Tag: Planetary Science

  • New Horizons’ next target might be a binary pair

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    One artist’s concept of Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69, the next flyby target for NASA’s New Horizons mission. This binary concept is based on telescope observations made at Patagonia, Argentina, on July 17, 2017, when MU69 passed in front of a star. New Horizons theorize that it could be a single body with a large…

  • Planetary protection is serious business at NASA

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Narrow jets of gas and icy particles erupt from the south polar region of Enceladus, contributing to the moon’s giant plume. A cycle of activity in these small-scale jets may be periodically lofting extra particles into space, causing the overall plume to brighten dramatically. Credits: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute…

  • Opportunity rover peers into ‘Perseverance Valley’

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    Toward the right side of this scene is a broad notch in the crest of the western rim of Endeavour Crater. Wheel tracks in that area were left by NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity as it observed “Perseverance Valley” from above in the spring of 2017. The valley is a major destination for the rover’s…

  • First images of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot reach Earth

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION An enhanced color view of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot from the Juno spacecraft flyby Monday. Credit: NASA / SWRI / MSSS / Greg Smye-Rumsby / Astronomy Now Two days after NASA’s Juno spacecraft streaked over Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, pictures of the solar system’s largest, most powerful storm,…

  • NASA marks 20 years of continuous Mars exploration

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    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,…

  • Dawn mission managers await NASA decision on spacecraft’s future

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    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…

  • Cassini survives closest brush with Saturn’s inner ring

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    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…

  • Ride with NASA’s Juno orbiter over turbulent Jupiter

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    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…

  • Earlier launch of NASA’s Psyche mission touted as cost-saving measure

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    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…

  • Jupiter surprises in first trove of data from NASA’s Juno mission

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    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,…