Tag: Planetary Science
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Dawn gets better look at bright spots on Ceres
This image taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, shows Occator crater on Ceres, home to a collection of intriguing bright spots. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, nearly halfway through its exploration of the dwarf planet Ceres, has returned its best images yet of a mysterious grouping of bright spots inside a crater on the Texas-sized world,…
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Uranus, Neptune in NASA’s sights for new robotic mission
NASA’s Voyager 2 mission captured this image of Uranus during its January 1986 flyby, the only encounter with the distant ice giant. Credit: NASA NASA has asked scientists to assess how to design and fly robotic space probes to Uranus and Neptune, the last of the solar system’s classical planets yet to be orbited, likely…
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Dawn enters new orbit closer to Ceres
Dawn captured this view of Ceres on May 7 from a distance of 8,400 miles, or 13,600 kilometers. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA NASA’s Dawn asteroid explorer has arrived at its new perch 2,700 miles from the dwarf planet Ceres, a vantage point scientists say will yield better views as the probe continues to step closer to the…
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UAE details ambitious plan for Martian weather satellite
Artist’s concept of the Emirates Mars Mission. Credit: Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center Scientists from the United Arab Emirates have announced the Arab world’s first Mars probe will launch in July 2020 and collect global measurements of the Martian atmosphere. Assuming a launch in 2020, the robotic probe will fly on a seven-month cruise to…
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NASA receives proposals for new planetary science mission
NASA’s 13th Discovery program mission is set for launch in 2021. Credit: NASA The proposals are in for a new NASA robotic mission for launch in 2021 to explore the solar system, and scientists have submitted concepts for probes to the moon, planets, asteroids and comets for a chance to win $450 million in federal…
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Japanese craft to get second chance after missing Venus in 2010
Artist’s concept of the Akatsuki spacecraft at Venus. Credit: JAXA/Akihiro Ikeshita Five years after a balky valve kept it from entering orbit around Venus, Japan’s Akatsuki space probe is again approaching the sweltering planet for another shot at completing its science mission in December, officials said Friday. The robotic spacecraft has spiraled around the inner…
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Dawn’s camera resolves fuzzy features on Ceres
Ceres is seen by Dawn’s framing camera at a range of 238,000 miles (383,000 kilometers). Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is tantalizing scientists with new imagery of Ceres, a dwarf planet orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter, as the probe closes in on the icy world for 16 months of up-close observations. The…
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Dawn begins final approach to dwarf planet Ceres
Artist’s concept of the Dawn spacecraft firing its ion propulsion system on approach to Ceres. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has begun its final approach to the dwarf planet Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt, for an in-depth survey of the uncharted world. The solar-powered space probe is scheduled to arrive at Ceres…
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NASA spacecraft to get bonus time studying Mercury
A depiction of the MESSENGER spacecraft is shown passing near the crater Hokusai and its extensive system of rays. Both the monochrome and enhanced color views of Mercury were obtained during MESSENGER’s second Mercury flyby. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington Running low on fuel after completing the first global survey…