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 May 25th, 2016
Artist’s conception of the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). The new House bill directs NASA to bypass this mission and return to the Moon instead, before going to Mars. Image Credit: NASA
Sending human astronauts to Mars is a dream shared by many, but there are still challenges to overcome and the question of […]
Like this:Like Loading...
By Leonidas Papadopoulos, on May 22nd, 2016
An impressive image of Jupiter’s moon Io, as seen from NASA’s Galileo spacecraft from a distance of approximately 600,000 km. A volcanic eruption is easily seen at the moon’s upper limb, rising almost 140 km above the surface. A new study has shown that these volcanic eruptions play an integral role in the […]
Like this:Like Loading...
By Leonidas Papadopoulos, on March 9th, 2016
A view of Mars showing the expansive Valles Marineris (center), which is the largest canyons system in the entire Solar System. Three of the four giant shield volcanoes that constitue the massive Tharsis region are seen at far left. A new study by an international team of planetary scientists has provided evidence that […]
Like this:Like Loading...
By Paul Scott Anderson, on February 11th, 2016
We are finally going back to Europa, but it may be a little later than originally planned. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute
The recently announced new mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa, a highly anticipated return to this ocean world, may face a launch delay from 2022 to the late 2020s. The news comes amid […]
Like this:Like Loading...
By Paul Scott Anderson, on December 23rd, 2015
One of the first new images taken in Dawn’s lowest orbit around Ceres, showing the crater chain called Gerber Catena. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
NASA has released the first images of the dwarf planet Ceres from the Dawn spacecraft’s new lowest orbit. This is the closest view that Dawn will have of Ceres and […]
Like this:Like Loading...
By Paul Scott Anderson, on December 10th, 2015
False color view of Occator crater on Ceres, showing the unusual bright spots. The image was taken by the framing camera on NASA’s Dawn spacecraft from a distance of about 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
There now might be a definitive answer to a puzzle which has intrigued both scientists and […]
Like this:Like Loading...
By Emily Carney, on November 9th, 2015
From NASA/JPL: “This view, made using images taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, is a color-coded topographic map of Occator crater on Ceres. Blue is the lowest elevation, and brown is the highest. The crater, which is home to the brightest spots on Ceres, is approximately 56 miles (90 kilometers wide).” Occator is home […]
Like this:Like Loading...
By Emily Carney, on September 5th, 2015
From NASA/JPL: “The Lonely Mountain: NASA’s Dawn spacecraft spotted this tall, conical mountain on Ceres from a distance of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The mountain, located in the southern hemisphere, stands 4 miles (6 kilometers) high. Its perimeter is sharply defined, with almost no accumulated debris at the base of the brightly streaked […]
Like this:Like Loading...
By Paul Scott Anderson, on August 31st, 2015
Artist’s conception of New Horizons at 2014 MU69. Image Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/Alex Parker
It has been nearly a month and a half since the historic flyby of Pluto by the New Horizons spacecraft, and now the mission team has selected its next target for exploration: a small Kuiper Belt object (KBO) known as 2014 […]
Like this:Like Loading...
|
|