Space Exploration News

New NASA Video Shows Dwarf Planet Ceres at Opposition from Sun

With a diameter of 57 miles (92 km), Occator crater is larger than Tycho crater on the Moon. Its steep walls stand tall at over 1.4 miles (2 km), higher than the North face of the Eiger in the Bernese Alps. The origin and nature of the bright spots in its interior is still not clear. Image credit: DLR.
May 17, 2017 by News Staff

This video is made of images taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, from a position exactly between the Sun and the surface of Ceres. Dawn successfully observed the dwarf planet Ceres at opposition on April 29, 2017. Mission specialists had carefully maneuvered the spacecraft into a special orbit so that its framing cameras could view Occator Crater, which contains Ceres’ brightest spots, from this new perspective. The new movie shows these opposition...

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The young Mars would have had enough water to cover its entire surface in a liquid layer about 140 m deep, but it is more likely that the liquid would have pooled to form an ocean occupying almost half of Mars’s northern hemisphere, and in some regions reaching depths greater than 1.6 km. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO / N. Risinger, skysurvey.org.

Research Reveals How Changes in Rainfall Shaped Early Mars

May 16, 2017 by News Staff

Heavy rain on Mars reshaped impact craters and carved out river-like channels in the planet’s surface billions of years ago, according to a study by...

This image was taken on May 7, 2017, at a distance of 316,000 miles (508,000 km). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Cassini Spots Bright Clouds of Methane in Titan’s Atmosphere

May 10, 2017 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini orbiter watched bright, feathery clouds of methane moving across the northern regions of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, on May 7,...

As Cassini made its first-ever dive through the gap between Saturn and its rings on April 26, 2017, its wide-angle camera took a series of rapid-fire images that were used to make this movie sequence. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Stunning NASA Video Shows Cassini’s First ‘Grand Finale’ Dive

May 5, 2017 by News Staff

A new movie sequence of images from Cassini shows the view as the orbiter swooped over Saturn during the first of its ‘Grand Finale’ dives between...

According Lehmer et al, moons around migrant hot Jupiters could hold onto atmospheres for billions of years. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Melting Moons Could Hold on to Atmospheres and Surface Water Oceans for Billions of Years

May 3, 2017 by James Romero

Exomoons around migrant hot Jupiters could hold onto life-giving atmospheres and maintain surface oceans for billions and billions of years. This is the...

This illustration shows Cassini about to make one of its dives between Saturn and its innermost rings as part of the mission’s Grand Finale. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Dust-Free Region between Saturn and Its Rings Puzzles Cassini Scientists

May 2, 2017 by News Staff

On April 26, 2017, NASA’s Cassini orbiter made its first ‘Grand Finale’ dive through the previously unexplored gap between Saturn and its rings....

In this screenshot from the short animated film Cassini’s Grand Finale, the spacecraft is shown breaking apart after entering the atmosphere of Saturn. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA’s Cassini Orbiter Makes First ‘Grand Finale’ Dive

Apr 27, 2017 by News Staff

On Wednesday, April 26, 2017, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft successfully made its first dive through the narrow gap between the giant planet Saturn and its...

During the flyby, Cassini attempted to study the elevations of Titan’s smaller methane lakes. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA’s Cassini Orbiter Makes Final Close Flyby of Saturn’s Hazy Moon Titan

Apr 25, 2017 by News Staff

On April 22, 2017, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft made its 127th and final close approach to Titan, passing at an altitude of about 608 miles (979 km) above...

A compact model of the heliosphere. Image credit: Dialynas et al.

Solar System’s Heliosphere Much More Compact, Rounded than Previously Thought

Apr 24, 2017 by News Staff

Many stars show tails that trail behind them like a comet’s tail, supporting the idea that our own Solar System has one too. However, new evidence from...

Cassini captured this view of Earth and the Moon on April 12. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

New Cassini Image Shows Earth and Moon between Saturn’s Rings

Apr 24, 2017 by News Staff

This view from NASA’s Cassini orbiter shows Earth and its only natural satellite as points of light between the icy rings of the gas giant Saturn. Cassini...

This image of Atlas was taken by Cassini’s narrow-angle camera during a close flyby on April 12, 2017. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

New Cassini Images Reveal Saturn’s Mysterious Moon Atlas Up Close

Apr 18, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft captured these images of Atlas, an inner satellite of Saturn, during a close flyby on April 12, 2017. These are the closest...

Hubble captured additional evidence of water vapor plumes on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa; the probable plumes appear to be repeating in the same location and correspond with a relatively warm region on Europa’s surface observed by the Galileo spacecraft. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Hubble Spots Recurring Water Vapor Plume Erupting on Jupiter’s Moon Europa

Apr 14, 2017 by News Staff

Recent observations of Europa by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered a plume of material erupting from the moon’s surface at precisely...

Ancient Moon generated a dynamo magnetic field in its liquid metallic core; this dynamo may have been driven by crystallization of the core. Image credit: Hernan Canellas / Benjamin Weiss / MIT.

Crystallization of Ancient Moon’s Core May Have Driven Its Now-Defunct Magnetic Field

Apr 14, 2017 by News Staff

Crystallization of Moon’s liquid metallic core may have driven its now-lost magnetic field approximately 3 billion years ago, according to new research...

Molecular hydrogen points to hydrothermal activity in an ocean beneath the icy surface of Enceladus. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Cassini Finds New Evidence for Hydrothermal Processes in Enceladus’ Ice-Covered Ocean

Apr 13, 2017 by News Staff

During NASA’s Cassini spacecraft’s deepest-ever dive through Enceladus’ plume of gas and ice grains, researchers discovered molecular hydrogen in...

MAVEN is exploring Mars’ upper atmosphere in detail to understand how Mars changed from a wet planet early in its history to the cold, dry world we see today. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

MAVEN Detects Metal Ions in Martian Atmosphere

Apr 11, 2017 by News Staff

NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission has made the first detection of the continuous presence of iron, magnesium, and sodium...

Occator crater on Ceres. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Ceres’ Transient Exosphere is Product of Solar Activity, Planetary Researchers Say

Apr 10, 2017 by News Staff

Planetary researchers have long thought that the dwarf planet Ceres may have a temporary, thin atmosphere (an exosphere), but mysteries lingered about...

In this screenshot from the short animated film Cassini’s Grand Finale, the spacecraft is shown breaking apart after entering the atmosphere of Saturn. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Cassini Gets Ready for ‘Grand Finale’ Phase

Apr 6, 2017 by News Staff

After 20 years in space and 13 years around Saturn, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft begins the final chapter of its remarkable story of exploration and discoveries:...

Artist’s impression of New Horizons encountering a Pluto-like object in the distant Kuiper Belt. Image credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI / Alex Parker.

NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft Halfway from Pluto to Kuiper Belt Object 2014 MU69

Apr 4, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

Continuing on its path through the outer regions of our Solar System, New Horizons has now traveled half the distance from the dwarf planet Pluto to its...

Boeing Deep Space Transport vehicle on approach. Image credit: Boeing Company.

Deep Space Gateway & Transport: Concepts for Mars, Moon Exploration Unveiled

Apr 4, 2017 by News Staff

The Boeing Company this week unveiled concepts for the Deep Space Gateway and Transport systems that could help achieve NASA’s goal of having robust...

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

MAVEN Finds New Evidence that Most of Martian Atmosphere Was Lost to Space

Mar 31, 2017 by News Staff

According to an analysis of new data from NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft, solar wind and radiation are responsible...

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