Planetary Science

  1. Planetary Science

    Methane found in meteorites from Mars

    Methane stored in Martian meteorites points to possibly habitable environments beneath the surface of the Red Planet.

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  2. Planetary Science

    Comet lander Philae phones home

    The European Space Agency has received signals for its comet lander Philae, which touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November and has been in hibernation since.

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  3. Planetary Science

    Rendezvous with Pluto

    Earth will get its first good look at Pluto and its five known moons when New Horizons sails past on July 14.

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  4. Planetary Science

    Saturn’s widest ring measured

    Saturn has an invisible belt that's nearly 270 times as wide as the giant planet, researchers report.

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  5. Planetary Science

    WISE satellite measures girth of Saturn’s widest ring

    Saturn’s dark, outermost ring is about 270 times as wide as the planet itself.

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  6. Planetary Science

    Cassini gets last look at Saturn’s spongy satellite Hyperion

    The Cassini spacecraft buzzed Saturn’s spongy moon Hyperion for the final time and sent back more pictures of this odd little satellite.

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  7. Planetary Science

    Pluto’s four littlest moons probably born in a crash

    On the eve of the arrival of the New Horizons spacecraft, Pluto’s tiny moons hint at a common origin.

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  8. Planetary Science

    NASA picks nine instruments for future mission to Europa

    NASA has selected nine instruments to fly on a future spacecraft to Jupiter’s ice-covered moon Europa.

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  9. Planetary Science

    Sea salt may stripe Europa’s surface

    Salt deposits on Jupiter’s moon Europa might be responsible for brown stripes on the icy satellite’s surface.

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  10. Planetary Science

    Boulders balance on tiny tips as comet 67P zooms through space

    Three boulders on comet 67P resemble balancing rocks that are seen on Earth.

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  11. Earth

    Asteroids boiled young Earth’s oceans, remnant rocks suggest

    Giant asteroid impacts may have boiled Earth’s oceans around 3.3 billion years ago, snuffing out near-surface life.

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  12. Planetary Science

    New Horizons probe takes family photo of Pluto’s moons

    The New Horizons spacecraft finally spied Pluto's two tiniest satellites, Kerberos and Styx, in a series of images taken from April 25, 2015 to May 1, 2015.

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