Planetary Science
- Planetary Science
Hard bodies pair off
About one out of every eight asteroids traveling near Earth has a rocky companion.
- Planetary Science
Jupiter’s Whirlpool
The surprising birth and rapid evolution of a giant vortex highlight the first movie of Jupiter’s polar regions seen in the ultraviolet. The movie and other Jupiter images from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft are available online at the Cassini imaging team and Jet Propulsion Laboratory Web sites. Go to: http://ciclops.org/view.php?id=58 and http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2002/release_2002_59.html
- Planetary Science
Mars Odyssey instrument revived
Flight controllers have revived an instrument on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft that measures the amount of radiation bombarding the Martian surface.
- Planetary Science
Probing Jupiter’s big magnetic bubble
Simultaneous measurements by two spacecraft have probed in greater detail than ever before Jupiter’s magnetosphere, the invisible bubble of charged particles that surrounds the giant planet.
- Planetary Science
Odyssey’s First Look: Craft spies signs of ice at the Martian south pole
Astronomers have for the first time found evidence of large amounts of frozen water in the subsurface of Mars.
- Planetary Science
Galileo at Jupiter: The goodbye tour
After more than 6 years spent touring Jupiter and its four largest moons, the Galileo spacecraft’s mission is beginning to wind down.
- Planetary Science
Extreme weather: Massive hurricanes meet on Jupiter
Both professional and amateur sky watchers are pointing their telescopes at Jupiter as two titanic storms in the giant planet's upper atmosphere meet each other.
- Planetary Science
Exploring the Red Planet
Searching for signs of subsurface water on the Red Planet and analyzing the elemental and mineral composition of surface rock, NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft begins its main mapping mission next month and may shed light on several enduring puzzles about the planet.
- Planetary Science
Galileo finds spires on Callisto
The sharpest images ever taken of Jupiter's icy moon Callisto show a group of features never seen before on the remote body—icy, knoblike spires that show signs of slow but steady erosion.
- Planetary Science
Craft tracks giant dust storm on Mars
The largest dust storm observed on Mars in 25 years is now engulfing the Red Planet.
- Planetary Science
Space Flight Basics
For armchair space explorers, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory offers a tutorial on how to operate an interplanetary space mission. Originally created a decade ago, the newly updated guide includes information on spacecraft engineering, mission design, trajectories, launch, navigation, telecommunications, and much more. Go to: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/
- Planetary Science
Nearby star may have its own asteroid belt
Observations of warm dust swaddling a young, nearby star suggest that astronomers may have found evidence of a massive asteroid belt outside the solar system.
