Planetary Science
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Astronomy
A shadowy birthplace may explain Jupiter’s strange chemistry
Dust that blocked sunlight caused the giant planet to form in a deep freeze, a new study suggests.
By Ken Croswell -
Planetary Science
NASA will be heading back to Venus for the first time in decades
Two newly selected missions, VERITAS and DAVINCI+, will explore the history of the planet's water and habitability.
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Planetary Science
Laser experiments suggest helium rain falls on Jupiter
Compressing a hydrogen and helium mixture with lasers shows that the two elements separate at pressures found within gas giant planets.
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Space
China’s first Mars rover has landed and is sending its first pictures
The country just became the second nation, after the United States, to successfully land a rover on Mars. Its rover will search for subsurface ice.
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Astronomy
Saturn has a fuzzy core, spread over more than half the planet’s diameter
Analysis of a wave in one of Saturn’s rings has revealed that the planet’s core is diffuse and bloated with lots of hydrogen and helium.
By Ken Croswell -
Planetary Science
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter’s mission with Perseverance has been extended
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has passed all its tests and is ready to support the Perseverance rover in looking for ancient Martian life.
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Planetary Science
NASA’s Perseverance rover split CO2 to make breathable air on Mars
An oxygen-making experiment on Perseverance shows that astronauts will one day be able to make air to breathe and, better yet, rocket fuel.
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Planetary Science
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter made history by flying on Mars
An autonomous helicopter just lifted itself into the air on Mars, marking the first time a vehicle has flown on a planet other than Earth.
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Planetary Science
How the laws of physics constrain the size of alien raindrops
Physics limits the size of raindrops, no matter what they’re made of or what planet they fall on.
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Planetary Science
Earth sweeps up 5,200 tons of extraterrestrial dust each year
Thousands of micrometeorites collected from Antarctica come from both comets and asteroids, a new study suggests.
By Sid Perkins -
Planetary Science
A meteor may have exploded over Antarctica 430,000 years ago
Tiny spherules recovered from a mountaintop suggest a space rock broke apart midflight and sprayed debris across thousands of kilometers.
By Sid Perkins -
Space
50 years ago, experiments hinted at the possibility of life on Mars
In 1971, lab experiments suggested organic molecules could be made on Mars. Fifty years later, robots are searching for such signs of life on the planet itself.