Tag: Planetary Science
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NASA marks 20 years of continuous Mars exploration
This portion of a classic 1997 panorama from the IMP camera on the mast of NASA’s Mars Pathfinder lander includes “Twin Peaks” on the horizon, and the Sojourner rover next to a rock called “Yogi.” Credit: NASA/JPL NASA’s Mars Pathfinder probe dropped to the surface of Mars for an airbag-cushioned landing 20 years ago Tuesday,…
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Dawn mission managers await NASA decision on spacecraft’s future
Artist’s concept of the Dawn spacecraft with one of its ion engines firing. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech The future of NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, running low on hydrazine fuel and now flying around the dwarf planet Ceres without the help of internal pointing wheels, will be decided in the coming weeks by top space agency managers. Scientists have…
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Cassini survives closest brush with Saturn’s inner ring
This unprocessed image from Cassini’s camera taken Sunday shows Saturn (upper right) and a portion of the planet’s rings refracted through Saturn’s atmosphere. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute Barreling through space near the inner edge of Saturn’s wispy D ring, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft shielded itself from bits of ice and dust Sunday as the probe made…
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Ride with NASA’s Juno orbiter over turbulent Jupiter
Credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstädt/Seán Doran Take a trip around Jupiter with NASA’s Juno spacecraft in a time-lapse animation created from a sequence of images taken during the probe’s last close-up flyby of the gas giant May 19. The orbiter’s JunoCam imager repeatedly scanned across the planet as the craft soared over Jupiter’s north pole, passed within around…
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Earlier launch of NASA’s Psyche mission touted as cost-saving measure
Artist’s concept of the Psyche spacecraft, which will conduct a direct exploration of an asteroid thought to be a stripped planetary core. Credit: SSL/ASU/P. Rubin/NASA/JPL-Caltech A NASA spacecraft set to explore a metallic asteroid for the first time will launch in 2022, a year earlier than originally planned, and reach its destination in 2026, four…
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Jupiter surprises in first trove of data from NASA’s Juno mission
This image shows Jupiter’s south pole, as seen by NASA’s Juno spacecraft from an altitude of 32,000 miles (52,000 kilometers). Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Betsy Asher Hall/Gervasio Robles The first months of observations of the solar system’s biggest planet from NASA’s Juno spacecraft have revealed huge swirling polar cyclones, previously-undetected structures and motions beneath Jupiter’s distinctive clouds,…
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Probe into crash of ESA lander recommends more checks on ExoMars descent craft
Artist’s concept of the Schiaparelli lander with its parachute deployed. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab Investigators who studied the crash of the European Space Agency’s Schiaparelli lander on Mars last year have recommended more stringent testing and computer modeling before the launch of a joint European-Russian landing craft in 2020 to avoid a repeat of the mistakes…
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NASA’s Cassini spacecraft aims to skirt Saturn’s innermost ring
Cassini took this image of Saturn and its rings May 13. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute Fresh off its fifth passage through a gap between Saturn’s atmosphere and rings, NASA’s robotic Cassini spacecraft is looping toward a close brush with the planet’s innermost ring next week, when the probe will again use its high-gain antenna as…
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Juno spacecraft makes another pass by Jupiter
This image of cyclones near Jupiter’s north pole was captured by the JunoCam imager during Friday’s flyby. Credit: NASA/SWRI/MSSS Making its fifth science pass close to Jupiter’s turbulent cloud tops, NASA’s Juno spacecraft sailed by the solar system’s king planet Friday to collect another treasure trove of data on the giant world’s atmosphere, internal structure,…
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Cassini downlinks view of Titan’s methane clouds on third loop inside rings
Cassini took this picture of Titan’s northern cloud bands Sunday from a distance of more than 300,000 miles (500,000 kilometers). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute The Cassini spacecraft captured captivating images of wispy methane clouds suspended above Titan’s hydrocarbon lakes as the probe headed for its third shot through Saturn’s ring gap Tuesday. The distant pictures,…