Space Exploration News

New Horizons mission’s first map of the dwarf planet Pluto is in approximate true color. Left: map of the planet’s northern hemisphere composed using black-and-white images from the LORRI instrument. Right: map of Pluto’s colors created using data from the Ralph instrument. Center: combined map, produced by merging the LORRI and Ralph data. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

Another Red Planet? New Horizons Data Reveal True Color of Pluto

Jul 6, 2015 by News Staff

Planetary researchers involved in NASA’s New Horizons mission combined the latest black and white map of Pluto’s surface features with a map of the...

Rosetta NavCam image taken on 14 March 2015 at 85.7 km from the center of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko; it has been cleaned to remove the more obvious bad pixels and cosmic ray artefacts, and intensities have been scaled. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / NAVCAM / CC BY-SA IGO 3.0.

67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Could Harbor Alien Life, Say UK Scientists

Jul 6, 2015 by News Staff

Two planetary scientists from the UK – Prof Chandra Wickramasinghe of the Buckingham Center for Astrobiology and Dr Max Wallis of the University...

This family portrait, a composite of the Pluto system, includes the dwarf planet and its five known moons: Charon, Nix, Hydra, Kerberos and Styx. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Captures Family Portrait of Pluto System

Jul 3, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has taken an amazing photo of Pluto and its five moons: Charon, Nix, Hydra, Styx and Kerberos. This family portrait,...

New images show two very different faces of Pluto, one with a series of strange spots. About half of the dwarf planet is imaged, which means features shown near the bottom are at the equatorial line. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

NASA Scientists Release New Color Images of Pluto, Charon

Jul 2, 2015 by News Staff

Scientists with NASA’s New Horizons mission have combined black-and-white images of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, from New Horizons’ LORRI imager...

Active pits on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Image credit: Jean-Baptiste Vincent et al.

ESA’s Rosetta Sees Active Pits on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Jul 2, 2015 by News Staff

In a new study published online in the journal Nature, 18 almost circular pits have been identified in the northern hemisphere of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko....

An artist’s concept of Pluto. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Detects Frozen Methane on Pluto

Jul 1, 2015 by News Staff

Using data from Ralph, a visible and infrared imager/spectrometer aboard NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, scientists have detected frozen methane on the...

Acquired on 27 June 2015, this first image from Sentinel-2A covers the Po Valley, framed by the Alps in the north and the coastal mountains of France and Italy in the south. The stripes observed over water are expected artifacts due to the arrangement of the detectors in the Sentinel-2A’s MSI instrument. Image credit: Copernicus data / ESA.

ESA’s Sentinel-2A Satellite Returns Its First Color Images of Earth

Jun 30, 2015 by News Staff

Just four days after being lofted into orbit, European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2A satellite delivered its first images of Earth. Acquired on 27 June...

A close-up of the bright spots on Ceres. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Dawn Captures Rare Image of Ceres’ Bright Spots at Dusk

Jun 30, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has beamed back a new photo of a cluster of bright spots on the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres. The space probe took this image...

This image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 16, 2015. The bright rings of Saturn can be seen at left. North on Dione is up and rotated 44 degrees to the left. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Cassini Captures Stunning Images of Dione

Jun 26, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini probe obtained new images of Saturn’s moon Dione during a close flyby on June 16, 2015. This image was taken in visible light with the...

This false-color image of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by the Rosetta navigation camera on 15 June 2015 from a distance of 207 km from the comet center. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / NAVCAM / CC BY-SA IGO 3.0.

ESA’s Rosetta Orbiter to Land on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Jun 24, 2015 by News Staff

Rosetta’s nominal mission was originally funded until the end of this year, but at a meeting yesterday, the European Space Agency has given formal approval...

Map of MAVEN’s auroral detections in December 2014 overlaid on the surface of Mars: the map shows that the aurora was widespread in the northern hemisphere, not tied to any geographic location. Image credit: University of Colorado.

MAVEN Sheds New Light on Atmosphere of Mars

Jun 24, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft has observed three phenomena in the atmosphere of Mars: a polar plume of escaping atmospheric...

This image shows Saturn’s moons Titan, Mimas (center bottom) and Rhea (upper left). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Triple Crescents: Cassini Captures Incredible Image of Three of Saturn’s Moons

Jun 23, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has captured a rare family photo of three of Saturn’s moons: Titan, Mimas and Rhea. This image shows Saturn’s moons Titan,...

These images, taken by New Horizons’ LORRI camera on June 18, 2015, show the discovery of significant surface details on Charon. The image on the left is the original image, displayed at four times the native LORRI image size. After applying the deconvolution technique, details become visible on the icy moon, including a distinct dark pole. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Views of Pluto’s Moon Charon Reveal Mysterious ‘Dark Pole’

Jun 23, 2015 by News Staff

Using new images from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, planetary scientists have discovered that Charon...

A cluster of bright spots can be seen in this image. The image was captured on June 9, 2015, when Dawn was nearly 2,700 miles (4,400 km) from the dwarf planet. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Dawn Captures New Images of Ceres’ Mystery Features

Jun 23, 2015 by News Staff

New pictures from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft show a cluster of mysterious bright spots and a pyramid-shaped peak on the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres. A...

Planetary Scientists Shed Light on Origins of Lakes on Titan

Jun 22, 2015 by News Staff

The surface of Titan – the largest moon of Saturn – dissolves in a similar process that creates sinkholes on our planet, says a team of scientists...

NASA Probe Beams Back New Color Images of Pluto, Charon

Jun 22, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s New Horizons has beamed back color pictures of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon. An artist’s concept of Pluto. Image credit: NASA / Johns...

Artist’s impression of a volcano erupting on Venus. Image credit: ESA / AOES Medialab.

Planetary Scientists Detect New Signs of Active Volcanoes on Venus

Jun 19, 2015 by News Staff

By looking at data from the monitoring camera on ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft, planetary researchers found transient spikes in temperature at several...

Researchers Discover Earth-Like Polar Winds on Titan

Jun 19, 2015 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by Dr Andrew Coates of University College London, UK, has found that the interactions between the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon...

Artist’s concept shows a simulated view from the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission Enters Development Stage

Jun 18, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s Europa Clipper – a future mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa – has completed its first major review by the agency and now is entering...