Space Exploration News

An artist’s concept of Pluto. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Detects Frozen Methane on Pluto

Jul 1, 2015 by News Staff

Using data from Ralph, a visible and infrared imager/spectrometer aboard NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, scientists have detected frozen methane on the...

Acquired on 27 June 2015, this first image from Sentinel-2A covers the Po Valley, framed by the Alps in the north and the coastal mountains of France and Italy in the south. The stripes observed over water are expected artifacts due to the arrangement of the detectors in the Sentinel-2A’s MSI instrument. Image credit: Copernicus data / ESA.

ESA’s Sentinel-2A Satellite Returns Its First Color Images of Earth

Jun 30, 2015 by News Staff

Just four days after being lofted into orbit, European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2A satellite delivered its first images of Earth. Acquired on 27 June...

A close-up of the bright spots on Ceres. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Dawn Captures Rare Image of Ceres’ Bright Spots at Dusk

Jun 30, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has beamed back a new photo of a cluster of bright spots on the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres. The space probe took this image...

This image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 16, 2015. The bright rings of Saturn can be seen at left. North on Dione is up and rotated 44 degrees to the left. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Cassini Captures Stunning Images of Dione

Jun 26, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini probe obtained new images of Saturn’s moon Dione during a close flyby on June 16, 2015. This image was taken in visible light with the...

This false-color image of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by the Rosetta navigation camera on 15 June 2015 from a distance of 207 km from the comet center. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / NAVCAM / CC BY-SA IGO 3.0.

ESA’s Rosetta Orbiter to Land on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Jun 24, 2015 by News Staff

Rosetta’s nominal mission was originally funded until the end of this year, but at a meeting yesterday, the European Space Agency has given formal approval...

Map of MAVEN’s auroral detections in December 2014 overlaid on the surface of Mars: the map shows that the aurora was widespread in the northern hemisphere, not tied to any geographic location. Image credit: University of Colorado.

MAVEN Sheds New Light on Atmosphere of Mars

Jun 24, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft has observed three phenomena in the atmosphere of Mars: a polar plume of escaping atmospheric...

This image shows Saturn’s moons Titan, Mimas (center bottom) and Rhea (upper left). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Triple Crescents: Cassini Captures Incredible Image of Three of Saturn’s Moons

Jun 23, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has captured a rare family photo of three of Saturn’s moons: Titan, Mimas and Rhea. This image shows Saturn’s moons Titan,...

These images, taken by New Horizons’ LORRI camera on June 18, 2015, show the discovery of significant surface details on Charon. The image on the left is the original image, displayed at four times the native LORRI image size. After applying the deconvolution technique, details become visible on the icy moon, including a distinct dark pole. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Views of Pluto’s Moon Charon Reveal Mysterious ‘Dark Pole’

Jun 23, 2015 by News Staff

Using new images from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, planetary scientists have discovered that Charon...

A cluster of bright spots can be seen in this image. The image was captured on June 9, 2015, when Dawn was nearly 2,700 miles (4,400 km) from the dwarf planet. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Dawn Captures New Images of Ceres’ Mystery Features

Jun 23, 2015 by News Staff

New pictures from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft show a cluster of mysterious bright spots and a pyramid-shaped peak on the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres. A...

Planetary Scientists Shed Light on Origins of Lakes on Titan

Jun 22, 2015 by News Staff

The surface of Titan – the largest moon of Saturn – dissolves in a similar process that creates sinkholes on our planet, says a team of scientists...

NASA Probe Beams Back New Color Images of Pluto, Charon

Jun 22, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s New Horizons has beamed back color pictures of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon. An artist’s concept of Pluto. Image credit: NASA / Johns...

Artist’s impression of a volcano erupting on Venus. Image credit: ESA / AOES Medialab.

Planetary Scientists Detect New Signs of Active Volcanoes on Venus

Jun 19, 2015 by News Staff

By looking at data from the monitoring camera on ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft, planetary researchers found transient spikes in temperature at several...

Researchers Discover Earth-Like Polar Winds on Titan

Jun 19, 2015 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by Dr Andrew Coates of University College London, UK, has found that the interactions between the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon...

Artist’s concept shows a simulated view from the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission Enters Development Stage

Jun 18, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s Europa Clipper – a future mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa – has completed its first major review by the agency and now is entering...

Moon. Image credit: Gregory H. Revera / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Scientists Discover Permanent Dust Cloud around Moon

Jun 17, 2015 by News Staff

According to a team of scientists led by Prof Mihaly Horanyi of the University of Colorado Boulder, the Moon is engulfed in a permanent but asymmetric...

This artist’s impression shows how Mars may have looked about 4 billion years ago. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Martian Ocean May Never Have Existed

Jun 17, 2015 by News Staff

A new study published online in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets suggests that a frigid, icy planet 3 – 4 billion years ago better...

A meteorite from the Red Planet. Image credit: Michael Helfenbein.

Researchers Discover Traces of Methane in Meteorites from Mars

Jun 16, 2015 by News Staff

A multinational group of scientists led by Dr Nigel Blamey of Brock University and the University of Aberdeen, UK, has found methane in fragments of Martian...

By combining radio-wave data exchanged between Rosetta and Philae as part of the CONSERT experiment with trajectory data and the current model of the shape of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the location of the lander has been determined to lie within an ellipse measuring approximately 16 x 160 m. The CONSERT ellipse corresponds to the outer limits of the various solutions identified for the likely landing site of Philae, although this depends to some extent on the shape model assumed. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / Philae / CONSERT / MPS for OSIRIS Team / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA.

Rosetta’s Philae Lander Wake-Up Kicks Off Intense Activity

Jun 16, 2015 by News Staff

The European Space Agency (ESA) and its Rosetta mission partners are working to juggle the spacecraft’s flight plan to help with renewed Philae lander...

Cassini spacecraft has recently provided scientists the first close-up, visible-light views of a behemoth hurricane swirling around Saturn's north pole. The hurricane's eye is about 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) wide, 20 times larger than the average hurricane eye on Earth (NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSI)

Saturn’s Polar Cyclones Feed on Small Thunderstorms, New Study Says

Jun 16, 2015 by News Staff

Huge polar hurricanes on Saturn are a puzzling phenomenon, since the gaseous planet lacks an essential ingredient for brewing up such hurricanes –...