The rim and floor of Gale Crater as seen from NASA’s Curiosity Rover. Credit: NASA The question of whether Mars ever supported life has captivated the imagination of scientists and…
Category: Planetary Science
Auroras caused by head-on blows to Earth’s magnetic field could damage critical infrastructure, scientists say
Credit: Harrison Haines from Pexels Auroras have inspired myths and portents for millennia—but only now, with modern technology dependent on electricity, are we appreciating their true power. The same forces…
NASA mission to study mysteries in the origin of solar radio waves
CURIE will investigate where solar radio waves originate in coronal mass ejections, like this one seen in 304- and 171-angstrom wavelengths by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight…
NASA astronauts spend unexpected July 4 on the International Space Station
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore spent an unexpected Fourth of July aboard the International Space Station—but it was hardly a patriotic display of engineering prowess.…
Crew of NASA’s earthbound simulated Mars habitat emerge after a year
by Brian P. D. Hannon In this image made from video provided by NASA, Kelly Haston, a crew member of the first CHAPEA mission, speaks in front of other members,…
Webb captures a staggering quasar-galaxy merger in the remote universe
Map of the line emission of hydrogen (in red and blue) and oxygen (in green) in the PJ308-21 system, shown after masking the light from the central quasar (“QSO”). The…
Engineers send 3D printer into space
SpaceCAL 3D printer on VSS Unity, awaiting launch on June 8, 2024. Credit: Virgin Galactic Imagine a crew of astronauts headed to Mars. About 140 million miles away from Earth,…
Scholars review lunar crater chronology and impact flux
Locations of samples returned from the Moon. Model ages of mare deposits [1] were based on superposed crater densities and the Neukum crater chronology [23]. The Moon had a much…
