Earth-like planets have Earth-like interiors

Every school kid learns the basic structure of the Earth: a thin outer crust, a thick mantle, and a Mars-sized core. But is this structure universal? Will rocky exoplanets orbiting other stars have the same three layers? ...

Ice on Ceres: 'An Interesting Paradox'

As NASA's Dawn mission draws closer to its encounter with the dwarf planet Ceres in early 2015, excitement continues to mount for scientists looking forward to what the satellite might observe. Britney Schmidt, of the George ...

Scientist's Award Allows Her To Probe the Earth's Mantle

(PhysOrg.com) -- Sandwiched between the liquid iron outer core and the thin rocky crust we live on, the Earth's mantle is more than 1,800 miles thick, and comprises more than three-quarters of the planet's volume and nearly ...

Image: Testing InSight

Testing continued on NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft on inside the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in early March 2018.