Space Exploration News

NASA Scientists Recreate Complex Chemistry of Titan’s Atmosphere

This false-color mosaic, made from infrared data collected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, reveals the differences in the composition of surface materials around hydrocarbon lakes at Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Titan is the only other place in the solar system that we know has stable liquid on its surface, though its lakes are made of liquid ethane and methane rather than liquid water. While there is one large lake and a few smaller ones near Titan's south pole, almost all of Titan's lakes appear near the moon's north pole. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona / University of Idaho.
Jun 15, 2014 by News Staff

The chemistry of the smoggy atmosphere of the Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, has been successfully simulated by NASA researchers in lab experiments. This false-color mosaic, made from infrared data collected by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, reveals the differences in the composition of surface materials around hydrocarbon lakes at Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. Titan is the only other place in the solar system that we know has stable...

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This artist's impression shows the surface of Pluton, Charon and the Sun. Image credit: ESO / L. Calçada.

Charon May Once Have Had Underground Ocean

Jun 14, 2014 by News Staff

Charon – the largest moon of the dwarf planet Pluto – may once have had a warm subterranean ocean, suggests a team of planetary scientists led...

This artist's concept shows the LDSD test vehicle. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA to Test Flying Saucer-Shaped Vehicle

Jun 10, 2014 by News Staff

Engineers and scientists from NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator project are about to test a new technology for landing heavy payloads on...

This is an artist's depiction of a catastrophic collision between two celestial bodies; such an impact between the proto-Earth and Theia likely formed the Moon. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

New Evidence for Protoplanet Theia Found in Moon Rocks

Jun 6, 2014 by News Staff

A study published in the journal Science provides new evidence that the Moon formed from the catastrophic collision of the proto-Earth with a hypothetical...

A colossal CME burst off the side of the Sun on May 9, 2014. Image credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

IRIS Captures Huge Coronal Mass Ejection on Sun

Jun 1, 2014 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph have captured extraordinary footage of a colossal coronal mass ejection erupting...

HD views of Earth are now only a click away. Image credit: NASA.

NASA Launches Live HD Streaming of Earth from ISS

May 9, 2014 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA’s High Definition Earth Viewing experiment (HDEV) is now live-streaming views of our planet from space captured by HD cameras. HDEV placed four...

This false-color image shows minor planets Ceres and Vesta, Martian moons Phobos and Deimos, planets Jupiter and Saturn, as seen by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS / Texas A&M.

Curiosity Sees Ceres, Vesta, Deimos

Apr 25, 2014 by News Staff

Scientists using the Mast Camera aboard NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover have captured a night-sky image of two minor planets Ceres and Vesta, and one...

This image, taken with the Cassini's narrow angle camera on April 15, 2013, shows an extended object 10 km beyond the edge of the Saturn’s A ring. Image credit: Carl D. Murray et al.

Peggy: Cassini Spots Birth of Saturn’s New Icy Moon

Apr 15, 2014 by News Staff

Scientists from NASA’s Cassini mission are intrigued by the likely presence of a previously undetected small icy body within the rings of Saturn,...

Gusev crater once held a lake. Image credit: NASA / JPL / Sci-News.com.

Study Reveals New Evidence for Ancient Lake in Gusev Crater on Mars

Apr 10, 2014 by News Staff

An analysis of old data from NASA’s Spirit Rover has revealed new evidence for an ancient lake in the Red Planet’s Gusev crater. Gusev crater once...

This color view of Enceladus was taken by Cassini spacecraft on 31 January 2011, from a distance of 50,330 miles (NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSI / G. Ugarković).

Enceladus Has Subsurface Sea, Scientists Say

Apr 3, 2014 by News Staff

New gravity data from ESA’s Cassini spacecraft reveal that Enceladus – the sixth-largest of the moons of Saturn – harbors a regional subsurface...

New study shows that lunar cycle modulates human sleep and melatonin rhythms (Image: Luc Viatour)

Geologic Clock Helps Scientists Determine Moon’s Age

Apr 3, 2014 by News Staff

Planetary researchers headed by Dr Seth Jacobson from the Observatory de la Cote d’Azur in Nice, France, say they have determined that the Moon formed...

This false-color composite image shows the glory phenomenon on Venus. The glory is 1,200 km across, as seen from the Venus Express orbiter, 6,000 km away. Image credit: ESA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Spacecraft Sees Rainbow-Like Optical Effect on Venus

Mar 12, 2014 by News Staff

ESA’s Venus Express orbiter has captured an image of a ‘glory’ – a rare rainbow-like optical phenomenon – in the atmosphere of Venus. This...

This image shows small pieces of the asteroid P/2013 R3. Image credit: NASA / ESA / D. Jewitt, UCLA.

Astronomers See Break-up of Asteroid P/2013 R3

Mar 7, 2014 by News Staff

A team of scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have witnessed for the first time the disintegration of an asteroid. This image shows small...

This SEM image shows spherulitic features encased in both an upper, false-colored orange, and lower layer of iddingsite. Image credit: White LM et al.

Yamato-000593: Meteorite Provides More Evidence that Water Once Flowed on Mars

Mar 3, 2014 by News Staff

NASA planetary scientists say they have found evidence of past water movement throughout a Martian meteorite. This SEM image shows spheroidal features...

Saturn's northern ultraviolet aurora taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: J.D. Nichols / University of Leicester / NASA / ESA.

Hubble, Cassini See Auroras on Saturn

Feb 15, 2014 by News Staff

Detailed images of auroras at Saturn’s north and south poles have been captured by astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and Cassini...

Ganymede. Image credit: U.S. Geological Survey.

Planetary Scientists Create Global Geologic Map of Ganymede

Feb 13, 2014 by Enrico de Lazaro

U.S. Geological Survey researchers have produced the first complete global geologic map of the Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede. Global geologic map...

Recurring slope lineae emanating from bedrock exposures at Palikir crater on Mars during southern summer. Image credit: Lujendra Ojha et al / Geophysical Research Letters.

Mars: Scientists Examine Possible Water Flows

Feb 11, 2014 by News Staff

Planetary researchers led by Georgia Institute of Technology PhD candidate Lujendra Ojha have examined Martian recurrent slope lineae (RSL) – mysterious,...

This is a schematic view of the peanut-shaped asteroid Itokawa. Image credit: ESO / JAXA.

Itokawa: Scientists Reveal Structure of Strange Asteroid

Feb 5, 2014 by News Staff

Using very precise ground-based observations with ESO’s New Technology Telescope (NTT), an international team of planetary scientists has found that...

Scientists Create Map of Solar System’s Asteroids

Jan 30, 2014 by News Staff

Planetary scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and European Space Astronomy have created a map of more than 100,000 asteroids throughout...

This is an artist's impression of the dwarf planet Ceres. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Ceres: Water Vapor Detected on Dwarf Planet

Jan 23, 2014 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Herschel Space Observatory have detected water vapor on the dwarf planet Ceres, the biggest object in the main asteroid belt. This...

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