Scientists thought asteroid Bennu's surface would be like a sandy beach, abundant in fine sand and pebbles, which would have been perfect for collecting samples. Past telescope observations from Earth's orbit had suggested ...
Space Exploration
Oct 6, 2021
1
633
The dwarf planet Vesta is helping scientists better understand the earliest era in the formation of our solar system. Two recent papers involving scientists from the University of California, Davis, use data from meteorites ...
Planetary Sciences
Oct 6, 2021
1
158
Considered an ultra-hot Jupiter—a place where iron gets vaporized, condenses on the night side and then falls from the sky like rain—the fiery, inferno-like WASP-76b exoplanet may be even more sizzling than scientists ...
Astronomy
Oct 5, 2021
1
945
On Earth, river erosion is usually a slow-going process. But on Mars, massive floods from overflowing crater lakes had an outsized role in shaping the Martian surface, carving deep chasms and moving vast amounts of sediment, ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 29, 2021
3
276
Like the speed of an advancing race car driver, the winds in the outermost "lane" of Jupiter's Great Red Spot are accelerating – a discovery only made possible by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, which has monitored the planet ...
Astronomy
Sep 27, 2021
0
1870
Water is essential for life on Earth and other planets, and scientists have found ample evidence of water in Mars' early history. But Mars has no liquid water on its surface today. New research from Washington University ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 20, 2021
19
1990
It was only supposed to fly five times. And yet NASA's helicopter on Mars, Ingenuity, has completed 12 flights and it isn't ready to retire.
Space Exploration
Sep 5, 2021
2
5902
NASA's newest Mars rover may have successfully collected its first rock sample for return to Earth, after last month's attempt came up empty.
Space Exploration
Sep 2, 2021
3
3553
In the early solar system, terrestrial planets like Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are thought to have formed from planetesimals, small early planets. These early planets grew over time, through collisions and mergers, to ...
Astronomy
Sep 1, 2021
58
531
As scientists prepare for crewed research missions to nearby planets and moons, they've identified a need for something beyond rovers and rockets.
Space Exploration
Aug 31, 2021
0
813
