Tag: Planetary Science
-
China’s Tianwen 1 mission targets mid-May landing on Mars
China’s Tianwen 1 orbiter took this picture of Mars on March 18 from a distance of approximately 7,100 miles (11,500 kilometers). Credit: CNSA China’s Tianwen 1 spacecraft — in orbit around Mars since February — is scheduled to deploy a descent module to attempt the country’s first landing on the Red Planet in mid-May. Officials…
-
Perseverance rover records sounds of driving on Mars
NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its onboard left Navigation Camera (Navcam) on March 7, the same day the rover’s microphone recorded the sounds of driving. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s Perseverance rover has recorded the crunching, rattling sound of its six metallic wheels rolling across Mars. Perseverance carries the first microphones ever sent to…
-
Parker Solar Probe pulls back the veil on Venus’s night side
When flying past Venus in July 2020, Parker Solar Probe’s WISPR instrument, short for Wide-field Imager for Parker Solar Probe, detected a bright rim around the edge of the planet that may be nightglow — light emitted by oxygen atoms high in the atmosphere that recombine into molecules in the nightside. The prominent dark feature…
-
Spectacular video released from China’s first Mars mission
China’s space agency has released a pair of spectacular video clips from “selfie” cameras on-board the country’s Tianwen 1 spacecraft as it braked into orbit around Mars on Feb. 10. One of the videos shows Tianwen 1’s high-gain directional antenna shaking from vibrations caused by the spacecraft’s main engine, which fired for 15 minutes to…
-
China’s first Mars mission enters orbit around Red Planet
A camera on-board the Tianwen 1 spacecraft captured a view of Mars earlier this month as it approached the Red Planet. Credit: CNSA/CASC China placed is first spacecraft into orbit around Mars on Wednesday, continuing an international blitz on the Red Planet one day after the arrival of a spacecraft from United Arab Emirates and…
-
Arab world’s first interplanetary spacecraft safely arrives at Mars
Artist’s concept of the Hope spacecraft arriving in orbit around Mars. Credit: MBRSC The United Arab Emirates became the fifth nation or space agency to put a spacecraft into orbit around Mars on Tuesday with the arrival of Hope, a probe built in partnership with U.S. scientists to obtain a unique global perspective on the…
-
UAE’s Hope orbiter on course for arrival at Mars
Artist’s illustration of the Hope spacecraft at Mars. Credit: MBRSC The first interplanetary probe from the United Arab Emirates is set to enter orbit around Mars on Tuesday, the first of three robotic missions taking aim on the Red Planet this month. The Emirates Mars Mission spacecraft, also known as Hope or Al Amal, is…
-
Chinese sample return capsule lands on Earth after round-trip flight to moon
The Chang’e 5 sample return capsule landed in China’s Inner Mongolia region Wednesday. Credit: CNSA A capsule containing moon rocks landed in a remote, snow-covered corner of China Wednesday, bringing home the first samples from the lunar surface in 44 years and completing the Chinese space program’s most challenging robotic mission to date. The return…
-
Chinese spacecraft heading back to Earth with lunar samples
Illustration of the Chang’e 5 mission’s remaining trajectory toward Earth, colored green, and the mission’s previous path around the moon, in red. Credit: CNSA A Chinese spacecraft ferrying rocks drilled from the moon’s surface is on course to land back on Earth Wednesday and deliver the first fresh lunar samples to scientists since the 1970s.…
-
Chinese mission accomplishes first-ever robotic docking in lunar orbit
Chang’e 5’s ascender spacecraft approaches the mission’s return vehicle in lunar orbit. Credit: CNSA The Chinese Chang’e 5 mission accomplished the first robotic docking between two spacecraft orbiting the moon Saturday, when a lunar ascent spacecraft linked up with an Earth return vehicle and transferred a container of moon rocks to bring home in mid-December.…