Space Exploration News

Artist’s conception of the complex magnetic field environment at Mars. Yellow lines represent magnetic field lines from the Sun carried by the solar wind, blue lines represent Martian surface magnetic fields, white sparks are reconnection activity, and red lines are reconnected magnetic fields that link the surface to space via the Martian magnetotail. Image credit: Anil Rao / University of Colorado / MAVEN / NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Mars Has a Twisted Magnetotail, NASA Research Reveals

Oct 20, 2017 by News Staff

According to new research using data from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN) spacecraft, the Red Planet has an invisible magnetic...

Artist’s concept of a colony on Mars. Image credit: NASA.

Plasma Technology Could Hold Key to Creating Oxygen Supply on Mars

Oct 19, 2017 by News Staff

A study published in the journal Plasma Sources Science and Technology argues that Mars, with its 96% carbon dioxide (CO2) atmosphere, has nearly ideal...

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.

Toxic Ice Cloud Found in Titan’s Stratosphere

Oct 19, 2017 by News Staff

Planetary researchers with NASA’s Cassini mission have detected a cloud of toxic hybrid ice high above the south pole of Saturn’s hazy moon, Titan. This...

Powerful Solar Storms Could Electrically Charge Mars’ Moon Phobos

Oct 18, 2017 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Advances in Space Research suggests that solar storms create a complex electrical environment around Phobos, giving...

In this screenshot from the short animated film Cassini’s Grand Finale, the spacecraft is shown breaking apart after entering the atmosphere of Saturn. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA Researchers Reconstruct Cassini’s Dive into Saturn’s Atmosphere

Oct 15, 2017 by News Staff

Analysis of science data from Cassini’s final plunge is ongoing, but NASA researchers already have a clear understanding of how the spacecraft behaved...

It’s raining on Titan. Image credit: David A. Hardy, AstroArt / NASA.

Heavy Methane Rainstorms Batter Titan, Researchers Say

Oct 13, 2017 by News Staff

Saturn’s hazy moon has surprisingly extreme rainstorms, according to new research published in the journal Nature Geoscience. It’s raining on Titan....

A final image from ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft, shortly before it made a controlled impact onto Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on September 30, 2016, was reconstructed from residual telemetry. The image measures about 1 m across. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / MPS for OSIRIS Team / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA.

ESA’s Rosetta Team Reconstructs Probe’s Final Image

Oct 10, 2017 by News Staff

Rosetta’s final image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by the probe shortly before its controlled impact into the comet’s surface on September...

Mars’ Eridania Basin Once Held Vast Sea

Oct 9, 2017 by News Staff

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has identified what appear to be ancient hydrothermal deposits in the Eridania region in the southern highlands...

This image of Jupiter, Io and Europa was taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft on September 1, 2017 at 6:14 p.m. EDT (3:14 p.m. PDT), and then processed by citizen scientist Roman Tkachenko. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Roman Tkachenko.

NASA’s Juno Orbiter Observes Jupiter and Two Galilean Moons

Oct 8, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

Juno captured this color portrait of the edge of Jupiter and two of the gas giant’s largest moons — Io and Europa — as it performed its eighth...

This image combines two products from the first pointing at Phobos by Mars Odyssey’s THEMIS camera. Surface-temperature information from observation in thermal-infrared wavelengths is overlaid on a more detailed image from a visible-light observation. The left edge of the small moon was in darkness, and the right edge in morning sunlight. The distance to Phobos from Mars Odyssey during the observation was about 3,424 miles (5,511 km). Researchers will analyze the surface-temperature information from this observation and possible future THEMIS observations to learn how quickly the surface warms after sunup or cools after sundown. That could provide information about surface materials, because larger rocks heat or cool more slowly than smaller particles do. The thermal information in this image is from merging observations made in four thermal-infrared wavelength bands, centered from 11.04 microns to 14.88 microns. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Arizona State University.

Mars Odyssey Captures Phobos in Infrared Light

Oct 5, 2017 by News Staff

The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera on NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft observed Phobos — the larger and inner of the two natural...

Mars Odyssey spotted possible water ice in the Medusa Fossae area of Mars, which is in an equatorial region of the planet to the lower left in this view. Image credit: Steve Lee, University of Colorado / Jim Bell, Cornell University / Mike Wolff, Space Science Institute / NASA.

NASA’s Mars Odyssey Orbiter Spots Possible Water Ice near Martian Equator

Oct 2, 2017 by News Staff

NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft has discovered evidence of significant hydration near the Martian equator. Mars Odyssey spotted possible water ice in...

Artist’s conception of MAVEN’s Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph (IUVS) observing Martian aurora, which is similar to Earth’s Aurora borealis but has a different origin. Image credit: University of Colorado.

NASA: Recent Solar Storm Sparked Global Aurora on Mars

Oct 2, 2017 by News Staff

A solar event on September 11, 2017 sparked a global aurora on the Red Planet more than 25 times brighter than any previously seen by NASA’s MAVEN (Mars...

Pluto’s bladed terrain as seen from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft during its July 2015 flyby. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

Planetary Researchers Solve Mystery of Pluto’s ‘Bladed Terrain’

Sep 27, 2017 by News Staff

Strange formations are found at the highest altitudes on the surface of the dwarf planet Pluto. They resemble giant knife blades of ice and can soar many...

A young planetary system. Image credit: NASA / FUSE / Lynette Cook.

Research Sheds Light on Sequence of Events that Led to Creation of Earth and Mars

Sep 27, 2017 by News Staff

New research, reported in the journal Nature, changes scientists’ understanding of how terrestrial planets attain their physical and chemical characteristics. A...

This image was taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft on September 1, 2017 at 5:58 p.m. EDT (2:58 p.m. PDT), and then processed by citizen scientist Gerald Eichstaedt. At the time the image was taken, the probe was 4,707 miles (7,576 km) from the tops of the clouds of the planet at a latitude of about minus 17.4 degrees. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstaedt.

NASA’s Juno Probe Returns Stunning New Image of Jupiter

Sep 25, 2017 by News Staff

This striking image of Jupiter was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft as it performed its eighth flyby of the giant planet. This image was taken by NASA’s...

Large, smooth areas on Vesta correlated with higher concentrations of hydrogen. Image credit: Elizabeth Palmer / Essam Heggy.

Dawn Data Provide New Evidence for Ground Ice on Asteroid Vesta

Sep 22, 2017 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, researchers have found new evidence for the occurrence of ground ice on Vesta, the second largest asteroid of...

Deutsch et al found new evidence of ice sheets in permanently shadowed craters near the north pole of the planet Mercury. Image credit: Brown University.

Scientists Find New Evidence for Surface Water Ice at Mercury’s North Pole

Sep 21, 2017 by News Staff

A new study led by Brown University planetary researchers adds three new large members to the list of water ice-filled craters near Mercury’s north pole...

Aeolis Dorsa, Mars: the dotted white arrow points to curved strata recording point bar growth and river migration; the boundaries of ancient valley walls are defined by textural and albedo changes and are also associated with lateral river migration; stacked above the point bars and completely confined within the dotted white and black lines are topographically inverted river deposits outcropping as ridges (e.g., black arrow); in places (e.g., south of the dotted white arrow), the ridges run against the dotted boundaries, suggesting flow was once redirected along a valley wall. Image credit: Cardenas et al, doi: 10.1130/B31567.1.

Planetary Researchers Find More Evidence of Water on Early Mars

Sep 19, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

River deposits exist across the Martian surface. A large sedimentary basin named Aeolis Dorsa contains some of the planet’s most spectacular and densely...

Cassini entering Saturn’s atmosphere. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Cassini Completes Its Historic Journey with Plunge into Atmosphere of Saturn

Sep 15, 2017 by News Staff

Today, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft made its final approach to Saturn and dove into the gas giant’s atmosphere. Loss of contact with the orbiter took...