Planetary Science
- Planetary Science
Meteorite on Mars
One of the twin rovers on Mars has discovered the first meteorite ever found on a planet other than Earth.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
A Year on Mars
Catch up with the amazing, ongoing adventures of the rovers Spirit and Opportunity, still ticking on the surface of Mars. These multimedia pages provide maps and routes, images, and accounts of discoveries as the two vehicles explored the Red Planet. Go to: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/mer-year/
By Science News - Planetary Science
A World Unveiled: Crème brûlée on Titan
Penetrating the orange haze of a frigid, alien world, a space probe parachuted onto Saturn's moon Titan and unexpectedly came face-to-face with terrain that looks a lot like Earth.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
Ganymede May Have Vast Hidden Ocean
A combination of images, spectra, and magnetic field measurements suggests that in addition to Jupiter's moon Europa, another Jovian moon, Ganymede, may also have had—and might still harbor—an ocean.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
A Titan of a Mission
On Jan. 14, a space probe will plunge through the thick atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan, looking for insights into the origins of life on Earth.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
Riddles on Titan
Two puzzles have emerged from the Cassini spacecraft's first close flyby of Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
Titanic Close-up: Cassini eyes Saturn’s big moon
Using radar to penetrate the thick haze surrounding Saturn's moon Titan, the Cassini spacecraft has found evidence that the moon's surface is coated with hydrocarbons and dark patches that might be lakes of ethane or methane.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
Mars Views Hint at Early Land of Lakes
New, high-resolution images unveiled this week not only offer supporting evidence that parts of ancient Mars resembled a land of lakes but also point out prime locations to look for fossils if life ever existed on the Red Planet.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
An early cosmic wallop for life on Earth?
New evidence from lunar meteorites suggests that debris bombarded the moon some 3.9 billion years ago, about the same time that life may have formed on Earth.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
Mars Rovers: New evidence of past water
Twin rovers on opposite sides of the Red Planet have found additional evidence that liquid water once flowed there.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
Martian water everywhere
Combining data taken from two craft orbiting Mars with images and spectra collected by one of the Mars rovers, a scientist has found evidence that a body of water greater in area than all the Great Lakes combined once covered the Red Planet.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
Tiny scope spies distant planet
Using a telescope not much bigger than Galileo's, astronomers have discovered a planet orbiting a star 500 light-years from Earth.
By Ron Cowen