Since its discovery in 2016, planetary scientists have been excited about TRAPPIST-1, a system where seven Earth-sized rocky planets orbit a cool star. Three of the planets are in the habitable zone, the region of space where ...
Astronomy
Apr 17, 2019
1
415
The ultra-powerful James Webb Space Telescope will launch soon. Once it's deployed and in position at the Earth-Sun Lagrange Point 2, it'll begin work. One of its jobs is to examine the atmospheres of exoplanets and look ...
Astronomy
Dec 24, 2020
2
905
The ocean of Jupiter's moon Europa could have the necessary balance of chemical energy for life, even if the moon lacks volcanic hydrothermal activity, finds a new study.
Space Exploration
May 17, 2016
0
1028
A team of geologists and planetary scientists from the California Institute of Technology, the University of California Santa Cruz, New York University, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center reports evidence that Io's volcanic ...
When packing for a manned mission to Mars or the Moon, the best thing to bring may not be food or fuel, but specially designed organisms that can create those things for you.
Space Exploration
Sep 23, 2010
4
0
You never can tell when planetary scientists are going to discover a new giant volcano on Mars, but when it happens, I step out to the porch and raise my Lunar and Planetary Society Core-Mantle Boundary Rift Discovery flag ...
NASA rang in the New Year on Tuesday with a historic flyby of the farthest, and quite possibly the oldest, cosmic body ever explored by humankind—a tiny, distant world called Ultima Thule—in the hopes of learning more ...
Space Exploration
Jan 1, 2019
7
853
"It (could be) life Jim, but (perhaps) not as we know it." This is not just a sci-fi catchphrase, but also something some planetary scientists have uttered in response to the discovery of methane in Mars' atmosphere. That's ...
Space Exploration
Mar 14, 2016
0
40
A familiar ingredient has been hiding in plain sight on the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. Using a visible light spectral analysis, planetary scientists at Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which Caltech manages ...
Space Exploration
Jun 12, 2019
0
766
When a NASA spacecraft successfully knocked an asteroid off course last year it sent dozens of boulders skittering into space, images from the Hubble telescope showed on Thursday.
Planetary Sciences
Jul 23, 2023
1
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