Tag: Planetary Science
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New Horizons on track for historic New Year’s Day flyby of Ultima Thule
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Artist’s concept of the New Horizons spacecraft’s flyby of 2014 MU69, also known as Ultima Thule. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Steve Gribben Thirteen years outbound from Earth and a billion miles past Pluto, NASA’s New Horizons probe is healthy and on course for a…
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Japanese robots land on asteroid, send back pictures
The MINERVA-II-1A rover captured this blurred image Saturday at 0244 GMT (10:44 p.m. EDT Friday) showing asteroid Ryugu as the robot hopped across its surface. The bright feature on the right side of the image was caused by sunlight. Credit: JAXA A pair of tiny automated robots touched down on asteroid Ryugu on Friday after…
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Engineers still hopeful Mars rover will wake up after dust storm
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION The Hubble Space Telescope captured this view Mars, with its surface partially hidden under a veil of dust, last month as the planet reached the closest point in its orbit to Earth. Credit: NASA, ESA, and STScI Flight controllers have not heard from NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover since…
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Japanese spacecraft reaches asteroid after three-and-a-half-year journey
Asteroid Ryugu imaged by the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft June 26 at a range of 13 miles (22 kilometers) Wednesday. Credit: JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, Aizu University, AIST Japan’s robotic Hayabusa 2 spacecraft arrived Wednesday at asteroid Ryugu, a diamond-shaped object more than a half-mile…
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Growing dust storm encircles Mars, rover remains silent
A self-portrait taken by NASA’s Curiosity rover taken June 15. A Martian dust storm has reduced sunlight and visibility at the rover’s location in Gale Crater. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS The effects of a global dust storm on Mars have been observed by NASA’s plutonium-powered Curiosity rover, which continues its scientific campaign as the thick veil of dust…
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Asteroid Ryugu revealed by approaching Japanese spacecraft
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated June 21 with new images. These views of asteroid Ryugu were taken June 18 through June 20 by the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft’s telescopic optical navigation camera, showing the rotating object as the probe approached. Credit: JAXA, University of Tokyo, Koichi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, University…
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Dawn spacecraft flying low over Ceres
This image of Ceres’ limb was obtained by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft May 30 from an altitude of about 280 miles (450 kilometers). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA In the closing months of a nearly 11-year mission, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has arrived in its final orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres and is obtaining the sharpest views yet of…
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Huge dust storm knocks aging Mars rover out of contact with Earth
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION This series of images shows simulated views of a darkening Martian sky blotting out the Sun from NASA’s Opportunity rover’s point of view, with the right side simulating Opportunity’s current view in the global dust storm (June 2018). The left starts with a blindingly bright mid-afternoon sky, with…
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NASA approves three-year extension for Juno mission orbiting Jupiter
Artist’s concept of the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s robotic Juno spacecraft wil spend another three years probing the inside of Jupiter, giving the mission more time to meet its primary science objectives after concerns over the health of the probe’s engine prevented it from dropping into a lower, shorter orbit around the…
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More signs of past — and possibly present — habitability of Mars
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Credit: NASA/GSFC NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover, slowly making its way up the side of a towering mountain of sedimentary rock at the center of its Gale Crater landing site, has found fresh evidence for the red planet’s past — and possibly present — habitability, scientists reported Thursday. The…