Space Exploration

The crash of the ExoMars Schiaparelli test lander, also known as Entry, descent, and landing Demonstrator Module (EDM), last month was caused by a sensor malfunction, experts at the European Space Agency (ESA) said Wednesday. Artist’s impression of the Schiaparelli lander after the parachute has been deployed. Image credit: ESA …

Frozen beneath Utopia Planitia, a large plain on Mars, lies about as much water as what’s in Lake Superior, according to an international team of planetary researchers. This image is an artist’s concept of a view looking down on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The spacecraft is pictured using its SHARAD …

Astronauts on long-duration flights experience visual impairments due to volume changes in cerebrospinal fluid, the clear fluid that helps cushion the brain and spinal cord while circulating nutrients and removing waste materials, according to a study led by Noam Alperin, professor of radiology and biomedical engineering at the University of …

In the final year of its epic voyage, on Nov. 30, NASA’s Cassini orbiter will begin a daring set of ‘ring-grazing orbits,’ skimming past the outside edge of Saturn’s main rings. Artist’s concept of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft at Saturn. Image credit: NASA. Launched in 1997, Cassini has been touring the …

Using data from NASA’s TIMED satellite, scientists have discovered the existence of hot atomic hydrogen atoms in the thermosphere (from about 56 to 311 miles, or 90-500 km, above the surface), a layer of Earth’s atmosphere. The finding changes current understanding of the hydrogen distribution and its interaction with other …

On Dec. 4, 2016 at 8:09 a.m. EST (5:09 a.m. PST), NASA’s Cassini spacecraft made its first close dive past the outer edges of Saturn’s rings. This graphic shows the closest approaches of Cassini’s final two orbital phases. Ring-grazing orbits are shown in gray (at left); Grand Finale orbits are …

NASA’s Cassini orbiter has beamed back its first photos of the gas giant Saturn and the planet’s major moons since beginning the so-called ‘ring-grazing’ phase, the latest phase of its mission. This view from Cassini was obtained about half a day before its first close pass by the outer edges …

New data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft reveal that Saturn’s moons may be younger than previously thought. A giant of a moon appears before a giant of a planet undergoing seasonal changes in this natural color view of Titan and Saturn from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / …

ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) has sent back its first color image of Phobos, the larger and inner of the two natural satellites of Mars. Color composite of Phobos taken with TGO’s CaSSIS camera on November 26, 2016. The observation was made at a distance of 4,785 miles (7,700 …

On Dec. 11, 2016, NASA’s Juno spacecraft successfully completed its third flyby over Jupiter’s mysterious cloud tops. Jupiter’s ‘pearl.’ Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS. At the time of closest approach, Juno was about 2,580 miles (4,150 km) above the gas giant’s roiling cloud tops and traveling …