Tag: Planetary Science
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Jupiter looms large in spectacular Hubble image
The Hubble Space Telescope captured this view of Jupiter and its icy moon Europa on Aug. 25. Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), and M. H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley) and the OPAL team The Hubble Space Telescope turned toward Jupiter last month, capturing colorful views of the giant planet and…
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NASA asteroid explorer aces final rehearsal before sampling run
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft moved within about 131 feet, or 40 meters, of asteroid Bennu this week in the $1 billion mission’s final practice run before a touch-and-go landing on the asteroid in October to collect samples for return to Earth. During the sampling rehearsal Tuesday, engineers monitoring the spacecraft’s maneuvers from Earth confirmed that…
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Asteroid samples aboard Japanese probe on track for return to Earth in December
Artist’s concept of the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft releasing its sample return capsule. Credit: JAXA/Akihiro Ikeshita A capsule carrying extraterrestrial specimens collected by Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft is scheduled for landing in South Australia on Dec. 6 to wrap up a six-year round-trip mission to an asteroid, officials announced this week. Officials from the Japan Aerospace…
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OSIRIS-REx spacecraft carries out first of two rehearsals before sampling asteroid
This artist’s concept shows the trajectory and configuration of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft during the checkpoint rehearsal, which was the first time the mission practiced the initial steps for collecting a sample from asteroid Bennu. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona Operating with on-board autonomy more than 140 million miles from Earth, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft succeeded Tuesday in…
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NASA awards robotic lunar landing contract to Masten Space Systems
Masten’s XL-1 lunar lander will deliver science and technology payloads to the moon’s south pole in 2022.Credit: Masten Space Systems NASA has awarded Masten Space Systems, a small company based in Mojave, California, a $75.9 million contract to deliver nine science and technology instruments to the moon’s south pole in 2022 with its XL-1 robotic…
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ESA science missions back in action after coronavirus-related shutdown
Artist’s concept of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab Four of the European Space Agency’s robotic missions, including the agency’s two Mars orbiters, are resuming science operations after a stand-down triggered by the positive diagnosis of an employee at ESA’s control center in Germany with the coronavirus. ESA said Thursday that the four…
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Mars 2020 rover arrives at Kennedy Space Center for July launch
The shipping container with the Mars 2020 rover was unloaded from a U.S. military cargo plane Wednesday after landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/Cory Huston Two U.S. Air Force cargo planes delivered the Mars 2020 rover, cruise stage, descent module and the Mars Helicopter to the…
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NASA to assess proposals for probes to Venus, moons of Jupiter and Neptune
Artist’s concept of the solar system. Credit: NASA NASA announced Thursday it will fund four concept studies for potential robotic missions to Venus, Jupiter’s moon Io and Neptune’s moon Triton ahead of a decision next year to approve up to two of the projects for launch in the mid-to-late 2020s. The space agency chose the…
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Discoveries at solar system’s distant frontier shed light on how planets form
The uniform color and composition of Arrokoth’s surface shows the Kuiper Belt object formed from a small, uniform, cloud of material in the solar nebula, rather than a mishmash of matter from more separated parts of the nebula. The former supports the idea that Arrokoth formed in a local collapse of a cloud in the…
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NASA invites public to vote on name for Mars 2020 rover
The Mars 2020 rover is seen during a drive test in December at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA has announced the nine finalists for the name of the space agency’s next Mars rover — scheduled for launch in July — and invited the public to vote on the candidates before…