Space Exploration News

Curiosity Detects Transient Methane Plume on Mars

Mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft. The distance is 1,550 miles (2,500 km) from the surface of the planet. The mosaic is composed of 102 Viking Orbiter images of Mars. The center of the scene shows the entire Valles Marineris canyon system, over 1,240 miles (2,000 km) long and up to 5 miles (8 km) deep, extending form Noctis Labyrinthus, the arcuate system of graben to the west, to the chaotic terrain to the east. Many huge ancient river channels begin from the chaotic terrain from north-central canyons and run north. The three Tharsis volcanoes (dark red spots), each about 15.5 miles (25 km) high, are visible to the west. South of Valles Marineris is very ancient terrain covered by many impact craters. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.
Jun 25, 2019 by News Staff

The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) tunable laser spectrometer onboard Curiosity last week detected surprisingly high levels of the gas methane at Gale Crater: about 21 parts per billion units by volume (ppbv), the largest amount of methane the rover has ever found. Mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft. The distance is 1,550 miles (2,500 km) from...

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NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity imaged these drifting clouds on May 7, 2019. These are likely water-ice clouds about 19 miles (31 km) above the surface. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

‘Meteoric Smoke’ May Play Key Role in Formation of High-Altitude Clouds on Mars

Jun 19, 2019 by News Staff

Planetary scientists have long observed water-ice clouds in the Martian middle atmosphere (18.6-37.2 miles, or 30-60 km, above the surface). Now, a University...

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft in orbit around Saturn. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Cassini Team Delivers New Findings on Saturn’s Ring System

Jun 17, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Although NASA’s Cassini mission ended in 2017, science continues to flow from the data collected. In a series of papers in the journal Science, planetary...

The surface of Europa looms large in this newly-reprocessed color view; image scale is 1.6 km per pixel; north on Europa is at right. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SETI Institute.

Hubble Spots Sodium Chloride on Jupiter’s Moon Europa

Jun 13, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that the yellow color visible on portions of the surface of Europa, the second Galilean...

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.

Mysterious Mass of Material Discovered Beneath Moon’s South Pole-Aitken Basin

Jun 11, 2019 by News Staff

The South Pole-Aitken basin — the largest crater in the Solar System — is a gigantic impact structure on the far side of the Moon. Data from...

This Pluto mosaic was made from New Horizons LORRI images taken on July 14, 2015, from a distance of 49,700 miles (80,000 km). This view is projected from a point 1,118 miles (1,800 km) above Pluto’s equator, looking northeast over the dark, cratered Cthulhu Regio toward the bright, smooth expanse of icy plains called Sputnik Planum. Pluto’s North Pole is off the image to the left. This mosaic was produced with panchromatic images from the New Horizons LORRI camera, with color overlaid from the Ralph color mapper onboard New Horizons. Image credit: S.A. Stern et al.

Insulating Shell of Gas Hydrates May Prevent Pluto’s Subsurface Ocean from Freezing

May 29, 2019 by News Staff

Many icy bodies in our Solar System have underground oceans. On the dwarf planet Pluto, an area called Sputnik Planitia suggests the presence of a subsurface...

A view of Mars showing the planet’s northern polar ice cap. Image credit: ISRO / ISSDC / Emily Lakdawalla.

Planetary Scientists Find Ancient Ice Caps beneath Martian North Pole

May 28, 2019 by News Staff

Planetary researchers using data from the Shallow Radar (SHARAD) instrument on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have discovered rich deposits of water...

The retreat of the Martian polar cap of frozen carbon dioxide during the spring and summer generates winds that drive the largest movements of sand dunes observed on Mars. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona / USGS.

Martian Sand Dunes Behave Differently than Dunes on Earth: Study

May 27, 2019 by News Staff

According to new research, published in the journal Geology, processes not involved in controlling sand movement on Earth play major roles on the Red Planet,...

Meteorite with thin, dark, fusion crust in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Image credit: Jérôme Gattacceca, CEREGE.

Researchers Find ‘Oldest Collection of Non-Fossil Meteorites’ in Chile’s Atacama Desert

May 24, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has found a wealth of well-preserved stony meteorites in the Atacama Desert that allowed them to reconstruct the rate...

Global map of the albedo from the 750 nm filter of the UV-VIS camera onboard NASA’s Clementine spacecraft. The image shows the near side and far side of the Moon in Lambert, equal-area projection. Image credit: NASA.

Moon’s Nearside-Farside Asymmetries are Result of Ancient Giant Impact, Says New Study

May 23, 2019 by News Staff

The Moon has striking asymmetries between its nearside and farside in topography, crustal thickness, and composition. A new study, published in the Journal...

Topographic map of the Moon’s south pole (80°S to pole). Image credit: Lunar and Planetary Institute / Universities Space Research Association / NASA.

Planetary Researchers Create Atlas of Moon’s South Pole

May 22, 2019 by News Staff

To assist NASA and the lunar community, a team of researchers from the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) has compiled an online atlas that consists of...

This image of Jupiter was taken on February 12, 2019, as Juno performed its 18th close flyby of the planet. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Kevin M. Gill.

Jupiter’s Winds Interact with Its Magnetic Field, Scientists Say

May 22, 2019 by News Staff

Planetary researchers from NASA’s Juno mission made the first detection beyond Earth of an internal magnetic field that changes over time — a phenomenon...

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

Study Sheds New Light on Origin of Libyan Desert Glass

May 21, 2019 by News Staff

Libyan desert glass is a natural glass found in western Egypt that formed 29 million years ago, however its origin is disputed: the two main formation...

This composite image of Ultima Thule was compiled from data obtained by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft as it flew by the object on January 1, 2019. The image combines enhanced color data (close to what the human eye would see) with detailed high-resolution panchromatic pictures. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute / Roman Tkachenko.

Ultima Thule: Surprises in Science Results from New Horizons Mission

May 21, 2019 by News Staff

After flying past the dwarf planet Pluto in 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft shifted course to Ultima Thule (also known as 2014 MU69), a much smaller...

The Yutu-2 rover moves across the far side of the Moon. Image credit: CNSA.

Yutu-2 Rover Finds Lunar Mantle Minerals on the Far Side of the Moon

May 16, 2019 by News Staff

China’s Chang’E-4 lander recently touched down in Von Karman — a 112-mile (180 km) wide crater located within an even larger impact crater known...

An artist’s concept of NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Image credit: NASA.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Completes 60,000 Loops around Red Planet

May 16, 2019 by News Staff

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has been in the Martian orbit for 13 years, and just completed 60,000 trips around the planet. An artist’s...

This thrust fault is one of thousands discovered on the Moon by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. These faults resemble small stair-shaped cliffs, or scarps, when seen from the lunar surface. The scarps form when one section of the Moon’s crust (left-pointing arrows) is pushed up over an adjacent section (right-pointing arrows) as the Moon’s interior cools and shrinks. Image credit: NASA / GSFC / Arizona State University / Smithsonian Institution.

Moon is Still Tectonically Active, Researchers Say

May 14, 2019 by News Staff

In 2010, an analysis of images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) found that the Moon shriveled like a raisin as its interior cooled, leaving...

These three views of the Martian moon Phobos were taken by NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter using its THEMIS camera. Each color represents a different temperature range. The upper image was taken in a full-moon phase, which is better for studying material composition. The two views below were taken while Phobos was in a half-moon phase, which is better for studying surface textures. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU / SSI.

Mars Odyssey Examines Phobos in Infrared Light

May 13, 2019 by News Staff

On April 24, 2019, NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter captured a new thermal image of Phobos, the larger of Mars’ two moons. Each color in the full-moon image...

NASA’s InSight lander used its IDC camera to record the Martian sunrise on April 24, 2019. This image was taken around 5:30 a.m. Mars local time. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA’s InSight Lander Sees Stunning Sunrise and Sunset on Mars

May 6, 2019 by News Staff

In April 2019, NASA’s InSight lander used its Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) to capture a series of Martian sunrise and sunset images. NASA’s InSight...

Merging neutron stars. Image credit: Mark Garlick, University of Warwick.

Violent Collision of Two Neutron Stars Occurred near Pre-Solar Nebula 4.6 Billion Years Ago

May 5, 2019 by News Staff

According to new research, a nearby binary neutron-star merger gave birth to 0.3% of the Earth’s heaviest elements, including gold, platinum and uranium;...

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