By Paul Scott Anderson, on June 18th, 2020
Neptune’s largest moon Triton as seen by Voyager 2 in 1989. The proposed Trident mission would be the first to return to this bizarre world in over three decades. Photo Credit: Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS
Much of the outer Solar System has now been visited by robotic spacecraft from Earth, including the gas and ice giants […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on April 29th, 2020
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (right) will pick up where the Hubble (left) will soon leave off, observing the universe in infrared & looking further back in time than Hubble ever could. Photos: NASA
April 24 marked the 30th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), which has given humanity some of the most […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on March 9th, 2020
The 70-meter-wide (230-feet-wide) radio antenna at the Deep Space Network’s Canberra site in Australia. It is the only antenna that that communicate with Voyager 2 from the southern hemisphere, and will be undergoing crucial upgrades for 11 months beginning in March. Photo Credit: NASA/Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex
With so many space missions currently exploring […]
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By Ben Evans, on August 25th, 2019
Neptune, as seen by Voyager 2 in 1989. No other missions have yet returned to this enigmatic world. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL
READ Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of AmericaSpace’s Neptune 30th anniversary commemorative feature.
Thirty years ago today, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft swept silently over the royal-blue clouds of Neptune at […]
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By Ben Evans, on August 24th, 2019
The Great Dark Spot and Bright Companion, together with the chevron-like “Scooter” are visible in this Voyager 2 image of Neptune. Photo Credit: NASA
READ Part 1 and Part 2 of AmericaSpace’s Neptune 30th anniversary commemorative feature.
Thirty years ago this weekend, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft swept silently above Neptune’s royal-blue cloud-tops and […]
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By Ben Evans, on August 17th, 2019
Neptune and its large moon, Triton, as seen by Voyager 2 in August 1989, three days after closest approach. Photo Credit: NASA
Thirty years ago, this month, all eyes were on the outermost reaches of the Solar System, as humanity braced itself for its last, first-time, close-up glimpse of a new planet in the […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on July 9th, 2019
Artist’s concept of one of NASA’s Voyager spacecraft, including the location of the cosmic ray subsystem (CRS) instrument. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
With all of the current and recent planetary missions throughout the Solar System, it may be easy to forget sometimes that there are still some older spacecraft that have been traveling for decades […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on March 4th, 2019
Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, as seen by New Horizons in 2015. The lack of smaller craters -less than expected – suggests that small objects less than a mile in size are rare in the Kuiper Belt. Photo Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/Alex Parker
The Kuiper Belt is a vast region of rocky debris in the outer Solar […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on January 13th, 2017
Artist’s illustrationn of Voyager 1 looking back on the Solar System. Image Credit: NASA/ESA/G. Bacon (STScI)
There have been many incredible planetary missions over the past several decades, from as close as our Moon to the outer reaches of the Solar System. Right now, there are robotic explorers at Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Ceres, […]
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By Leonidas Papadopoulos, on December 14th, 2016
Uranus and Neptune: the Solar System’s unique ice giant planets, of which we only got brief glimpses during the Voyager 2 flybys in the 1980s, beckon for further, more detailed exploration. Image Credit: NASA
Last year’s historic close flyby of Pluto by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft put the outer Solar System firmly back […]
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