By Paul Scott Anderson, on October 26th, 2020
Illustration depicting water molecules trapped in lunar soil, along with SOFIA onboard a modified Boeing 747SP jetliner. Image Credit: NASA/Daniel Rutterit
The Moon is generally thought of as a very dry place, with no surface water or even water vapor clouds. Nothing but arid, dusty regolith and rocks. That’s true for the most part, […]
Like this:Like Loading...
By Paul Scott Anderson, on October 5th, 2017
Pluto’s “bladed terrain” as seen by New Horizons in 2015. Photo Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
Pluto is an intriguing little world, full of geological surprises, as New Horizons revealed back in 2015. This cold, remote body was expected to be pretty much inactive, but instead we saw a place with nitrogen ice “seas” and glaciers, […]
Like this:Like Loading...
By Paul Scott Anderson, on March 25th, 2017
MAHLI view on sol 1641 of two of the raised treads (grousers) on the left middle wheel of the Curiosity rover which recently broke, including the one seen partially detached at the top of the wheel. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
As the Curiosity rover continues its traverse among the buttes and sand dunes of […]
Like this:Like Loading...
By Paul Scott Anderson, on February 9th, 2017
View from Curiosity of the Yellowknife Bay rock formation. Drilled samples here and elsewhere provided evidence that this region used to be at the bottom of a lake, but also that there are little or no carbonate mineral deposits, which should have been produced if the carbon dioxide atmosphere was thicker and warmer […]
Like this:Like Loading...
By Paul Scott Anderson, on December 28th, 2016
Charon (upper left) and Pluto as seen by New Horizons on July 14, 2015. Photo Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
Charon is Pluto’s largest moon and, despite being so cold and remote from the Sun, has been revealed to be a fascinating and active world, just like Pluto itself. Residing in the far outskirts of the […]
Like this:Like Loading...
By Paul Scott Anderson, on December 15th, 2016
View of the path ahead for the Curiosity rover, looking toward the foothills of Mount Sharp. The various sedimentary layers on the mountain are a geological record of different environmental conditions in the past. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA held another press briefing yesterday about the latest findings from the Curiosity rover on Mars, […]
Like this:Like Loading...
By Paul Scott Anderson, on November 17th, 2016
Graphic showing two full-frame images from Kepler. Modules 3 and 7 failed earlier during Campaign 10 and Module 7 failed later. Image Credit: NASA Ames/W. Stenzel
The Kepler K2 mission has now resumed after a delay of three days, NASA has reported. The Kepler Space Telescope is currently in Campaign 11, during which […]
Like this:Like Loading...
By Paul Scott Anderson, on March 23rd, 2016
Artist’s conception of Pluto’s surface, with the distant Sun and largest moon Charon in the sky. The surface is frozen now, but evidence suggests that rivers and lakes of liquid nitrogen once flowed here. Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Alex Parker
As has been discussed extensively now on AmericaSpace, […]
Like this:Like Loading...
By Paul Scott Anderson, on February 20th, 2016
The canyons of Charon, some of which dwarf the Grand Canyon on Earth. Image Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
One of the most surprising discoveries in recent years in the outer Solar System is that there are small moons which have oceans inside them. Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus are now known to have […]
Like this:Like Loading...
By Paul Scott Anderson, on January 29th, 2016
False-color, infrared maps of Pluto from New Horizons, showing regular detection method of water ice on the left and the more sensitive technique on the right. Image Credit: NASA/JHUIAPL/SwRI
New Horizons has shown Pluto to be a diverse world, more so than many scientists had anticipated, with tall mountain ranges, vast glaciers, a […]
Like this:Like Loading...
|
|