Planetary Science
- Planetary Science
NASA picks nine instruments for future mission to Europa
NASA has selected nine instruments to fly on a future spacecraft to Jupiter’s ice-covered moon Europa.
- Planetary Science
Sea salt may stripe Europa’s surface
Salt deposits on Jupiter’s moon Europa might be responsible for brown stripes on the icy satellite’s surface.
- Planetary Science
Boulders balance on tiny tips as comet 67P zooms through space
Three boulders on comet 67P resemble balancing rocks that are seen on Earth.
- Earth
Asteroids boiled young Earth’s oceans, remnant rocks suggest
Giant asteroid impacts may have boiled Earth’s oceans around 3.3 billion years ago, snuffing out near-surface life.
- Planetary Science
New Horizons probe takes family photo of Pluto’s moons
The New Horizons spacecraft finally spied Pluto's two tiniest satellites, Kerberos and Styx, in a series of images taken from April 25, 2015 to May 1, 2015.
- Planetary Science
Bright spots on Ceres may be made of smaller patches of ice
The Dawn spacecraft took a closer look at bright patches and craters on the dwarf planet Ceres.
- Planetary Science
Origin date established for Mercury’s magnetic field
A 3.8-billion-year-old magnetic field on Mercury provides clues as to how the once volcanically active planet evolved.
- Planetary Science
How did Earth get its water?
Earth is a wet planet that formed in a dry part of the solar system. How our planet’s water arrived may be a story of big, bullying planets and ice-filled asteroids.
- Planetary Science
Explore an asteroid with ‘Vesta Trek’
Vesta Trek lets users explore the asteroid Vesta with data from the Dawn spacecraft.
- Planetary Science
MESSENGER mission ends with crash landing on Mercury
The MESSENGER mission to Mercury came to a spectacular end as the probe crashed into the planet’s surface.
- Planetary Science
Pluto’s landscapes come into view as New Horizons closes in
The New Horizons spacecraft sees surface markings and a possible polar cap on Pluto as it closes in for a July encounter.
- Planetary Science
The Martian Diaries
Curiosity has explored Mars for over two and a half years. What if NASA's rover kept a scrapbook?
