Space Exploration News

Sep 6, 2024 by News Staff

There is extensive geologic evidence of ancient volcanic activity on the Moon, but it is unclear how long that volcanism persisted. Magma fountains produce volcanic glasses, which have previously been found in samples of the Moon’s surface. Dr. Qiuli Li and colleagues from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have analyzed around 3,000 glass beads from lunar soil samples collected by China’s Chang’e-5 mission....

Sep 3, 2024 by News Staff

Jupiter’s moon Ganymede has an ancient impact structure called a furrow system. This system is the largest impact structure in the outer Solar System,...

Aug 28, 2024 by News Staff

First hypothesized more than 60 years ago, the ambipolar electric field is a key driver of the polar wind, a steady outflow of charged particles into space...

Aug 27, 2024 by News Staff

Using data gathered by the Advanced Stellar Compass (ASC) and the Stellar Reference Unit (SRU) onboard NASA’s Juno orbiter, scientists have produced...

Aug 26, 2024 by News Staff

Although Venus is sometimes referred to as Earth’s twin, its current surface conditions are drastically different, making it inhospitable to life. Not...

Aug 16, 2024 by News Staff

The so-called Chicxulub impactor was a carbonaceous-type asteroid that had formed beyond the orbit of Jupiter, according to a new paper published in the...

Aug 13, 2024 by News Staff

Deuterons — atomic nuclei made up of a proton and a neutron — are thought to form in the same way as helium-3 nuclei, in collisions between...

Aug 13, 2024 by News Staff

Planetary scientists using spectral data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have confirmed the detection of hydroxyl molecules on the surface...

Aug 13, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Chloride deposits are markers for early Mars’ aqueous past, with important implications for the understanding of the Martian climate and habitability....

Aug 13, 2024 by News Staff

New data about the Martian crust gathered by NASA’s InSight lander allowed geophysicists at the University of California San Diego and the University...

Aug 8, 2024 by News Staff

One-third of Mars’ surface has shallow-buried water, but it is currently too cold for use by life. Proposals to warm Mars using greenhouse gases require...

Aug 7, 2024 by News Staff

This new image from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft shows Caralis Chaos, broken-down and dried-up remnants...

Aug 1, 2024 by Natali Anderson

In lunar regolith samples collected by China’s Chang’e-5 probe, planetary scientists have identified few-layer graphene formed together with complex...

Jul 22, 2024 by News Staff

Yellow crystals of elemental sulfur were revealed after NASA’s Curiosity rover happened to drive over a rock and crack it open on May 30, 2024, according...

Jul 18, 2024 by News Staff

Europa and Enceladus are key targets to search for evidence of alien life in our Solar System. However, the surface and shallow subsurface of these airless...

Jul 18, 2024 by News Staff

Established in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union, the current definition specifies that to qualify as a planet, a celestial body must orbit...

Jul 16, 2024 by News Staff

Saturn’s moon Titan was explored by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft from 2004 to 2017. While Cassini revealed a lot about this Earth-like world, its radar...

Jul 11, 2024 by News Staff

In a new study, planetary scientists found strong similarities between soils found in Gale Crater on Mars and those of Canada’s Newfoundland, a cold...

Jul 2, 2024 by News Staff

Within the uncertainties of involved astronomical and biological parameters, the Drake equation typically predicts that there should be many exoplanets...

Jun 28, 2024 by News Staff

Current impact rates at Mars could be 2-10 times higher than previously estimated, depending on the size of the meteoroids, according to new research. Mars;...