior identified in first-principles simulations. Image credit: Cong Liu.

New Form of Matter May Lurk Deep Inside Uranus and Neptune

Apr 6, 2026 by News Staff

New computational simulations suggest ice-giant planets like Uranus and Neptune harbor a quasi-one-dimensional superionic state of carbon hydride that...

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe approaching the Sun. Image credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.

Closer Look at the Sun Reveals More Chaotic Magnetic Heart

Apr 1, 2026 by News Staff

A new analysis of data from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe shows that protons and heavy ions react differently to solar magnetic reconnection events, suggesting...

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...