Tag: Planetary Science
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NASA’s asteroid sampling mission is on course for landing this weekend
A NASA spacecraft will complete a round-trip journey to an asteroid this weekend, returning to Earth after a seven-year voyage to bring back unspoiled rock specimens from an alien world that could yield insights into the formation of life. The landing Sunday at 8:55 am local time in Utah (10:55 am EDT or 14:55 UTC)…
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OSIRIS-REx teams conduct final rehearsals before sample capsule return in September
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, launched in September 2016, is now less than a month away from bringing back samples from asteroid Bennu. NASA conducted a press conference on Aug. 30 to preview the Sept. 24 landing at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. To prepare for the landing, NASA conducted an end-to-end capsule retrieval exercise on…
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Using data from InSight, scientists discover that Mars is rotating faster
In December 2022, NASA lost contact with its Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) Mars lander, which had been operating on the Martian surface for just over four years. In the time since InSight’s mission was declared over, scientists have continued to analyze the incredible data the lander collected and have…
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Scientists, using Webb, discover water vapor within a planet-forming disk
Using the joint NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope, a team of scientists has discovered, for the first time, water vapor within a planet-forming disk. The water vapor, which was found within the inner disk of two circumstellar disks around star PDS 70, is allowing scientists to research the ways by which…
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New legged robots designed to explore planets as a team
While rovers have made incredible discoveries, their wheels can hold them back, and erratic terrain can mean damage. There is no replacing something like Perseverance, but sometimes rovers could use a leg up, and they could get that from a small swarm of four-legged robots. They look like giant metal insects, but the trio of…
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Rover sampling finds organic molecules in water-altered rocks on Mars
Organic chemicals, primarily composed of carbon and hydrogen, underly all of life. They’re also widespread in the Universe, so they can’t be taken as a clear signature of the presence of life. That creates an annoying situation regarding the search for evidence of life on Mars, which clearly has some organic chemicals despite the harsh…
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NASA decides not to launch two already-built asteroid probes
Two small spacecraft should have now been cruising through the Solar System, on their way to study unexplored asteroids, but after several years of development and nearly $50 million in expenditures, NASA announced Tuesday the probes will remain locked inside a Lockheed Martin factory in Colorado. That’s because the mission, called Janus, was supposed to…
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Cassini data reveals the presence of phosphorus in Enceladus’ ocean plumes
A team of scientists, using archival data from NASA’s now-retired Cassini mission, has discovered the presence of phosphorus in the massive plumes of water being ejected from the southern regions of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Phosphorus — a chemical element essential for life and often considered a building block for life — is locked inside of…
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Megaplume of water vapor erupting on Enceladus caught by Webb Telescope
Enceladus, a frozen moon orbiting Saturn, has caught the interest of scientists because of the plumes of water vapor that erupt from its icy crust, which are possible evidence for a subsurface ocean. And an ocean means it has the potential for life (at least life as we know it). Now NASA’s James Webb Space…
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Webb spots vast plume of water vapor spewing from Saturn’s moon Enceladus
A plume of water vapor jetting from the south pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus stretches 20 times the size of the moon itself, feeding a vast torus around the ringed planet. Inset: Enceladus as imaged by the Cassini orbiter. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and G. Villanueva (NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center). Image Processing: A.…