Space Exploration News

Water-carved valley on Mars. The researchers have found that some of these valleys appear to have been formed by orographic precipitation - rain or snow that falls when moist air is pushed upward by mountain ridges or raised crater rims. The findings suggest that at least some of the water on ancient Mars fell from the atmosphere, rather than bubbling up from the subsurface (NASA)

Water-Carved Valleys Point to Ancient Snowfalls on Mars

Jul 24, 2013 by News Staff

According to a new study published online in the Geophysical Research Letters, some water-carved Martian valleys appear to have been caused by runoff from...

This is an artist’s impression of habitable Mars (Daein Ballard / CC BY-SA 3.0)

Curiosity Provides New Evidence for Warm, Wet Ancient Mars

Jul 19, 2013 by News Staff

A large international team of researchers used Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) suite of instruments to measure the abundances of different...

This shaded relief map shows elevated, branching, lobate features in Aeolis Dorsa, Mars, interpreted as resistant channel deposits that make up an ancient delta. These layered, cross-cutting features are typical of channelized sedimentary deposits on Earth and here are indicative of a coastal delta environment (Roman A. DiBiase et al)

Scientists Find New Evidence for Ancient Ocean on Mars

Jul 17, 2013 by News Staff

A study published in the June issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets (full paper in .pdf) provides new evidence that an ocean covered as...

This image shows the location of the newly discovered Neptune’s moon S/2004 N 1 (NASA / ESA / M. Showalter / SETI Institute)

SETI Scientist Discovers New Moon of Neptune: S/2004 N 1

Jul 15, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Dr Mark Showalter from the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, has discovered a new moon circling Neptune, the eighth and farthest planet from...

An artist's concept of the Solar system’s heliotail (Michael Lentz / Walt Feimer / Tom Bridgman / Genna Duberstein / Erin McKinley / Eric Christian / Karen Fox / NASA / USRA / ASI / OSU / GST / HTSI)

IBEX Observes Heliotail of Solar System

Jul 11, 2013 by News Staff

Scientists using NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft have revealed a unique and unexpected structure of the downwind region of...

Chondrules are visible as round objects in this electron image of a polished thin section made from the Bishunpur meteorite from India; the dark grains are iron-poor olivine crystals (Steven Simon)

Scientists Solve Mystery of Glassy Spherules in Chondrite Meteorites

Jul 9, 2013 by News Staff

Researchers have proposed a radical solution to a cosmochemical mystery that has baffled scientists for over a century: how numerous small, glassy chondrules...

Plasma outflow from plasmasphere to magnetosphere (ESA / ATG medialab)

Researcher Reports First Detection of Elusive Space Wind

Jul 3, 2013 by News Staff

Dr Iannis Dandouras from the Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology in Toulouse, France, has found the first conclusive proof of the existence...

This Hubble image shows five moons orbiting Pluto (NASA / ESA / M. Showalter, SETI Institute)

Kerberos and Styx: Pluto’s Two Recently Discovered Moons Get Official Names

Jul 3, 2013 by News Staff

The International Astronomical Union announced yesterday that the names Kerberos and Styx have officially been recognized for the fourth and fifth moons...

An artist's impression of ancient Mars (Ittiz / CC BY-SA 3.0)

Mars Had Oxygen-Rich Atmosphere 4 Billion Years Ago, Shows New Study

Jun 21, 2013 by News Staff

According to a new study reported in the journal Nature, the atmosphere of Mars could have been rich in oxygen almost 4 billion years ago. An artist’s...

Australian Scientists Identify 280 New Lunar Craters

Jun 19, 2013 by News Staff

A team of researchers at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia, has discovered 280 new craters on the Moon. Spatial distribution of the 66...

This image shows a rock outcrop called Hottah. Broken surfaces of the outcrop have rounded, gravel clasts, such as the one circled in white, which is about 1.2 inches across. Erosion of the outcrop results in gravel clasts that protrude from the outcrop and ultimately fall onto the ground, creating the gravel pile at left (NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS)

Study Confirms Curiosity Rover Found Evidence of Flowing Water on Mars

May 31, 2013 by News Staff

According to a study published in the journal Science, rounded pebbles found in September 2012 by NASA’s Curiosity rover indicate that a stream once...

Planococcus halocryophilus OR1 (Nadia C S Mykytczuk et al, 2012)

Bacterium Planococcus halocryophilus Offers Clues about Microbial Life on Enceladus, Mars

May 27, 2013 by News Staff

A novel aerobic, gram-positive bacterium that is able to thrive at minus 15 degrees Celsius – the coldest temperature ever reported for bacterial...

Meteorite Found in Antarctica May Help Reveal Secrets of Life on Mars

May 3, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Geologists led by Dr Lydia Hallis from the University of Hawaii have examined a meteorite that formed on Mars more than 1 billion years ago to determine...

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)

Planetary Scientists Explain Youthful Appearance of Saturn

May 1, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Exeter and the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France, has revealed how Saturn, the sixth...

This image of the comet ISON was taken on April 10, 2013, when the comet was slightly closer than Jupiter's orbit at a distance of 386 million miles from the Sun (NASA / ESA / J.-Y. Li, Planetary Science Institute / Hubble Comet ISON Imaging Science Team)

Hubble Snaps Clearest View Yet of Comet ISON

Apr 24, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

NASA scientists have released the clearest view yet of the comet ISON, a newly discovered sungrazing comet that may light up the sky later this year. This...

Cassini Spacecraft Puts Enceladus in New Light

Apr 23, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

Astronomers at the European Space Agency have released a new view of the Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus. This color view of Enceladus was taken by Cassini...

Electron image of a silica grain found in GRV 021710 meteorite

Researchers Find Silica Grains from Ancient Supernova in Meteorites

Apr 22, 2013 by Natali Anderson

An international team of researchers has discovered tiny grains of sand from ancient supernova in two primitive meteorites. Primitive carbonaceous chondrite...

A perspective view of a 30-mile crater in Thaumasia Planum, Mars (ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / G. Neukum)

Dramatic Underground Explosions Responsible for Twin Crater Pits on Mars

Apr 17, 2013 by News Staff

Massive underground explosions, perhaps involving ice, have created the pits inside two large impact craters in the Thaumasia Planum region on Mars, say...

Europa global views in natural and enhanced colors (NASA / JPL / University of Arizona)

Essential Ingredient for Life Found in Abundance on Europa

Apr 8, 2013 by Natali Anderson

A new study published online in the Astrophysical Journal Letters (arXiv.org version) shows that hydrogen peroxide – an important energy supply for...