Planetary Science
- Astronomy
Second stop planned for mission to Pluto
Scientists identify three possible targets for the New Horizons probe after it visits the former planet.
- Planetary Science
Surprises lurk inside a Saturn moon
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft finds possible ocean or football-shaped core inside Mimas.
- Planetary Science
MAVEN gives first look at Mars’ escaping atmosphere
Bits of Mars have been caught in the act of floating off into space.
- Chemistry
Lasers wrest oxygen from carbon dioxide
By zapping oxygen molecules off carbon dioxide, an experiment hints that Earth may have had breathable air long before the dawn of plants.
- Planetary Science
Sun may make most of the water on moon’s surface
A constant stream of particles from the sun bombarding the moon's surface may be the source of most lunar water.
- Planetary Science
Asteroid impact did not form the moon’s largest plain
The moon's vast flatland — called Oceanus Procellarum — may have been formed through tectonic-like activity billions of years ago, scientists say.
- Planetary Science
Daily winds shift sands of Martian dune field
Martian winds may stir the Red Planet's sands more often than scientists thought.
- Planetary Science
MAVEN spacecraft set to explore Martian atmosphere
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft entered into orbit around the Red Planet on September 21.
- Planetary Science
Feedback
Readers discuss sources of stress in everyday life and tell us what they think about NASA's plan to nab an asteroid.
- Planetary Science
Spot on comet chosen for Rosetta mission lander
Philae, the Rosetta mission lander, will attempt to land on a spot called site J on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
- Planetary Science
Moon’s farside hints at violent volcanic explosions
The spread of the element thorium in the moon's Compton-Belkovich region suggests that silica volcanoes there once had violent explosions.
- Planetary Science
Plate tectonics spotted on Europa
First evidence for plate tectonics elsewhere in solar system discovered on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.
