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.
Planetary Science
More Stories in Planetary Science
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Space
Even before splashdown, Artemis II is delivering a scientific treasure trove
The Artemis II moon flyby may be over, but the hunt for scientific treasures in the trove of data collected is just starting.
- Space
Artemis II sends humans around the moon for first time since Apollo
NASA’s Artemis II astronauts are on their way to the moon, testing the Orion spacecraft for future lunar landings and a planned moon base.
- Planetary Science
A comet may have flipped its spin and entered into a death spiral
Gases jetting out of Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák may have caused it to reverse its spin in 2017, possibly leading to its eventual destruction.
- Space
NASA races to have the first moon base and nuclear-propulsion spacecraft
A $20 billion plan for a moon base by 2030 and the launch nuclear-propulsion space exploration raises hopes, but caution given deep government cuts.
- Planetary Science
A private moon lander challenges ideas about lunar volcanism
New measurements from the Blue Ghost lander suggest that thin crust, not just radioactive heating, shaped the moon’s dark lava plains.
- Space
In a rare event, the moon got a massive new crater
A crater as wide as two American football fields formed in spring 2024, a size expected roughly once a century. A NASA orbiter got to watch.
