Space Exploration News

This image taken by STEREO-A spacecraft shows comet ISON, Earth, Mercury and comet 2P/Encke. Image credit: Karl Battams / NASA / STEREO / CIOC.

STEREO-A Spacecraft Zooms in on Comet ISON

Nov 26, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft have captured a series of images of the comet ISON. This image...

Distinctive feldspar-rich composition of Nili Patera, the Syrtis Major volcano, Mars. Image credit: NASA / JPL / JHUAPL / MSSS.

Planetary Scientists Find Evidence for Granite on Mars

Nov 19, 2013 by News Staff

U.S. researchers reporting in the journal Nature Geoscience have found strong evidence that the Red Planet has granitic rocks. Distinctive feldspar-rich...

This image shows ancient Mars capable of supporting liquid water on its surface. Image credit: Michael Lentz / NASA Goddard Conceptual Image Lab.

What Mars Looked Like 4 Billion Years Ago

Nov 18, 2013 by News Staff

A new animation by NASA scientists illustrates what Mars – the fourth planet from the Sun and the second smallest planet in the Solar System –...

P/2013 P5 as seen by Hubble on September 10, 2013. Image credit: NASA / ESA / D. Jewitt, University of California, Los Angeles / J. Agarwal, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research / H. Weaver, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / M. Mutchler, STScI / S. Larson, University of Arizona.

P/2013 P5: Hubble Spots Bizarre Asteroid with Six Comet-Like Tails

Nov 8, 2013 by News Staff

A group of scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a unique multi-tailed object, labeled P/2013 P5, in the main asteroid belt. P/2013...

This photograph shows the meteor streaking through the sky above Chelyabinsk, Russia. Image credit: M. Ahmetvaleev.

Scientists Shed More Light on Chelyabinsk Meteorite

Nov 7, 2013 by News Staff

An object that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia in February 2013 initially measured 20-m across and was about 4,452 million years old, according to three...

The International Space Station, as seen from Space Shuttle Endeavour in 2011. Image credit: NASA.

Space’s Microgravity Accelerates Biological Aging of Some Cells, Scientists Say

Nov 1, 2013 by News Staff

According to a team of researchers led by Dr Silvia Bradamante from Institute of Molecular Science and Technologies in Milan, Italy, microgravity accelerates...

This image of Titan, taken by Cassini spacecraft, reveals differences in the composition of surface materials around hydrocarbon lakes and seas on this largest moon of Saturn. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona / University of Idaho.

Cassini Spots Hydrocarbon Lakes, Seas on Titan

Oct 28, 2013 by News Staff

Using a visual and infrared mapping spectrometer and an imaging science subsystem onboard NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, scientists have mapped liquid...

This image of the comet ISON was taken by Hubble on October 9, 2013. Image credit: NASA / ESA / the Hubble Heritage Team / STScI / AURA.

ISON: Hubble Space Telescope Zooms in on Comet of Century

Oct 21, 2013 by News Staff

Astronomers have used NASA’s Hubble telescope to capture a new image of comet ISON, the so-called ‘comet of the century.’ This image...

Professional and Amateur Astronomers Shed Light on Asteroid Sylvia

Oct 15, 2013 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of scientists led by Dr Franck Marchis from the Carl Sagan Center of the SETI Institute teamed up with amateur astronomers to discover that the...

This image shows a 5.5 km-diameter LARLE crater on Mars. Image credit: Northern Arizona University.

Planetary Scientists Discover New Type of Impact Craters on Mars

Oct 9, 2013 by News Staff

Northern Arizona University scientist Prof Nadine Barlow and Dr Joseph Boyce from the University of Hawaii have discovered a new class of Martian impact...

This image shows Tutankhamun's pectoral with a scarab carved from the Libyan Desert Glass. Image credit: Jon Bodsworth.

Libyan Desert Glass: Diamond-Bearing Pebble Provides Evidence of Comet Striking Earth

Oct 8, 2013 by News Staff

A mysterious black pebble found by an Egyptian geologist at the Libyan Desert Glass strewnfield provides the first ever evidence of a comet entering Earth’s...

This false color image shows the Eden Patera supervolcano, Arabia Terra, Mars. Image credit: ESA / Mars Express / Freie Universitat Berlin / NHM.

Researchers Find Evidence of Ancient Supervolcanoes on Mars

Oct 3, 2013 by News Staff

Planetary scientists have discovered remnants of giant supervolcanoes in a region in the northern highlands of Mars known as Arabia Terra. The discovery...

Propylene: Ingredient of Household Plastic Detected in Atmosphere of Saturn’s Moon Titan

Oct 2, 2013 by News Staff

Planetary scientists using the Composite InfRared Spectrometer aboard NASA/ESA’s Cassini spacecraft have detected propylene in the lower atmosphere...

Ozone production over the southern winter pole on Mars. Image credit: ESA / ATG medialab.

Scientists Discover Third Ozone Layer in Atmosphere of Mars

Sep 30, 2013 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience explains how global atmospheric circulation creates a previously undetected layer of ozone above...

NASA's Curiosity Rover. Image credit: NASA.

Curiosity: Martian Surface Soil Contains Two Percent Water

Sep 27, 2013 by News Staff

In five papers published today in the journal Science, scientists using the ChemCam, CheMin instruments, the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and...

This is an artist's concept of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft approaching Mars. The Curiosity rover is safely tucked inside the spacecraft's aeroshell. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Curiosity Finds No Methane in Atmosphere of Mars

Sep 20, 2013 by News Staff

NASA scientists reported Thursday that the Mars rover Curiosity has not found any clear signs of methane, a gas that on our planet is a strong indicator...

This image shows a diatom frustule, possibly a Nitzschia species, captured on a stud from a height of 25 km in the stratosphere. Image credit: Milton Wainwright et al.

Astrobiologists Claim to Have Found Extraterrestrial Life Form in Earth’s Stratosphere

Sep 19, 2013 by News Staff

British astrobiologists are claiming to have found alien life form in the Earth’s stratosphere. They collected a small diatom frustule that could...

View of Aram Chaos with elevation map. Image credit: Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University.

Aram Chaos Reveals Ancient Ice Lake on Mars

Sep 16, 2013 by News Staff

According to a team of planetary scientists led by Dr Manuel Roda from the Utrecht University, a huge impact crater on Mars known as Aram Chaos formed...

Voyager 1 Reaches Interstellar Space, NASA Scientists Say

Sep 13, 2013 by News Staff

According to a team of scientists reporting online in the journal Science, NASA’s Voyager 1 has indeed left the Solar System and entered interstellar...