Space Exploration

Rosetta’s final image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by the probe shortly before its controlled impact into the comet’s surface on September 30, 2016. A final image from ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft, shortly before it made a controlled impact onto Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on September 30, 2016, was reconstructed from residual telemetry. …

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has identified what appear to be ancient hydrothermal deposits in the Eridania region in the southern highlands of Mars. The deposits would represent the remains of a vast inland sea that existed 3.7 billion years ago, according to a study published in the journal Nature …

Juno captured this color portrait of the edge of Jupiter and two of the gas giant’s largest moons — Io and Europa — as it performed its eighth flyby of the planet. This image of Jupiter, Io and Europa was taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft on September 1, 2017 at …

As you get older, some of your joints might get a little crunchy. The same is apparently true of robots. NASA has just sent two astronauts out on a multi-hour spacewalk to repair the International Space Station’s aging Canadian-built robotic arm, part of which broke down in late September. While …

The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera on NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft observed Phobos — the larger and inner of the two natural satellites of the Red Planet — on September 29, 2017. This image combines two products from the first pointing at Phobos by Mars Odyssey’s THEMIS camera. Surface-temperature …

We once thought of Mars as a dried up husk of a planet with no significant water resources on its surface. After further study, scientists have discovered the Red Planet has vast amounts of water ice, and there may even be some water flowing on its surface. Mars’ water reserves …

A solar event on September 11, 2017 sparked a global aurora on the Red Planet more than 25 times brighter than any previously seen by NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft. The event also produced radiation levels on the Martian surface more than double any previously measured by …

NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft has discovered evidence of significant hydration near the Martian equator. Mars Odyssey spotted possible water ice in the Medusa Fossae area of Mars, which is in an equatorial region of the planet to the lower left in this view. Image credit: Steve Lee, University of Colorado …

The world is a big place, but SpaceX is looking to make it feel a bit smaller with a new mode of transportation. At the recent International Astronautical Congress (IAC), CEO Elon Musk gave an update on the company’s Mars colonization rocket. What really stole the show was a new …

New research, reported in the journal Nature, changes scientists’ understanding of how terrestrial planets attain their physical and chemical characteristics. A young planetary system. Image credit: NASA / FUSE / Lynette Cook. Planets grow by a process of accretion (a gradual accumulation of additional material) in which they collisionally combine …