Tag: New Frontiers

  • Juno’s latest imagery from Jupiter

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    This image of Jupiter’s swirling south polar region was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft as it neared completion of its tenth close flyby of the gas giant planet on Dec. 16, 2017. Citizen scientist Gerald Eichstädt processed this image using data from the JunoCam imager. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SWRI/Gerald Eichstädt NASA’s Juno spacecraft, now on its 11th…

  • Asteroid missions on track to reach their destinations in 2018

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    Artist’s concept of the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft at asteroid Ryugu. Credit: JAXA/Akihiro Ikeshita Pioneering spacecraft from NASA and the Japanese space agency promise to reveal two unexplored asteroids later this year, officials said Wednesday, beginning surveys that will culminate in daring descents to capture samples for return to Earth, where eager scientists await a hands-on…

  • Titan drone, comet sampler picked as finalists for NASA mission

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    Artist’s concept of the Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan. Credit: NASA NASA has narrowed its choices for a new billion-dollar robotic space mission: A nuclear-powered quadcopter to explore the hazy landscape of Saturn’s largest moon Titan, or a probe to scoop up a piece of a comet and return it to Earth. The space…

  • NASA’s Juno spacecraft to remain in current orbit around Jupiter

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    Artist’s concept of the Juno spacecraft at Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Concerns about the health of the Juno spacecraft’s main engine have compelled NASA managers to keep the research probe in its current arcing, high-altitude orbit around Jupiter, a decision that will delay the full science return from the $1.1 billion mission but should still allow…

  • Juno dives over Jupiter’s cloud tops with main engine still offline

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    Updated at 3:30 p.m. EST with additional comments from Scott Bolton. This amateur-processed image was taken on Dec. 11, 2016, at 9:27 a.m. PST (12:27 p.m. EST), as NASA’s Juno spacecraft performed its third close flyby of Jupiter. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Eric Jorgensen NASA’s Juno spacecraft made a high-speed pass less than 3,000 miles over Jupiter’s turbulent…

  • NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe moonlights as asteroid sleuth

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    The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will undertake a search for Earth-Trojan asteroids while on its outbound journey to the asteroid Bennu. Earth Trojans are asteroids that share an orbit with Earth while remaining near a stable point 60 degrees in front of or behind the planet. Credit: University of Arizona/Heather Roper On course to collect specimens from…

  • Juno recovers from reboot, but propulsion problem lingers

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    Artist’s concept of the Juno spacecraft at Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s Juno spacecraft will stay in its current long-period orbit around Jupiter until at least February, and perhaps longer, as engineers study balky valves inside the science probe’s propulsion system and an unexpected computer reboot that interrupted key functions of the orbiter earlier this month.…

  • Final Pluto data transmission received from flyby probe

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    Artist’s concept of the New Horizons spacecraft transmitting data back to Earth through its 83-inch (2.1-meter) antenna. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI The last bits of data collected during NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft’s speedy flyby of Pluto last year are back on Earth, scientists said Thursday, marking the official end of the probe’s prime mission. It took more…

  • Mission managers keeping Juno in elongated orbit until December

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    Artist’s concept of the solar-powered Juno spacecraft at Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Ground teams are buying more time to study two sluggish valves inside the Juno spacecraft’s fuel pressurization system and postponing a major engine burn that was scheduled for next week to reshape the probe’s orbit around Jupiter, officials said Friday. The rocket burn was…

  • OSIRIS-REx reaches launch pad with money to spare

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    Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky The scientist in charge of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission hopes to apply more than $30 million in leftover funding toward reducing the risk of the probe’s touch-and-go maneuver to snag a piece of asteroid Bennu, then eventually hire more experts to analyze the…