Space Exploration News

Cassini Zooms in on Sunny Hydrocarbon Seas and Lakes on Titan

Cassini caught the sunlight glinting off Titan's seas and lakes filled with liquid methane or ethane. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona / University of Idaho.
Oct 31, 2014 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has caught a glimpse of bright sunlight reflecting off vast hydrocarbon seas and lakes near the north pole of the Saturn’s moon Titan. In the past, the spacecraft had captured, separately, views of the polar seas and lakes, and the Sun glinting off them, but this is the first time both have been seen together in the same view. Cassini caught the sunlight glinting off Titan’s seas and lakes filled with liquid...

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NASA’s Mars Fleet, Hubble Return Images of Comet Siding Spring

Oct 27, 2014 by News Staff

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Mars Rover Opportunity and two Mars orbiters – the MAVEN and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter – have captured...

A true-color picture of Hyperion taken by Cassini on 26 September 2005. Image credit: NASA / JPL / SSI / Gordan Ugarkovic.

Cassini Received 200-Volt Shock from Saturn’s Moon Hyperion in 2005, Scientists Say

Oct 26, 2014 by News Staff

On 26 September 2005, NASA/ESA Cassini spacecraft received the equivalent of a 200-volt electric shock from Hyperion’s electrostatically charged surface,...

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 3 August 2014 from a distance of 285 km. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / MPS for OSIRIS team / MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA.

Scientists Determine ‘Perfume’ of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Oct 25, 2014 by News Staff

European scientists using the Rosetta Orbiter Sensor for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) have found that Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the target...

HI-SEAS team members will stay in a dome on the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. Image credit: Sian Proctor / University of Hawaii at Manoa.

NASA’s HI-SEAS Team Training in Hawaii for Manned Mars Mission

Oct 21, 2014 by News Staff

Six astronaut-like members of NASA’s Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) team have embarked on the longest dedicated space travel...

Name Rosetta’s Landing Site on 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, Win Trip to Germany

Oct 21, 2014 by News Staff

The European Space Agency (ESA) is inviting the public to suggest a name for the spot where the Rosetta mission’s lander Philae will touch down on...

This image shows Comet 2013 A1, also known as Siding Spring, as captured by Wide Field Camera 3 on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA / ESA / J.-Y. Li, Planetary Science Institute.

NASA’s Mars Fleet Studies Comet Siding Spring

Oct 20, 2014 by News Staff

Three NASA Mars orbiters – Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN orbiter – and two Mars rovers are part of a campaign to study Comet...

Comet Siding Spring 2013 A1 to Pass Mars Today

Oct 19, 2014 by News Staff

On 19 October 2014, Comet Siding Spring will come within about 139,500 km of Mars – less than half the distance between Earth and our moon and less...

Mimas' surface, like the surfaces of most of the other major Saturnian moons without atmospheres, is not pure ice but contains some dark impurities; the relatively dark markings appear along the lower portion of the walls of the 130-km-wide Herschel Crater (the peak in the middle of the crater is about as tall as Mount Everest; the impact that made it likely almost destroyed the moon) and some of the smaller craters; scientists interpret this darkening as evidence for the gradual concentration of impurities from evaporating icy materials in areas where the dark impurities slide slowly down the crater wall. Image credit: NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute.

Saturn’s Moon Mimas May Have ‘Life-Friendly’ Underground Ocean

Oct 17, 2014 by News Staff

Mimas – the smallest and innermost of Saturn’s eight main moons – has either a rugby ball-shaped rocky core or an underground ‘life-friendly’...

Close-up of Philae’s primary landing site J, which is located on the head of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA.

ESA Confirms Landing Site on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Oct 15, 2014 by News Staff

European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission managers have confirmed the place and time they will attempt to land the Rosetta spacecraft’s Philae lander...

Some of the 70 irregular mare patches (s – smooth; u – uneven) Dr Braden and her colleagues identified on the Moon’s surface. Image credit: NASA / GSFC / Arizona State University.

Study Provides Evidence for Geologically Recent Volcanic Eruptions on Moon

Oct 14, 2014 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience has identified 70 volcanic features scattered across the lunar surface, all younger than 100 million...

Mars; the center of the scene shows the entire Valles Marineris canyon system. Image credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Scientists Find Evidence for Ancient Glaciers on Mars

Oct 7, 2014 by News Staff

Data from two instruments aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have led to the discovery of a rare acid-sulfate mineral deposit on Mars, providing...

Top: the full Moon as seen from the Earth, with the Procellarum border structures superimposed in red. Image credit: Kopernik Observatory / NASA / Colorado School of Mines / MIT / JPL / Goddard Space Flight Center. Bottom: global maps of lunar properties – topography and gravity gradient. Image credit: Jeffrey C. Andrews-Hanna et al.

Planetary Researchers Solve Mystery of Moon’s Oceanus Procellarum

Oct 2, 2014 by News Staff

According to a new study led by Prof Maria Zuber of MIT, Oceanus Procellarum – a vast mare on the western edge of the Moon’s near side –...

This new global geologic map of Mars depicts the most thorough representation of the planet’s surface; colors show distribution of 44 map units; for example, greens represent mainly lowland and basin units; yellow is relatively young impact material; reds and purples are volcanic units; blues are polar units; and earth tones are apron, transition, and highland units. Image credit: Tanaka, K.L. et al.

Scientists Create New Geologic Map of Mars

Sep 26, 2014 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by Dr Kenneth Tanaka of the U.S. Geological Survey has produced a new global geologic map of Mars that records the distribution...

An illustration of water in our Solar System through time from before the formation of the Sun through the creation of the planets. Image credit: Bill Saxton / NSF / AUI / NRAO.

Half of Water on Earth Older than Sun, Scientists Say

Sep 26, 2014 by News Staff

Half of the water on our planet predates the formation of the Sun, according to a groundbreaking study carried out by a team of researchers from the United...

The Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument aboard MAVEN obtained these images just 8 hours after arrival. Image credit: NASA / Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics / University of Colorado.

MAVEN Takes its First Images of Mars

Sep 25, 2014 by News Staff

NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft – the first spacecraft dedicated to exploring the upper atmosphere of Mars – has returned its first pictures...

This image shows an artist concept of NASA's MAVEN spacecraft. Image credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

NASA’s MAVEN Spacecraft Enters Orbit around Mars

Sep 22, 2014 by News Staff

On September 21, 2014, NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft successfully entered the orbit of the Red Planet after completing...

Southern hemisphere of Miranda; projection is orthographic, centered on the south pole; visible from left to right are Elsinore, Inverness, and Arden coronae. Image credit: NASA / Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Ted Stryk.

Miranda: Tidal Heating Responsible for Current Appearance of Uranus’ Icy Moon

Sep 20, 2014 by News Staff

Brown University planetary scientists in a new study have found that tidal heating is the main reason responsible for the present appearance of Miranda...

Cell-Like Structure Found within 1.3-Billion-Year-Old Martian Meteorite

Sep 17, 2014 by News Staff

A team of scientists from the United Kingdom and Greece led by Dr Elias Chatzitheodoridis of the National Technical University of Athens has found a mysterious...

Site J, the Rosetta probe’s landing site, is located on the head of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko; the inset shows a close-up of the site. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / MPS for OSIRIS team MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA.

ESA Researchers Pick Site for Rosetta Probe Landing on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Sep 15, 2014 by News Staff

The European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission has picked a location on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko where it aims to land the Rosetta’s lander,...

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