Space Exploration News

This mosaic provides the best view ever obtained of the dwarf planet Pluto. The lower right edge of the planet in this view currently lacks high-resolution color coverage. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

Pluto’s Atmospheric Nitrogen Likely Has Internal Origin, Scientists Say

Aug 12, 2015 by News Staff

Researchers at Southwest Research Institute are studying the data collected by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft to discover what is pumping up the nitrogen...

This image was taken from a distance of 186 km from the center of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko; the jet is estimated to have a minimum speed of 10 m/s and originates from a location on the comet’s neck, in the rugged Anuket region. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / MPS for OSIRIS Team / MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA.

Rosetta Captures Dramatic Outburst from Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Aug 11, 2015 by News Staff

A dramatic short-lived outburst from 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was captured by the OSIRIS narrow-angle camera aboard ESA’s Rosetta orbiter on July 29,...

Scientists Find Evidence for Ancient Lake in Meridiani Planum on Mars

Aug 7, 2015 by News Staff

A team of scientists – led by Dr Brian Hynek from the University of Colorado Boulder – has discovered evidence of an ancient lake that likely...

The mysterious bright spots on Ceres lie in the Occator crater, which is about 60 miles (90 km) across and two miles (4 km) deep. This image comes from the animation, generated using data from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft; vertical relief has been exaggerated by a factor of five; exaggerating the relief helps scientists understand and visualize the topography much more easily, and highlights features that are sometimes subtle. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA / LPI.

NASA Dawn’s Flight over Dwarf Planet Ceres

Aug 7, 2015 by News Staff

Explore the craters, bright spots, mountains and other features of Ceres, a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The data for this...

The asteroid 31 Euphrosyne glides across a field of background stars in this time-lapse view from NASA’s WISE spacecraft. WISE obtained the images used to create this view over a period of about a day around May 17, 2010, during which it observed the asteroid four times. The moving asteroid appears as a string of orange dots because it is much cooler than the distant background stars. Stars have temperatures in the thousands of degrees, but the asteroid is cooler than room temperature. Thus the stars are represented by shorter wavelength blue colors in this view, while the asteroid is shown in longer wavelength reddish colors. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Researchers Track Down Origins of Some Near-Earth Objects

Aug 6, 2015 by News Staff

A new study using data from NASA’s NEOWISE space telescope has traced some dark Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) back to their likely source – a family...

The far side of the Moon and Earth as seen on July 16, 2015 from a distance of one million miles by NASA’s EPIC camera. Image credit: NASA / NOAA.

DSCOVR Satellite Captures Far Side of Moon Passing over Earth

Aug 6, 2015 by News Staff

The Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) – a four megapixel CCD camera aboard the DSCOVR (Deep Space Climate Observatory) satellite –...

In this simulated image of Saturn’s rings, color is used to present information about ring particle sizes in different regions based on the measured attenuations of three radio signals. Image credit: NASA.

Planetary Rings Have Universal Particle Distribution

Aug 5, 2015 by News Staff

In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists have discovered that planetary rings, such as those orbiting Saturn,...

Global map of Charon as of July 30, 2015. The map is in simple cylindrical projection, with zero longitude (the Pluto-facing direction) in the center. It includes all available resolved images of the moon’s surface captured between July 7-14, 2015 on the anti-Pluto facing hemisphere. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

NASA Releases Global Map of Pluto’s Moon Charon

Aug 3, 2015 by News Staff

NASA scientists have created the best-ever global map of Charon, using images taken by New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager in July 2015. Global...

Rosetta NavCam image taken on 14 March 2015 at 85.7 km from the center of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko; it has been cleaned to remove the more obvious bad pixels and cosmic ray artefacts, and intensities have been scaled. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / NAVCAM / CC BY-SA IGO 3.0.

Philae Lander Finds Organic Compounds on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Jul 31, 2015 by News Staff

A special issue of the journal Science highlights seven new studies that delve into the data that has been collected by ESA’s probe Philae on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This...

Reddish streaks cut across the surface of Tethys in this image. The streaks are narrow, curved lines on the moon’s surface, only a few miles wide but several hundred miles long. The yellowish tones on the left side of the view are a result of alteration of the moon’s surface by high-energy particles from Saturn’s magnetosphere. This particle radiation slams into the moon’s trailing hemisphere, modifying it chemically and changing its appearance in enhanced-color views like this one. The area of Tethys shown here is centered on 30 degrees north latitude, 187 degrees west longitude, and measures 305 by 258 miles (490 by 415 km) across. The original color images were obtained at a resolution of about 2,300 feet (700 m) per pixel on April 11, 2015. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Cassini Spots Strange Red ‘Arcs’ on Saturn’s Moon Tethys

Jul 30, 2015 by News Staff

This enhanced-color mosaic of Tethys shows a range of features including mysterious arc-shaped streaks. This mosaic of Tethys is an orthographic projection...

NASA Scientists Produce New Topographic Maps of Ceres

Jul 29, 2015 by News Staff

Researchers at NASA have just released colorful new topographic maps of the dwarf planet Ceres, based on data gathered by the agency’s Dawn spacecraft. This...

Global map of Pluto as of July 28, 2015. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

NASA Releases Updated Global Map of Pluto

Jul 28, 2015 by News Staff

This map-projected view of the dwarf planet Pluto was created from images taken by New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) between July...

Several images taken using green, UV and IR spectral filters were combined to create this color view of Tethys. The moon’s dark side is faintly illuminated by reflected light from Saturn. North on Tethys is up in this view. The impact crater Odysseus is seen at the left. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Cassini Snaps New Image of Saturn’s Moon Tethys

Jul 28, 2015 by News Staff

The 280-mile-wide (450 km) impact crater Odysseus on Tethys stands out brightly from the rest of the illuminated crescent as seen by the NASA/ESA Cassini...

The hazes in Pluto’s atmosphere provide a crucial link between the sunlight-driven chemistry in the upper atmosphere and the reddish-brown hydrocarbons called tholins that rain down and darken the surface. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Sheds More Light on Pluto’s Atmosphere

Jul 27, 2015 by News Staff

Just seven hours after closest approach, the spacecraft looked back and captured an incredible image of the dwarf planet’s atmosphere, backlit by the...

This artist’s concept shows a windbot bobbing through the skies of Jupiter, drawing energy from turbulent winds there; the windbot is portrayed as a polyhedron with sections that spin to absorb wind energy and create lift, although other potential configurations are being investigated. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Windbots Could Explore Solar System’s Gas Giants

Jul 27, 2015 by News Staff

Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are investigating the feasibility of creating a ‘windbot,’ a new kind of probe designed to...

NASA Releases New Portrait of Dwarf Planet Pluto

Jul 27, 2015 by News Staff

Scientists with NASA’s New Horizons mission have released the sharpest view yet of Pluto. This mosaic provides the best view ever obtained of the dwarf...

This image of the southern region of Sputnik Planum reveals icy plains, two mountain ranges, and a region where it appears that ancient, heavily-cratered terrain has been invaded by much newer icy deposits. The large crater is about 30 miles (50 km) wide. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

NASA’s New Horizons Discovers Exotic Ices on Pluto

Jul 24, 2015 by News Staff

The New Horizons spacecraft has found evidence of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane ices flowing across the dwarf planet’s surface. In the northern...

New Image from New Horizons Shows Pluto, Charon in Near-True Color

Jul 24, 2015 by News Staff

This image of the dwarf planet and its largest moon was captured by New Horizons’ Ralph color imager on July 14, 2015, five hours before Pluto closest...

This image was captured on July 14, 2015 from a distance of 48,000 miles and received on Earth on July 20. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Spots Second Mountain Range on Pluto

Jul 22, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has discovered a new mountain range in a heart-shaped region named Tombaugh Regio. This image was captured on July 14,...