Space Exploration News

Europa’s Creeping Ice Might Make Far More Heat than Planetary Researchers Thought

The surface of Europa looms large in this newly-reprocessed color view; image scale is 1.6 km per pixel; north on Europa is at right. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SETI Institute.
Apr 18, 2016 by News Staff

As Europa — the sixth-closest moon of Jupiter and the smallest of its four Galilean satellites — orbits, its icy surface heaves and falls with the pull of Jupiter’s gravity, creating enough heat to support a subsurface ocean. Now, a new study suggests that this process, known as tidal dissipation, could create far more heat in the moon’s ice than planetary researchers had previously assumed. The surface of Europa looms large in this...

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Cassini Samples, Analyzes Interstellar Dust at Saturn

Apr 15, 2016 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Cassini spacecraft has detected the faint but distinct signature of dust coming from outside our Solar System, from the Local Interstellar...

This wide-field view of the sky around Alpha Centauri was created from photographic images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. Image credit: ESO / Digitized Sky Survey 2 / Davide De Martin.

Breakthrough Starshot: Stephen Hawking, Yuri Milner Announce Plan to Reach Alpha Centauri

Apr 14, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Theoretical physicist Prof. Stephen Hawking and science philanthropist Yuri Milner unveiled this week a new initiative, called Breakthrough Starshot, to...

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.

Comet, Asteroid Impacts 4 Billion Years Ago Likely Enhanced Life-Supporting Habitat on Mars

Apr 6, 2016 by News Staff

The bombardment of the Red Planet about 4 billion years ago (Noachian period) by giant comets and asteroids likely enhanced climate conditions enough to...

Space environment data collected by New Horizons over a billion miles of its journey to Pluto will play a key role in testing and improving models of the space environment throughout the Solar System. This visualization is one example of such a model: it shows the simulated space environment out to Pluto a few months before New Horizons’ closest approach. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio / Space Weather Research Center / Community-Coordinated Modeling Center / Enlil and Dusan Odstrcil, GMU.

New Horizons Observes Solar Wind Changes in Outer Solar System

Apr 6, 2016 by News Staff

The Solar Wind Around Pluto (SWAP) instrument on NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has recorded significant changes in how the solar wind behaves far from...

In this stunning Saturnian vista, icy geysers erupt along narrow fractures on Enceladus. The majestic plumes were actually discovered by instruments on the Cassini Spacecraft during close encounters with bright and shiny Enceladus in 2005. Image credit: Michael Carroll / NASA.

Planetary Researchers Explain Sustained Eruptions on Enceladus

Mar 29, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Planetary researchers on NASA’s Cassini mission have published a new study describing the process that drives and sustains long-lived geysers on Enceladus,...

Artist's concept of a cryobot in the ocean of Jupiter's moon Europa. Image credit: NASA.

Scientists Produce First Roadmap for European Astrobiology

Mar 28, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Researchers on the AstRoMap project, a coordination action supported by the European Commission, have surveyed the state of the art of astrobiology in...

NASA Scientists Identify Titan’s Tallest Peak

Mar 25, 2016 by News Staff

Planetary researchers with NASA’s Cassini mission have identified the highest point on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. Titan’s Mithrim Montes is...

Moon (Gregory H. Revera / CC BY-SA 3.0)

Study: Moon Moved from Its Original Axis 3 Billion Years Ago

Mar 24, 2016 by News Staff

Earth’s moon wandered off its original axis about 3 billion years ago, a new study led by Southern Methodist University planetary researcher Matt Siegler...

The bright spots near the center of Occator crater are shown in enhanced color in this view from NASA’s Dawn robotic spacecraft. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA / PSI / LPI.

New Images of Ceres Show Its Mysterious Bright Spots in Unprecedented Detail

Mar 22, 2016 by News Staff

Planetary researchers from NASA’s Dawn mission have released new images of the dwarf planet Ceres, including anticipated views of its intriguing ‘bright...

This view of the Martian gravity map shows the Tharsis volcanoes and surrounding flexure: the white areas in the center are higher-gravity regions produced by the massive Tharsis volcanoes, and the surrounding blue areas are lower-gravity regions that may be cracks in the crust. Image credit: MIT / UMBC-CRESST / GSFC.

NASA Scientists Release Map of Mars’ Gravity

Mar 22, 2016 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by Dr. Antonio Genova of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has released a detailed new map of Mars’ gravity. This view of...

This high-resolution image of Pluto was taken by New Horizons on July 14. Pluto’s surface sports a remarkable range of subtle colors, enhanced in this view to a rainbow of pale blues, yellows, oranges, and deep reds. Many landforms have their own distinct colors, telling a complex geological and climatological story that scientists have only just begun to decode. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

Science Papers Provide New Data from Pluto System Flyby

Mar 18, 2016 by News Staff

Researchers on the New Horizons team have released a set of five scientific papers describing results from the July 2015 flyby of the Pluto system. This...

‘Bite mark’ on Pluto. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Team Finds ‘Bite Mark’ on Pluto

Mar 14, 2016 by News Staff

Members of the New Horizons mission team have discovered a huge ‘bite mark’ on the surface of the dwarf planet Pluto. ‘Bite mark’ on Pluto. The...

Artist’s impression visualizing the ExoMars 2016 TGO, with its thrusters firing, beginning its entry into Mars orbit. Image credit: ESA / ATG medialab.

ExoMars 2016 Blasts Off from Baikonur

Mar 14, 2016 by News Staff

The ExoMars 2016 mission blasted off from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome atop a Proton-M rocket at 02:31 a.m. PDT (05:31 a.m. EDT, 09:31 a.m. GMT,...

An artist’s rendering of a classical nova. Image credit: David Hardy, www.astroart.org.

‘Pre-Solar Grains’ Could Be Remnants of Ancient Novae

Mar 11, 2016 by News Staff

Tiny particles of stardust have been found in meteorites. Whether some of these particles, known as ‘pre-solar grains,’ came from classical novae is...

Ahuna Mons is seen in this mosaic of images from Dawn. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Dawn Beams Back New Images of Ceres’ Mysterious ‘Pyramid-Shaped’ Mountain

Mar 10, 2016 by News Staff

This incredible mosaic of images from NASA’s Dawn orbiter shows one of Ceres’ most intriguing features — a mysterious mountain called Ahuna Mons. Ahuna...

Mercury. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Planetary Researchers Explain Why Mercury’s Surface is So Dark

Mar 8, 2016 by News Staff

According to a team of planetary scientists led by Dr. Patrick Peplowski of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, planet Mercury’s...

Methane snow-capped mountains in Cthulhu Regio, Pluto. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Spots Methane Snow-Capped Mountains on Pluto

Mar 7, 2016 by News Staff

This newly released image from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft shows a chain of snowcapped mountains in Pluto’s Cthulhu Regio. Methane snow-capped mountains...

Mars’ moon Phobos as observed by NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft. Image credit: NASA / CU /LASP.

Phobos in Ultraviolet: Latest Photo from NASA’s MAVEN Spacecraft

Mar 1, 2016 by News Staff

This false-color image of Phobos, the larger and inner of the two natural satellites of Mars, was taken by the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph instrument...

Solar System and the interstellar medium. Image credit: NASA / IBEX / Adler Planetarium.

Scientists Determine Strength, Direction of Local Interstellar Magnetic Field

Feb 29, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using data from NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), researchers have accurately determined the strength and direction of the magnetic field...

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