Space Exploration News

Elements in Samples from Asteroid Bennu Reflect Composition of Early Solar System, Study Says

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.
Aug 26, 2025 by News Staff

The first bodies to form in the Solar System acquired their materials from stars, the presolar molecular cloud and the protoplanetary disk. Asteroids that have not undergone planetary differentiation retain evidence of these primary materials; however, geologic processes such as hydrothermal alteration can dramatically change their compositions and chemistry. In new research, scientists analyzed the elemental and isotopic compositions of samples from...

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This illustration depicts the interior of Ceres, including the transfer of water and gases from the rocky core to a reservoir of salty water; carbon dioxide and methane are among the molecules carrying chemical energy beneath Ceres’ surface. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Dwarf Planet Ceres May Have Had Lasting Source of Chemical Energy to Fuel Habitability

Aug 20, 2025 by News Staff

Although there is no evidence that microorganisms ever existed on Ceres, the results of a new study support theories that this dwarf planet may have once...

Psyche captured images of Earth and our Moon from about 290 million km (180 million miles) away in July 2025, as it calibrated its imager instrument. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU.

Psyche Beams Back Images of Earth and Moon

Aug 20, 2025 by News Staff

On July 20 and July 23, 2025, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft looked back toward home and captured images of Earth and our Moon from about 290 million km (180...

This image combines an image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in the optical and observations of the Jovian aurora in the ultraviolet. Image credit: NASA / ESA.

Juno Detects Unusual Plasma Waves in Jupiter’s Aurora

Aug 19, 2025 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft, planetary researchers have detected a new type of plasma wave in the auroral zones above Jupiter’s north pole. This...

This image of the Paposo rock was taken by Curiosity’s MAHLI instrument on July 24, 2025. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS.

Curiosity Finds Coral-Shaped Rocks on Mars

Aug 12, 2025 by Natali Anderson

On July 24, 2025, the 4,608th Martian day, or Sol, of the mission, NASA’s Curiosity rover imaged wind-eroded rocks shaped like a piece of coral in the...

An artist’s impression of the super-Earth exoplanet HD 164922d. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

New Research Sheds Light on Evolution of Lava Planets

Jul 29, 2025 by News Staff

Lava planets are rocky exoplanets that orbit so close to their host star that their dayside is hot enough to melt silicate rock. Boukaré et al. introduce...

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft captured this stunning mosaic of Enceladus on October 5, 2008 as the spacecraft sped away from this geologically active moon of Saturn. Image credit: NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute.

Underground Microbial Life Could Survive on Mars, Europa and Enceladus Using Cosmic Rays

Jul 29, 2025 by News Staff

Radiolysis induced by Galactic cosmic rays could provide a viable energy source for microbial metabolism in the subsurface environments of rocky planetary...

Composite image of Uranus. Image credit: Marcos van Dam / W. M. Keck Observatory.

Uranus May Actually Be Warmer than Previously Expected

Jul 18, 2025 by News Staff

Uranus releases about 15% more energy than it receives from the Sun, according to two new papers published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal...

This HiRISE image shows a flat top, heavily eroded fluvial sinuous ridge on Mars; sand dunes can be seen migrating over the top of the fluvial sinuous ridge. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona.

Mars was Warm and Wet 3.7 Billion Years Ago, New Study Suggests

Jul 14, 2025 by News Staff

Planetary scientists have discovered more than 15,000 km of ancient riverbeds in Noachis Terra, a region in Mars’ southern highlands. This discovery...

Image of the entire NWA 16254 sample studied by Chen et al.: (a) a backscattered electron (BSE) image obtained by the TESCAN Integrated Mineral Analyzer (TIMA); (b) mineralogical mapping via TIMA; (c) distribution map of the iron content obtained via TIMA; (d) distribution map of the calcium content obtained via TIMA. Image credit: Chen et al., doi: 10.15302/planet.2025.25002.

Newly-Discovered Meteorite Offers Insights into Volcanic Processes on Ancient Mars

Jul 10, 2025 by Natali Anderson

The Martian meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 16254 is a 406-g gabbroic shergottite found two years ago in Algeria. Image of the entire NWA 16254 sample...

Backscattered electron image of the NWA 16286 sample. Image credit: Joshua Snape / University of Manchester.

2.35-Billion-Year-Old Lunar Meteorite Fills One-Billion-Year Gap in Volcanic History of the Moon

Jul 9, 2025 by News Staff

An analysis of Northwest Africa (NWA) 16286, a lunar meteorite with a unique chemical signature, offers fresh insights into how the Moon’s interior evolved,...

Donaldjohanson as seen by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft from a range of about 2,700 km (1,700 miles), about 3.2 minutes before closest approach on April 20, 2025. The illumination conditions, with the Sun almost behind Lucy, greatly reduce the contrast of topographic details. Image credit: NASA / Goddard / SwRI / Johns Hopkins APL.

Lucy Provides Full View of Main-Belt Asteroid Donaldjohanson

Jul 7, 2025 by News Staff

NASA’s Lucy mission continues to analyze images collected during the spacecraft’s April 20, 2025 encounter with the carbonaceous asteroid Donaldjohanson. Donaldjohanson...

An artist’s impression of a terraformed Mars. Image credit: Daein Ballard / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Can We Make Mars Habitable through Terraforming?

Jun 12, 2025 by News Staff

In their new paper, Los Alamos National Laboratory planetary scientist Nina Lanza and colleagues looked at what would be needed to make the surface environment...

This image of an impact crater in the Sirenum Fossae region of Mars was taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on March 30, 2015. The crater is approximately 3,300 feet (1-km) wide and appears relatively recent as it has a sharp rim and well-preserved ejecta. The steep inner slopes are carved by gullies and include possible recurring slope lineae on the equator-facing slopes. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona / Alfred McEwen.

Slope Streaks on Mars are Dry, New Study Suggests

May 26, 2025 by News Staff

Slope streaks are dark features on Martian slopes that form spontaneously and fade over years to decades. Some planetary scientists have interpreted those...

This view of Titan is among the last images NASA’s Cassini spacecraft sent to Earth before it plunged into the giant planet’s atmosphere. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Atmosphere of Saturn’s Hazy Moon Titan Wobbles Like Gyroscope, Planetary Researchers Find

May 22, 2025 by News Staff

Titan is the only moon in the Solar System with a significant atmosphere, and one that has long captivated planetary scientists. According to a new analysis...

Artist’s impression of a volcano erupting on Venus. Image credit: ESA / AOES Medialab.

Planetary Scientists Find New Evidence for Tectonic Activity on Venus

May 20, 2025 by News Staff

Venus, Earth’s ‘twin planet,’ presents clear contrasts in terms of surface conditions, atmospheric chemistry, and tectonic state. Understanding the...

The first visible-light image of green aurora on Mars (left), taken by the Mastcam-Z instrument on NASA’s Perseverance rover. On the right is a comparison image of the night sky of Mars without aurora but featuring the Martian moon Deimos. The moonlit Martian night sky, lit up mostly by Mars’ nearer and larger moon Phobos (outside the frame) has a reddish-brown hue due to the dust in the atmosphere, so when green auroral light is added, the sky takes on a green-yellow tone, as seen in the left image. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU / MSSS / SSI.

Perseverance Detects Visible-Wavelength Aurora on Mars

May 19, 2025 by News Staff

Mars hosts various auroral processes despite the planet’s tenuous atmosphere and lack of a global magnetic field. To date, all aurora observations have...

An artist’s illustration of a solar storm. Image credit: NASA.

Radiocarbon Spike 14,350 Years Ago was Caused by Strongest Known Solar Storm, Study Confirms

May 15, 2025 by News Staff

The Sun rarely produced extreme solar particle events, orders of magnitude stronger than everything directly observed. Their enormous power can greatly...

These images of Titan, taken by Webb on July 11, 2023 (top row), and the Keck II telescope on July 14, 2023 (bottom row), show methane clouds (white arrows) appearing at different altitudes in Titan’s northern hemisphere. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Keck Observatory.

Weather Report from Saturn’s Moon Titan: Partly Cloudy with Occasional Methane Showers

May 14, 2025 by NASA

Using data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and the Keck II telescope, astronomers found evidence of cloud convection in the northern hemisphere...

An artist’s concept of active volcanoes on Venus, depicting a subduction zone where the foreground crust plunges into the planet’s interior at the topographic trench. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Peter Rubin.

Modeling Study Provides New Details about Venus’ Crust

May 12, 2025 by News Staff

Planetary scientists expected the outermost layer of the crust of Earth’s hotter twin would grow thicker and thicker over time given its apparent lack...

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