Solar system terrestrial planets as a research area focuses on the comparative study of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars to understand the formation, differentiation, and evolution of rocky planets. It integrates planetary geology, geophysics, geochemistry, atmospheric science, and orbital dynamics to investigate crust–mantle–core structures, volcanic and tectonic processes, surface–atmosphere interactions, and volatile and climate histories. The field relies heavily on spacecraft missions, remote sensing, in situ measurements, laboratory analyses of analog materials, and numerical modeling to constrain accretion processes, interior dynamics, habitability conditions, and the broader context of terrestrial exoplanets.
Earth may have produced much of its water during the planet's formation, as rocky pebbles reacted with the hydrogen-rich atmosphere surrounding the young planet, according to new research published in Nature Geoscience. The ...
Astrobiology
22 hours ago
0
50
Japanese scientists will launch a spacecraft on Tuesday that aims to be the first to retrieve samples from one of Mars' moons, potentially helping unlock the origins of the solar system and life on Earth.
Planetary Sciences
Oct 19, 2026
0
16
Mercury remains one of our solar system's most elusive and difficult planets to study. It's easier to send probes to the icy moons of Saturn or Jupiter, or even to Pluto, than to land on our innermost planet, Mercury.
Planetary Sciences
Oct 19, 2026
0
26
Japanese scientists are readying a mission to Mars' moons to retrieve samples that could help unlock the origins of the solar system and life on Earth, in what aims to be the first round trip to the Martian region.
Space Exploration
Oct 18, 2026
0
54
Four and a half billion years ago, Earth and Mars were born in the rotating cloud of gas and dust that would eventually become our solar system. Yet exactly how the planets formed remains one of the most disputed questions ...
Astrobiology
Sep 30, 2026
0
241
In the search for extraterrestrial life, it makes sense to first look for rocky planets with an atmosphere, like Earth. Without an atmosphere, a planet can't have surface water. But of the more than 6,300 exoplanets cataloged ...
Astrobiology
Sep 24, 2026
1
104
Scientists have long speculated why Venus, with a size, mass and structure similar to Earth's, doesn't have a moon. New UC Riverside research shows that our hungry twin likely swallowed it.
Planetary Sciences
Sep 20, 2026
2
202
Launched on Oct. 20, 2018, the joint ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission has traveled for almost eight years, using a carefully planned but eventful sequence of planetary flybys and solar-electric propulsion to gradually approach ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 15, 2026
1
37
Mercury's surface is riddled with wrinkles, evidence of a once-larger planet that has shrunk over time. A new study finds that Mercury may have contracted 10% to 30% more than previously thought—a loss of nearly 12 miles ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 10, 2026
0
44
After an eight-year journey, a spacecraft carrying European and Japanese probes began the monthslong, high-risk approach to Mercury on Thursday to study the sun-scorched planet.
Planetary Sciences
Sep 5, 2026
1
294
