Planetary Science

  1. Planetary Science

    Martian dust storm

    In late October, a day after Mars and Earth were at their closest approach until 2018, the Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of a large dust storm on the Red Planet.

    By Ron Cowen
  2. Planetary Science

    Found and lost

    Astronomers who previously announced that they had identified the likely remains of the Mars Polar Lander in images taken by an orbiting spacecraft now say that they were fooled by electronic noise in those images.

    By Ron Cowen
  3. Planetary Science

    Mars or Bust!

    Scientists are working to overcome the biomedical challenges that would hinder a human voyage to Mars.

    By Katie Greene
  4. Planetary Science

    Cassini snaps icy moon Dione

    Saturn's small moon Dione has a heavily-cratered, fractured surface.

    By Ron Cowen
  5. Planetary Science

    Groovy Science

    The Cassini spacecraft is shedding new light on Saturn's icy rings.

    By Ron Cowen
  6. Planetary Science

    Protecting Earth: Gravitational tractor could lure asteroids off course

    Relying solely on the tug of gravity, a proposed spacecraft could divert an asteroid on a collision course with Earth.

    By Ron Cowen
  7. Planetary Science

    New Partners: Hubble finds more moons around Pluto

    Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have spied two tiny moons orbiting Pluto, giving this planet a total of three satellites.

    By Ron Cowen
  8. Planetary Science

    Shoreline for Titan?

    New radar images of Saturn's smog-shrouded moon Titan show evidence of a shoreline cutting across the moon's southern hemisphere.

    By Ron Cowen
  9. Planetary Science

    ’10th planet’ has a partner

    The so-called 10th planet, an object larger than Pluto that ranks as the most distant body known in the solar system, has a moon.

    By Ron Cowen
  10. Planetary Science

    Mining the moon

    New ultraviolet images of the moon help identify the presence of ilmenite, a titanium oxide whose elemental constituents may be a valuable resource for sustaining humans as they explore the lunar surface.

    By Ron Cowen
  11. Planetary Science

    Mission to the outer limits

    NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has taken up temporary residence at the Kennedy Space Center, where engineers are doing final testing before the craft begins its 9-year voyage to the outer solar system.

    By Ron Cowen
  12. Planetary Science

    Saturnian sponge

    The first close-up portrait of Saturn's icy moon Hyperion reveals a spongy-looking surface unlike that of any other known moon.

    By Ron Cowen