Space Exploration News

This graphic illustrates how Cassini scientists think water interacts with rock at the bottom of Enceladus’ ocean, producing hydrogen gas. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Southwest Research Institute.

Study: Active, Seafloor Hydrothermal Systems on Small Ocean Worlds Could Support Life

Jun 25, 2024 by News Staff

Ocean worlds are planetary bodies that have a liquid ocean, often under an icy shell or within the rocky interior. In our own Solar System, several moons...

An artist’s rendering of the surface of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. Image credit: Benjamin de Bivort, debivort.org / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Coastlines of Titan’s Largest Lakes and Seas Were Eroded by Wave Activity: Study

Jun 19, 2024 by News Staff

Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is the only known planetary body besides Earth on which standing liquids persist. Liquid hydrocarbons, supplied by rainfall...

Voyager 1 launched from Florida’s NASA Kennedy Space Center on September 5, 1977, 16 days after its twin, Voyager 2. This artist concept depicts one of NASA’s twin Voyager spacecraft. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA Returns Voyager 1 Spacecraft to Normal Science Operations

Jun 14, 2024 by News Staff

Voyager 1 is conducting science operations for the first time following a technical issue that arose in November 2023. Voyager 1 launched from Florida’s...

This image, obtained by the High Resolution Stereo Camera aboard ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, shows Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano not only on Mars but in the entire Solar System. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin.

Water Frost Deposits Spotted on Tropical Martian Volcanoes

Jun 11, 2024 by News Staff

Using high-resolution color images from ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Mars Express missions, planetary researchers have found evidence for morning...

This composite image, derived from data collected by the JIRAM instrument aboard NASA’s Juno orbiter, shows the central cyclone at Jupiter’s north pole and the eight cyclones that encircle it. JIRAM collects data in infrared, and the colors in this composite represent radiant heat: the yellow (thinner) clouds are about 9 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 13 degrees Celsius) in brightness temperature and the dark red (thickest) are around minus 181 degrees Fahrenheit (83 degrees Celsius). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / ASI / INAF / JIRAM.

Jupiter’s Polar Cyclones are Fueled by Processes Similar to Those Acting on Earth: Study

Jun 10, 2024 by News Staff

Planetary scientists first made the connection between Earth and Jupiter in 2018 when they noticed a striking similarity between images of Jupiter’s...

The South Pole-Aitken Basin on the lunar far side is one of the largest and oldest impact features in the Solar System. It’s easily seen in the elevation data. The low center is dark blue and purple. Mountains on its edge, remnants of outer rings, are red and yellow. Image credit: NASA / GSFC / University of Arizona.

NILS Detects Negative Ions on Lunar Surface

Jun 6, 2024 by News Staff

The Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface (NILS) instrument onboard China’s Chang’e-6 probe has detected negative ions on the surface of the Moon. These...

An artistic conception of the early Earth. Image credit: Simone Marchi / NASA.

Freshwater Appeared on Earth About 4 Billion Years Ago, Study Suggests

Jun 4, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Analyzing 4-billion-year-old zircon crystals from the Jack Hills in Western Australia’s Mid West region, geoscientists have pushed back the timeline...

This image shows the Sif Mons area with the active volcanic region highlighted in red. Image credit: Davide Sulcanese, IRSPS - Università d’Annunzio.

Venus is Currently Volcanically Active, New Study Confirms

May 28, 2024 by News Staff

Using radar data from NASA’s Magellan mission, planetary scientists have detected volcanic-related flow features in two different regions of Venus: on...

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.

Pluto’s Subsurface Ocean is 8% Denser than Seawater on Earth, Study Suggests

May 21, 2024 by News Staff

Planetary researchers from Washington University in St. Louis and the Lunar and Planetary Institute have used mathematical models and unprecedented high-resolution...

These views of Jupiter, captured by Juno during its 59th close flyby of the giant planet on March 7, 2024, provide a good look at Jupiter’s colorful belts and swirling storms, including the Great Red Spot. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt.

Amalthea: Juno Captures Solar System’s Reddest Object

May 15, 2024 by News Staff

NASA’s Juno orbiter captured these views of the tiny, red moon Amalthea and its parent planet and during a close flyby on March 7, 2024. These views...

Permanently shadowed regions in the north polar region of Ceres; the color indicates the maximum obliquity at which a location is in shadow through an entire orbit. Image credit: Schorghofer et al., doi: 10.3847/PSJ/ad3639.

Planetary Scientists Create Map of Ceres’ Cold Traps

May 13, 2024 by News Staff

The dwarf planet Ceres hosts permanently shadowed areas in its polar regions, and these regions are an interesting analog to Mercury and the Moon. Ceres’...

Representation of Cassini’s orbits used to calculate Titan’s gravity; the colored part of the orbits shows the distance from Cassini to Titan with the smallest distance in red; the cross-section of Titan shows the moon’s different layers with the ocean in blue; Saturn with rings and ring shadows can be seen in the background. Image credit: Britt Griswold, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Cassini Observations Suggest Underground Ocean on Titan

May 10, 2024 by News Staff

Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, harbors an internal low-density ocean of water or ammonia, according to an analysis of archival data from NASA’s Cassini...

Venus today is dry thanks to water loss to space as atomic hydrogen. Image credit: Aurore Simonnet / Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics / University of Colorado at Boulder.

New Study Explains Why Venus is Extremely Dry

May 7, 2024 by News Staff

Despite its Earth-like size and source material, Venus is extremely dry, indicating near-total water loss to space. Using computer simulations, planetary...

Mastcam mosaic from the Sol 1686 rover location looking behind the rover (downslope) at the transition point between the Sutton Island and Blunts Point Murray members. Images from Sols 1685-1689 display sedimentary textures of dark-toned manganese-rich sandstones and nearby rocks. Dashed line boxes in the large mosaic are shown as insets along the bottom of figure. Small red outlines show the approximate locations and extent of ChemCam observations. Throughout this transition area, dark-toned sandstones (presumably manganese-rich based on ChemCam observations at three locations) overlie light-toned materials. Insets from left to right: (a) Denning Brook, a manganese-rich fine-grained dark-toned sandstone ChemCam observation; (b) and (c) two light-toned blocks with cross-stratified textures, highlighted with yellow lines, 6 m away from Denning Brook and to the upper left in the large mosaic; (d) dark-toned materials (center of mosaic); and (E1) Newport Ledge, (E2) AEGIS post 1685a, (E3) Sugarloaf Mountain, three thin planar laminated dark-toned sandstones. Image credit: NASA / Caltech-JPL / MSSS.

Manganese-Rich Sandstones Point to Earth-Like Environment on Ancient Mars

May 2, 2024 by News Staff

In May 2017, NASA’s Curiosity rover observed higher than usual amounts of manganese in the lakebed rocks within Gale crater, Mars. These sedimentary...

This image of the Martian Inca City was captured by the High Resolution Stereo Camera onboard ESA’s Mars Express orbiter on February 27, 2024. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin.

Mars Express Spots ‘Spiders’ at Outskirts of Martian ‘Inca City’

Apr 24, 2024 by News Staff

ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft have spotted the telltale traces of ‘spiders’ scattered across the southern polar region of Mars. This image of the...

This global view of Io was obtained in January 1999 by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona.

Study: Jupiter’s Moon Io Has Been Volcanically Active for All of Its History

Apr 24, 2024 by News Staff

Sulfur and chlorine isotopes in Io’s atmosphere indicate that it has been volcanically active for the entire 4.57 billion-year history of the Solar System. This...

Illustrative workflow showcasing the process of comparative genomics analysis of Enterobacter bugandensis, evaluating its prevalence and metabolic interactions within the microbial community, and its successful adaptation within the ISS habitat. Image credit: Sengupta et al., doi: 10.1186/s40168-024-01777-1.

Biologists Find Mutated and Genetically Distinct Strains of Multi-Drug Resistant Bacterium on ISS

Apr 23, 2024 by Sergio Prostak

Enterobacter bugandensis is primarily found in clinical specimens including the human gastrointestinal tract. Illustrative workflow showcasing the process...

Kane & Byrne describe Venus as an anchor point from which planetary scientists can better understand the conditions that preclude life on exoplanets. Image credit: Kane & Byrne, doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02228-5.

Uninhabitable Venus Offers Lessons about Potential for Extraterrestrial Life

Apr 23, 2024 by News Staff

Fully understanding how a rocky planet becomes habitable and remains so is a fundamental challenge for planetary scientists and astrobiologists, given...

The JunoCam instrument aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft imaged Io, the most geologically active body in our Solar System, on February 3, 2024, from a distance of about 7,904 km (4,911 miles). Image credit: NASA / SwRI / MSSS.

NASA’s Juno Mission Provides Close-Ups of Intriguing Features on Io

Apr 19, 2024 by News Staff

In December 2023 and February 2024, NASA’s Juno spacecraft made extremely close flybys of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io, getting within about 1,500 km...