Planetary Science

More Stories in Planetary Science

  1. Planetary Science

    A Mars rover found organic carbon just sitting on a rock

    The organic molecules could come from life or from ordinary chemistry — only samples returned to Earth can settle it.

    By Fechi Inyama
  2. Space

    Is NASA falling out of love with Mars?

    Editor in chief Nancy Shute discusses NASA's rocky relationship with Mars exploration.

    By Nancy Shute
  3. Planetary Science

    NASA seems to be backing away from hunting for life on Mars

    Viking 1 kicked off the search for Martian life 50 years ago. Now NASA’s shifting priorities are putting the quest in limbo.

    By Lisa Grossman
  4. Space

    NASA declares MAVEN, its Mars atmosphere orbiter, dead

    Over more than a decade at Mars, the orbiter revealed how the solar wind strips away the planet’s atmosphere — and why the world lost its water.

    By Lisa Grossman
  5. Planetary Science

    Europa may not vent water into space after all

    The debate could reopen in 2030 when NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft gets the closest view of the icy moon’s surface.

    By Lisa Grossman
  6. Planetary Science

    An ancient moonpocalypse may explain Neptune’s odd moon Nereid

    Neptune’s oddball moon Nereid may be the sole remnant of an earlier system, formed near the planet rather than being pulled in from afar.

    By Lisa Grossman
  7. Planetary Science

    Going to space? Always, always pack a camera

    Planetary scientist Candice Hansen-Koharcheck championed the importance of space imagery. Her legacy lives on in every pixel that comes back to Earth.

    By Marina Koren
  8. Planetary Science

    A small object past Pluto may have a thin atmosphere

    A brief stellar eclipse suggests the tiny 2002 XV93 has a thin atmosphere — a first for any solar system body farther from the sun than Pluto.

    By Lisa Grossman
  9. Planetary Science

    Uranus has weird rings. Astronomers now know the source of two of them

    The Nu ring seems to be fed by unknown rocky bodies, whereas the Mu ring appears rich in water ice and linked to the moon Mab.

    By Robin George Andrews