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Planetary Science

All articles tagged with #planetary science

New Horizons Reveals Pluto’s Giant Hearts and Hidden Ocean Clues
space5 days ago

New Horizons Reveals Pluto’s Giant Hearts and Hidden Ocean Clues

In July 2015, NASA’s New Horizons zipped past Pluto at about 32,000 mph, capturing most of its high‑resolution imagery in a ~30‑minute window and unveiling Tombaugh Regio—the heart-shaped region whose western lobe, Sputnik Planitia, is a vast nitrogen ice sheet roughly 1,200 by 2,000 km and about 4 km thick. The total data from the encounter amounted to about 6.25 GB, downlinked over about 15 months at 1–4 kb/s as the spacecraft continued outward. These findings — from the nitrogen ice plains to high‑albedo uplands, atmospheric haze, and clues to subsurface oceans — fundamentally reshaped planetary science and set the stage for decades of Pluto research as New Horizons travels beyond the Kuiper Belt.

via Space Daily|
#new-horizons#planetary-science#pluto
Venus’s First Color Surface Portrait: Venera 13’s 127-Minute Sweep Through Hell
science24 days ago

Venus’s First Color Surface Portrait: Venera 13’s 127-Minute Sweep Through Hell

In March 1982, the Soviet Venera 13 lander touched down on a basalt plain of Venus, withstood 465°C and ~92 atmospheres, scraped a soil sample, ran a chemical analysis, and transmitted the first color photographs from the surface of another planet, lasting 127 minutes—far longer than its designers expected. Its drill and a lens-cap feature became iconic just as Venera 14 followed with a shorter mission; no Venus surface landers have returned since. The photos and soil data helped shape later planetary science, while the lander remains on Venus, slowly cooked by the hellish environment.

via Space Daily|
#color-photography#planetary-science#science
NASA Declares End of MAVEN Mars Mission After 11-Year Run
space1 month ago

NASA Declares End of MAVEN Mars Mission After 11-Year Run

NASA has officially ended the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission after losing contact in December 2025. Launched in 2013 and in Martian orbit since 2014, MAVEN surpassed its one-year primary mission by more than a decade and even aided the Perseverance rover as a communications relay. An anomaly review determined the spacecraft can no longer perform science or relay data, likely due to a high-rate safe-mode rotation that drained its batteries after re-emerging from behind Mars. NASA will publish a full root-cause report later this year. MAVEN’s observations showed solar winds and storms drive atmospheric loss on Mars and helped explain dust-storm–related water loss.

via Engadget|
#mars#maven#nasa
NASA Bids Farewell to Mars' Atmosphere Explorer MAVEN
science1 month ago

NASA Bids Farewell to Mars' Atmosphere Explorer MAVEN

NASA has decommissioned the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) orbiter after more than a decade mapping how Mars loses its atmosphere. Last contact occurred after it rotated behind Mars, with a review deeming the craft unrecoverable as its power drained. MAVEN’s observations advanced understanding of atmospheric escape and Mars’ transition from potentially habitable to cold and dry, and other orbiters will continue data relays as MAVEN slowly deorbits over the coming decades.

via The New York Times|
#mars-atmosphere#maven#nasa
NASA’s MAVEN Mars orbiter ends its mission after months of radio silence
space1 month ago

NASA’s MAVEN Mars orbiter ends its mission after months of radio silence

NASA has declared its Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission dead after months of radio silence. Last contact came on December 6 as MAVEN went behind Mars and entered a safe, tumbling state that led to a loss of power; repeated attempts to reestablish communication have failed. Launched in 2013 and arriving in 2014 to study Mars’ atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind, MAVEN exceeded its original one-year plan and even served as a relay for surface rovers. With MAVEN’s loss, only Odyssey and MRO remain in Mars orbit. NASA will hold a briefing and notes that MAVEN’s data will continue to benefit Mars science for decades while the exact cause of the incident is still under investigation.

via Space|
#mars#maven#nasa
NASA ends MAVEN mission after 11 years mapping Mars' atmosphere
space1 month ago

NASA ends MAVEN mission after 11 years mapping Mars' atmosphere

NASA has decommissioned MAVEN after more than 11 years in Martian orbit; last contact occurred Dec. 6 after MAVEN passed behind Mars, and an anomaly review found the spacecraft unrecoverable due to a battery depletion after an unusual rotation. The agency will archive the full dataset and close out operations. MAVEN significantly advanced understanding of Mars’ atmospheric loss driven by the Sun and solar wind, revealed Mars-specific auroras, measured atmospheric sputtering, studied dust-storm effects on water escape, and even supported observations of comet 3I/ATLAS, producing more than 800 publications and playing a key role in NASA's Mars Relay Network. A media teleconference to discuss its achievements is scheduled for 2 p.m. EDT.

via NASA (.gov)|
#mars#maven#nasa
Saturn’s rings may be younger than dinosaurs, reshaping the planet’s history
space1 month ago

Saturn’s rings may be younger than dinosaurs, reshaping the planet’s history

New analysis of Cassini dust data suggests Saturn’s rings have an exposure age of roughly 100–400 million years, implying a potentially young ring system compared with Saturn’s 4.5‑billion-year age. The conclusion depends on assumptions about dust flux and how rings gain or lose material, and while it aligns with the Chrysalis hypothesis (a disrupted moon forming most of the rings), alternative models can also allow for an much older ring system. Ongoing work, including recent Iess measurements and Crida’s reanalyses, keeps the true age of Saturn’s rings an open question.

via Space Daily|
#cassini#chrysalis-hypothesis#planetary-science
Galileo’s 58-Minute Descent Unveils Jupiter’s Hidden Atmosphere
space1 month ago

Galileo’s 58-Minute Descent Unveils Jupiter’s Hidden Atmosphere

Galileo’s 1995 Jupiter probe descended into the gas giant, transmitting for about 58 minutes before the harsh pressures ended the signal; it provided the first in-situ measurements of a giant planet’s atmosphere—temperatures, pressures, densities, chemistry, and cloud structure—revealing a drier-than-expected hot-spot region and hotter, denser conditions, while highlighting the limitation that a single descent cannot characterize the entire planet.

via Space Daily|
#galileo-mission#jupiter#planetary-science
Europa Plume Claims Doubted: Hydrogen Exosphere, Not Local Water Vapor
space-and-spaceflight1 month ago

Europa Plume Claims Doubted: Hydrogen Exosphere, Not Local Water Vapor

A new reanalysis of Hubble data reduces the 2014 claim of 200-km-high water-vapor plumes on Europa from 99.9% confidence to under 90%, suggesting the earlier signal may be statistical noise; meanwhile there’s evidence for a persistent hydrogen exosphere but no localized water vapor. Future missions like Europa Clipper and JUICE will help settle the question.

via Gizmodo|
#europa#exosphere#planetary-science
Venus's Silent Landers: The Venera probes still sit on Venus, capturing humanity's only non-Mars surface photos
space1 month ago

Venus's Silent Landers: The Venera probes still sit on Venus, capturing humanity's only non-Mars surface photos

The Soviet Venera landers remain on Venus’ surface, enduring 460°C heat, 90-bar pressure and sulfuric acid, and their 1975–1982 photos are the only surface images humanity has taken of a world other than Mars. A 2025 study suggests several probes are still recognisable as machines, turning Venus into a new kind of cultural heritage and fueling renewed interest as future missions (NASA’s DAVINCI, ESA’s EnVision, India’s Shukrayaan-1) may image them from orbit or descent, potentially revealing the sites where they lie.

via Space Daily|
#planetary-science#space#space-archaeology