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.
People always want to know what will happen to Earth when the sun eventually swells up as a red giant. For one thing, the expanding sun will turn the inner planets into cinders. It will almost certainly spell the end of life ...
Planetary Sciences
May 28, 2025
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118
Andy Weir's bestselling story "The Martian" predicts that by 2035 NASA will have landed humans on Mars three times, perfected return-to-Earth flight systems and collaborated with the China National Space Administration. We ...
Planetary Sciences
May 22, 2025
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86
Comets that have hit Earth have been a mixed bag. Early in Earth's history, during the solar system's chaotic beginning, they were likely the source of our planet's water, ultimately making up about 0.02% of the planet's ...
The solar system consists of our star, the sun, and everything bound to it by gravity: the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, along with dwarf planets like Pluto, dozens of moons, and ...
Astronomy
Apr 30, 2025
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For NASA, sending a crewed mission to Mars has been the long-term goal for over two decades. China has joined the club in recent years, with plans to send crewed missions to the red planet ahead of NASA. In both cases, the ...
Space Exploration
Apr 24, 2025
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254
The surface of Mars is extremely cold, irradiated, and desiccated. But at one time, the planet was much warmer and wetter, with flowing water, lakes, and even an ocean covering most of its northern hemisphere. Because of ...
Astrobiology
Apr 21, 2025
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62
How can we successfully collect and return samples from Mercury and Venus to Earth? This is what a recent study presented at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference hopes to address as a pair of researchers from the ...
Space Exploration
Apr 16, 2025
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45
NASA's Perseverance rover landed on Mars in 2021 to search for signs of ancient microbial life and to help scientists understand the planet's climate and geography. But another key objective is to pave the way for human exploration ...
Space Exploration
Mar 28, 2025
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67
What drives us to send probes throughout the solar system and rovers and landers to Mars? It's not cheap, and it's not easy. It's because we live inside a big, natural puzzle, and we want to understand it. That's one reason. ...
Astrobiology
Mar 28, 2025
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75
What can Venus-like exoplanets, also known as exoVenuses, teach us about our own solar system and potentially finding life beyond Earth, and how can the planned Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) provide these insights?
Planetary Sciences
Mar 28, 2025
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