Space Exploration News

Magnetic field lines weave through the cloud of dusty gas surrounding the young Sun; in the foreground are asteroids and chondrules, the building blocks of chondrite meteorites. Image credit: Hernan Canellas / MIT Paleomagnetism Laboratory.

Strong Magnetic Fields Recorded in Meteorite Provide Clues to How Early Solar System Evolved

Nov 17, 2014 by News Staff

Scientists working on a primitive meteorite known as Semarkona have found evidence that the protoplanetary disk of the early Solar System was shaped by...

Philae at work on the comet. Image credit: ESA / AOES Medialab.

Philae Lander Goes into ‘Idle Mode’

Nov 16, 2014 by News Staff

Rosetta’s Philae lander has completed its primary science mission after two days on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. With its batteries depleted...

Philae is safely on the surface of the comet, as this image confirms; one of the lander's three feet can be seen in the foreground. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / Philae / CIVA.

Rosetta Mission’s Philae Probe Lands on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Nov 13, 2014 by News Staff

European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission has landed its Philae probe on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The signal confirming the successful...

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 3 August 2014 from a distance of 285 km. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / MPS for OSIRIS team / MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA.

LIVE: Rosetta Mission to Land on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Nov 11, 2014 by News Staff

On 12 November 2014, Rosetta’s Philae probe is set to make the first-ever landing on a comet when it touches down on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko....

This is an artist's concept of the meteor storm bombardment on Mars.

Comet Siding Spring Triggered Meteor Storm on Mars, Say Scientists

Nov 8, 2014 by News Staff

If there were Martians, they likely would have witnessed thousands of shooting stars from a comet known officially as Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring, says...

Cassini caught the sunlight glinting off Titan's seas and lakes filled with liquid methane or ethane. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona / University of Idaho.

Cassini Zooms in on Sunny Hydrocarbon Seas and Lakes on Titan

Oct 31, 2014 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has caught a glimpse of bright sunlight reflecting off vast hydrocarbon seas and lakes near the north pole of the Saturn’s...

NASA’s Mars Fleet, Hubble Return Images of Comet Siding Spring

Oct 27, 2014 by News Staff

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Mars Rover Opportunity and two Mars orbiters – the MAVEN and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter – have captured...

A true-color picture of Hyperion taken by Cassini on 26 September 2005. Image credit: NASA / JPL / SSI / Gordan Ugarkovic.

Cassini Received 200-Volt Shock from Saturn’s Moon Hyperion in 2005, Scientists Say

Oct 26, 2014 by News Staff

On 26 September 2005, NASA/ESA Cassini spacecraft received the equivalent of a 200-volt electric shock from Hyperion’s electrostatically charged surface,...

Scientists Determine ‘Perfume’ of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Oct 25, 2014 by News Staff

European scientists using the Rosetta Orbiter Sensor for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) have found that Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the target...

HI-SEAS team members will stay in a dome on the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. Image credit: Sian Proctor / University of Hawaii at Manoa.

NASA’s HI-SEAS Team Training in Hawaii for Manned Mars Mission

Oct 21, 2014 by News Staff

Six astronaut-like members of NASA’s Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) team have embarked on the longest dedicated space travel...

Name Rosetta’s Landing Site on 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, Win Trip to Germany

Oct 21, 2014 by News Staff

The European Space Agency (ESA) is inviting the public to suggest a name for the spot where the Rosetta mission’s lander Philae will touch down on...

This image shows Comet 2013 A1, also known as Siding Spring, as captured by Wide Field Camera 3 on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA / ESA / J.-Y. Li, Planetary Science Institute.

NASA’s Mars Fleet Studies Comet Siding Spring

Oct 20, 2014 by News Staff

Three NASA Mars orbiters – Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN orbiter – and two Mars rovers are part of a campaign to study Comet...

Comet Siding Spring 2013 A1 to Pass Mars Today

Oct 19, 2014 by News Staff

On 19 October 2014, Comet Siding Spring will come within about 139,500 km of Mars – less than half the distance between Earth and our moon and less...

Mimas' surface, like the surfaces of most of the other major Saturnian moons without atmospheres, is not pure ice but contains some dark impurities; the relatively dark markings appear along the lower portion of the walls of the 130-km-wide Herschel Crater (the peak in the middle of the crater is about as tall as Mount Everest; the impact that made it likely almost destroyed the moon) and some of the smaller craters; scientists interpret this darkening as evidence for the gradual concentration of impurities from evaporating icy materials in areas where the dark impurities slide slowly down the crater wall. Image credit: NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute.

Saturn’s Moon Mimas May Have ‘Life-Friendly’ Underground Ocean

Oct 17, 2014 by News Staff

Mimas – the smallest and innermost of Saturn’s eight main moons – has either a rugby ball-shaped rocky core or an underground ‘life-friendly’...

Close-up of Philae’s primary landing site J, which is located on the head of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA.

ESA Confirms Landing Site on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Oct 15, 2014 by News Staff

European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission managers have confirmed the place and time they will attempt to land the Rosetta spacecraft’s Philae lander...

Some of the 70 irregular mare patches (s – smooth; u – uneven) Dr Braden and her colleagues identified on the Moon’s surface. Image credit: NASA / GSFC / Arizona State University.

Study Provides Evidence for Geologically Recent Volcanic Eruptions on Moon

Oct 14, 2014 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience has identified 70 volcanic features scattered across the lunar surface, all younger than 100 million...

Mars; the center of the scene shows the entire Valles Marineris canyon system. Image credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Scientists Find Evidence for Ancient Glaciers on Mars

Oct 7, 2014 by News Staff

Data from two instruments aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have led to the discovery of a rare acid-sulfate mineral deposit on Mars, providing...

Top: the full Moon as seen from the Earth, with the Procellarum border structures superimposed in red. Image credit: Kopernik Observatory / NASA / Colorado School of Mines / MIT / JPL / Goddard Space Flight Center. Bottom: global maps of lunar properties – topography and gravity gradient. Image credit: Jeffrey C. Andrews-Hanna et al.

Planetary Researchers Solve Mystery of Moon’s Oceanus Procellarum

Oct 2, 2014 by News Staff

According to a new study led by Prof Maria Zuber of MIT, Oceanus Procellarum – a vast mare on the western edge of the Moon’s near side –...

This new global geologic map of Mars depicts the most thorough representation of the planet’s surface; colors show distribution of 44 map units; for example, greens represent mainly lowland and basin units; yellow is relatively young impact material; reds and purples are volcanic units; blues are polar units; and earth tones are apron, transition, and highland units. Image credit: Tanaka, K.L. et al.

Scientists Create New Geologic Map of Mars

Sep 26, 2014 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by Dr Kenneth Tanaka of the U.S. Geological Survey has produced a new global geologic map of Mars that records the distribution...