Planetary Science

  1. Planetary Science

    BLOG: Mission control before the party

    On the eve of Curiosity’s planned Martian landing, Science News astronomy reporter Nadia Drake checks out JPL’s space central.

    By
  2. Planetary Science

    Young scientist crosses fingers for Mars rover

    Ryan Anderson’s graduate work helped researchers select Curiosity’s landing site in Gale Crater.

    By
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. Planetary Science

    Destination Mars

    New Explorations of the Red Planet by Rod Pyle

    By
  6. Earth

    Linking magma to quakes

    Rock crystals reveal pulses of underground activity.

    By
  7. Planetary Science

    Frosted honeycomb of a moon

    New analyses of Cassini images reveal ice on the pockmarked Saturnian satellite Hyperion.

    By
  8. 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
  9. Planetary Science

    Fertile Frontiers

    Alien-life hunters focus on moons in outer solar system

    By
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. Planetary Science

    Messages from Mercury

    The latest data from a NASA spacecraft give compositional clues and reveal craters that could hold frozen water

    By