Tag: Planetary Science
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Scientists say thinning atmosphere drove the drying and cooling of Mars
Artist’s concept of a solar storm hitting Mars and stripping ions from the upper atmosphere. Credit: NASA/GSFC Data collected by NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft in its first two years at Mars confirm suspicions that the solar wind is blasting away the planet’s atmosphere and helped transform the world from a warmer, wetter and potentially habitable world…
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Juno orbiter races by Jupiter on fourth science pass
This enhanced-color image of a mysterious dark spot on Jupiter seems to reveal a Jovian “galaxy” of swirling storms. The JunoCam imager acquired this image during Juno’s flyby Feb. 2 from an altitude of about 9,000 miles (14,500 kilometers). Citizen scientist Roman Tkachenko enhanced the color to bring out the rich detail in the storm and…
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Rosetta’s comet shows scars from swing through inner solar system
This series of before-and-after views show the area of the Aswan cliff, which collapsed in July 2015 in conjunction with a strong outburst of gas and dust, seen by Rosetta in the long-range view at center. The same boulder is circled in all images to guide the eye when viewing the scene from different orientations.…
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Europe’s ExoMars spacecraft begins lowering its orbit
Artist’s concept of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, a Russian-launched, European-built spacecraft that arrived at Mars in October, is starting to dip into the upper reaches of the red planet’s atmosphere in a year-long “aerobraking” campaign place the observatory in the right position to hunt for methane,…
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Cassini glimpses saucer-shaped moon plowing through Saturn’s rings
This raw, unprocessed image of Saturn’s moon Pan was taken on March 7, 2017, by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute Saturn’s moon Pan, embedded in a gap in Saturn’s icy rings, has drawn comparisons to a walnut or ravioli in new images from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. In the final months of a 13-year…
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Perils and discoveries lie ahead for long-lived Saturn orbiter
This view shows Saturn’s northern hemisphere in 2016, as that part of the planet nears its northern hemisphere summer solstice in May 2017. Saturn’s year is nearly 30 Earth years long, and during its long time there, Cassini has observed winter and spring in the north, and summer and fall in the south. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space…
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NASA spacecraft steers clear of Martian moon Phobos
ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft took this image of Phobos backdropped by the limb of Mars. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum) NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft in orbit around Mars maneuvered out of the path of Phobos earlier this week after navigators predicted the spacecraft could run into the Martian moon in the near future, highlighting the challenge…
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NASA’s Juno spacecraft to remain in current orbit around Jupiter
Artist’s concept of the Juno spacecraft at Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Concerns about the health of the Juno spacecraft’s main engine have compelled NASA managers to keep the research probe in its current arcing, high-altitude orbit around Jupiter, a decision that will delay the full science return from the $1.1 billion mission but should still allow…
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Juno dives over Jupiter’s cloud tops with main engine still offline
Updated at 3:30 p.m. EST with additional comments from Scott Bolton. This amateur-processed image was taken on Dec. 11, 2016, at 9:27 a.m. PST (12:27 p.m. EST), as NASA’s Juno spacecraft performed its third close flyby of Jupiter. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Eric Jorgensen NASA’s Juno spacecraft made a high-speed pass less than 3,000 miles over Jupiter’s turbulent…
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Cassini offers best-ever view of Saturn’s rings
This image taken Dec. 18, 2016, shows a region in Saturn’s outer B ring. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft viewed this area at a level of detail twice as high as it had ever been observed before. The view here is of the outer edge of the B ring, at left, which is perturbed by the most…