Planetary Science

  1. Planetary Science

    Tasting ice

    Phoenix Mars Lander drills for ice.

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  2. Planetary Science

    Lunar liquid

    A new analysis of moon rocks has revealed that the moon isn’t as bone dry as researchers had thought, whetting the appetite of scientists who seek a deeper understanding of how Earth’s only natural satellite arose and evolved.

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  3. Astronomy

    Impact may have transformed Mars

    Three teams suggest that a huge object slammed into Mars, giving the planet an unusually dualistic topography.

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  4. Planetary Science

    Surprise found in comet dust

    Scientists find an odd mineral that could offer clues to the solar system's origins.

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  5. Astronomy

    Visions of dirt

    Phoenix Lander gets first close-up of Martian soil.

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  6. Planetary Science

    Shake, shake, shake

    Instrument succeeds in capturing first soil sample, allowing Mars Phoenix Lander team to begin scientific studies.

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  7. Planetary Science

    Colliding moonlets

    New photos of collisions in one of Saturn’s rings provide a local lab for understanding the interactions that might shape young solar system formation.

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  8. Planetary Science

    Small exoplanet discovered

    Astronomers have discovered the smallest planet known that is beyond the solar system and orbits an ordinary parent body.

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  9. Space

    Making an impression

    In its seventh day after successfully landing on the Red Planet, the Phoenix Lander digs its first trench and is ready to start its ice-hunting.

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  10. Planetary Science

    Dispatch from Mars, Sol 4

    The good news is a tentative sighting of ice by the Mars Phoenix Lander. The bad news is the discovery of a glitch in the system that will analyze soil samples.

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  11. Planetary Science

    Rarin’ to go

    After a day’s delay, the robotic arm on the Mars Phoenix Lander is free of its shackles and is preparing to dig for ice.

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  12. Planetary Science

    More than a pinch

    Water believed to flow on the Red Planet would have been too salty to foster life, scientists suggest.

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