Tag: Planetary Science
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OSIRIS-REx finds rugged terrain on asteroid Bennu
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft’s navigation camera captured this image of asteroid Bennu on Jan. 17 from a distance of approximately 1 mile (1.6 kilometers). The large boulder in partial shadow at the lower right of the frame is about 165 feet (50 meters) across. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin Some time next year, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft…
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JPL still trying to contact Opportunity rover on Mars
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Opportunity’s panoramic camera captured this self-portrait on Mars in 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ. NASA’s Mars Opportunity rover landed on Mars 15 years ago this week, but the long-lived robot remains out of action in the wake of a global dust storm last summer that caused it…
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JPL still trying to contact Opportunity rover on Mars
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Opportunity’s panoramic camera captured this self-portrait on Mars in 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ. NASA’s Mars Opportunity rover landed on Mars 15 years ago this week, but the long-lived robot remains out of action in the wake of a global dust storm last summer that caused it…
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Ultima Thule revealed in new detail with fresh flyby image
A new image captured minutes before NASA’s New Horizons probe zipped by a rocky object in the Kuiper Belt on New Year’s Day shows the dual-lobed world — nicknamed Ultima Thule — is covered with intriguing fractures and a large crater-like depression that could provide clues about the early history of the solar system. The…
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Ultima Thule revealed in new detail with fresh flyby image
A new image captured minutes before NASA’s New Horizons probe zipped by a rocky object in the Kuiper Belt on New Year’s Day shows the dual-lobed world — nicknamed Ultima Thule — is covered with intriguing fractures and a large crater-like depression that could provide clues about the early history of the solar system. The…
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China releases more images from far side of the moon
China’s Yutu 2 rover on the far side of the moon. This image was released by Chinese space officials Friday, Jan. 11. Credit: CNSA/CLEP Chinese officials on Friday released more imagery from the Chang’e 4 mission, a robotic lander and rover exploring the far side of the moon after a successful landing Jan. 3. The…
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China releases more images from far side of the moon
China’s Yutu 2 rover on the far side of the moon. This image was released by Chinese space officials Friday, Jan. 11. Credit: CNSA/CLEP Chinese officials on Friday released more imagery from the Chang’e 4 mission, a robotic lander and rover exploring the far side of the moon after a successful landing Jan. 3. The…
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Chinese rover begins exploring far side of the moon
China’s Yutu 2 rover drives off the Chang’e 4 landing platform on the far side of the moon. Credit: CNSA/CASC/CLEP A robotic Chinese spacecraft named Chang’e 4 braked out of lunar orbit and slowed to a controlled touchdown on the far side of the moon Thursday, a first in the history of space exploration. The…
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Most distant object ever visited resembles a snowman
The Kuiper Belt Object 2014 MU69 — nicknamed “Ultima Thule” — appears as a dual-lobe contact binary in this photo captured by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft at a distance of around 18,000 miles (28,000 kilometers). Credit: NASA/SWRI/JHUAPL LAUREL, Maryland — The first well-resolved image of the faraway chunk of rock fleetingly visited by NASA’s New…
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New Horizons scientists elated as Ultima Thule’s shape comes into view
At left is a composite of two images taken by New Horizons’ high-resolution Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), which provides the best indication of Ultima Thule’s size and shape so far. Preliminary measurements of this Kuiper Belt object suggest it is approximately 20 miles long by 10 miles wide (32 kilometers by 16 kilometers). An artist’s…