Planetary Science
- Astronomy
Curiosity to look for habitable environs
Set to land on Mars August 5, NASA mission will search for signs that the planet could support life, now or long ago.
By Nadia Drake - Planetary Science
Curiosity readies for dramatic entrance
NASA’s new Mars rover aims to alight on the Red Planet like a pop star being lowered onto stage.
By Nadia Drake -
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- Planetary Science
Frosted honeycomb of a moon
New analyses of Cassini images reveal ice on the pockmarked Saturnian satellite Hyperion.
By Nadia Drake - Planetary Science
Highlights from the 43rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, The Woodlands, Texas, March 19-23
Geologic activity and weather on Saturnian moons, and studies in Greenland to learn about Mars.
By Science News - Planetary Science
Fertile Frontiers
Alien-life hunters focus on moons in outer solar system
By Nadia Drake - Tech
Growing need for space trash collectors
On April 2, for the fifth time in less than three years, the International Space Station fired its engines to dodge a piece of orbital debris that appeared on a collision path. Other spacecraft also regularly scoot out of the way of rocket and satellite debris. Such evasive action will be needed increasingly frequently, a new study finds.
By Janet Raloff - Planetary Science
White dwarfs gobble Earthlike treats
Astronomers have found elements in the dead stars’ atmospheres that suggest rocky planetary bodies once orbited the stars.
By Nadia Drake - Planetary Science
Messages from Mercury
The latest data from a NASA spacecraft give compositional clues and reveal craters that could hold frozen water
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
Saturn’s rings explained
A huge shattered moon could have sprayed ice particles around the newborn planet.
- Planetary Science
New rock type found on moon
Odd spots on the lunar farside could be ancient material that originated deep inside the moon.