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.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is ready to guide the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft through its closest encounter with Venus so far.
Space Exploration
Feb 18, 2025
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31
Though it's a cold, dead planet, Mars still has its own natural beauty about it. This image shows us something we'll never see on Earth.
Planetary Sciences
Jan 30, 2025
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81
The fact that the cold, dry Mars of today had flowing rivers and lakes several billion years ago has puzzled scientists for decades. Now, Harvard researchers think they have a good explanation for a warmer, wetter ancient ...
Planetary Sciences
Jan 28, 2025
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111
Mars is home to perhaps the greatest mystery of the solar system: the so-called Martian dichotomy, which has baffled scientists since it was discovered in the 1970s.
Planetary Sciences
Jan 18, 2025
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78
Geologically, Mars is very reminiscent of the moon. But it also looks a lot like the Earth. It all depends on who you ask.
Planetary Sciences
Jan 9, 2025
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155
It has been thought that plate tectonics were a significant factor in the shaping of our planet and the evolution of life. Mars and Venus don't experience such movements of crustal plates, but then the differences between ...
Astrobiology
Jan 9, 2025
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56
After its formation, the moon may have been the scene of such immense volcanic activity that its entire crust melted several times and was completely churned through. At that time, the moon orbited significantly closer to ...
Planetary Sciences
Dec 18, 2024
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More than a hundred years ago, astronomer Percival Lowell made the case for the existence of canals on Mars designed to redistribute water from the Martian ice caps to its lower, drier latitudes. This necessarily meant the ...
Astrobiology
Dec 16, 2024
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74
Could humans expand out beyond their homeworld and establish settlements on the planet Mars? The idea of settling the red planet has been around for decades. However, it has been seen by skeptics as a delusion at best and ...
Space Exploration
Dec 12, 2024
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65
In the next decade, researchers will start probing the atmosphere of planets as small as Earth and Venus orbiting nearby stars. But although these two solar system planets are similar in size and bulk density—so that some ...
Astronomy
Dec 5, 2024
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81
