Tag: Planetary Science
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Chinese mission accomplishes first-ever robotic docking in lunar orbit
Chang’e 5’s ascender spacecraft approaches the mission’s return vehicle in lunar orbit. Credit: CNSA The Chinese Chang’e 5 mission accomplished the first robotic docking between two spacecraft orbiting the moon Saturday, when a lunar ascent spacecraft linked up with an Earth return vehicle and transferred a container of moon rocks to bring home in mid-December.…
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China’s Chang’e 5 sample return craft takes off from the moon
The Chang’e 5 ascender spacecraft lifts off from the moon in this view from an upward-facing camera on the mission’s descent stage, which remained on the moon’s surface. Credit: CNSA Wrapping up a busy two days on the lunar surface, a Chinese spacecraft carrying moon soil took off from a makeshift launch pad and fired…
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Chinese probe completes sample collection work on lunar surface
This image from a panorama taken by the Chang’e 5 sample return lander shows one of the spacecraft’s landing legs on the lunar surface. Credit: CNSA Chinese officials said the Chang’e 5 mission finished drilling and scooping samples from a lunar lava plain late Wednesday, hours before the spacecraft’s robotic ascender was due to take…
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Video replay of Chang’e 5’s landing on the moon
The China National Space Administration released an accelerated video replay of the Chang’e 5 spacecraft’s landing in the Oceanus Procellarum region of the moon Tuesday. The Chang’e 5 mission’s goal is to collect more than 4 pounds of rocks for return to Earth in mid-December, the first lunar sample return mission since 1976. The…
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China lands sample return probe on moon
The shadow of one of Chang’e 5’s landing legs is visible in this image from the spacecraft after touching down on the moon Tuesday. Credit: CNSA A Chinese spacecraft successfully touched down on the moon Tuesday, beginning what engineers have described as the most challenging phase of the mission to drill, scoop, and seal rocks…
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Arecibo Observatory collapses as scientists lament loss of deep space radar
The instrument platform of the Arecibo Observatory — seen here in an earlier photo — collapsed onto the telescope’s dish Dec. 1. Credit: National Science Foundation The 900-ton suspended platform of Puerto Rico’s famed Arecibo Observatory collapsed Tuesday after cable failures, crashing into the radio telescope’s iconic dish and shattering a research instrument used for…
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China’s Chang’e 5 spacecraft enters lunar orbit
Artist’s illustration of the Chang’e 5 spacecraft’s initial elliptical orbit around the moon. Credit: CCTV Five days after taking off on a heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket, China’s Chang’e 5 sample return spacecraft entered orbit around the moon Saturday, moving into position for a descent to the lunar surface in a bid to gather specimens…
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Water molecules detected on moon’s sunlit surface, adding impetus to Artemis
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION This illustration highlights the Moon’s Clavius Crater with an illustration depicting water trapped in the lunar soil there, along with an image of NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) that found sunlit lunar water. Credits: NASA/Daniel Rutter Water molecules have been directly detected across sunlit regions of…
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China’s Mars-bound probe returns self-portrait from deep space
A camera ejected from China’s Tianwen 1 spacecraft on the way to Mars captured this view of the probe in deep space. Credit: China National Space Administration China’s space agency has released images captured by a small camera ejected from the country’s first Mars-bound spacecraft, showing the probe in deep space as it nears the…
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Jupiter looms large in spectacular Hubble image
The Hubble Space Telescope captured this view of Jupiter and its icy moon Europa on Aug. 25. Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), and M. H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley) and the OPAL team The Hubble Space Telescope turned toward Jupiter last month, capturing colorful views of the giant planet and…