The Solar System

Artemis
Earth's Moon
Goddard Space Flight Center
Lunar Discovery & Exploration Program
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
Planetary Science Division
Science Mission Directorate
The Solar System
NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) has twice transmitted a laser pulse to a cookie-sized retroreflector aboard JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) SLIM lander on the Moon and received a return signal.
Posted July 29, 2024
Perseverance (Rover)
Astrobiology
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Mars
Mars 2020
Mars Sample Return (MSR)
The Solar System
The six-wheeled geologist found a fascinating rock that has some indications it may have hosted microbial life billions of years ago, but further research is needed. A vein-filled rock is catching the eye of the science team of NASA’s Perseverance rover.
Posted July 25, 2024
Curiosity (Rover)
ExoMars
Goddard Space Flight Center
InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Mars
Mars 2020
Mars Exploration Rovers (MER)
Mars Express
Mars Odyssey
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
Mars Sample Return (MSR)
Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN)
Missions
Opportunity (Rover)
Perseverance (Rover)
The Solar System
Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO)
Scientists from around the world are gathering this week in California to take stock of the state of science from Mars and discuss goals for the next steps in exploration of the Red Planet. In the spirit of Mars 10, formally known as the 10th International Conference on Mars, here are 10 recent significant events […]
Posted July 24, 2024
Astrobiology
Enceladus
Europa
Goddard Space Flight Center
The Search for Life
The Solar System
Europa, a moon of Jupiter, and Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, have evidence of oceans beneath their ice crusts. A NASA experiment suggests that if these oceans support life, signatures of that life in the form of organic molecules (e.g. amino acids, nucleic acids, etc.) could survive just under the surface ice despite the harsh […]
Posted July 18, 2024
OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer)
Asteroids
Astrobiology
Astromaterials
Bennu
Goddard Space Flight Center
Johnson Space Center
Planetary Science
The Solar System
Scientists have eagerly awaited the opportunity to dig into the 4.3-ounce (121.6-gram) pristine asteroid Bennu sample collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer) mission since it was delivered to Earth last fall.
Posted June 26, 2024
Asteroids
DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test)
Missions
Planetary Science
Planetary Science Division
Science Mission Directorate
The Solar System
NASA has selected 12 participating scientists to join ESA’s (European Space Agency) Hera mission, which is scheduled to launch in October 2024. Hera will study the binary asteroid system Didymos, including the moonlet Dimorphos, which was impacted by NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft on Sept. 26, 2022.
Posted June 25, 2024
Goddard Space Flight Center
Earth's Moon
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
Planetary Science
The Solar System
NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) imaged China’s Chang’e 6 sample return spacecraft on the far side of the Moon on June 7. Chang’e 6 landed on June 1, and when LRO passed over the landing site almost a week later, it acquired an image showing the lander on the rim of an eroded, 55-yard-diameter (about […]
Posted June 14, 2024
Perseverance (Rover)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Mars
Mars 2020
Mars Sample Return (MSR)
The Solar System
Originally thought of as little more than a route clear of rover-slowing boulders, Neretva Vallis has provided a bounty of geologic options for the science team.    After detouring through a dune field to avoid wheel-rattling boulders, NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover reached its latest area of scientific interest on June 9. The route change not […]
Posted June 13, 2024
Voyager Program
Heliophysics
Heliosphere
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jupiter
Neptune
Planetary Science
Saturn
The Solar System
Uranus
Voyager 1
Voyager 2
Known for his steady leadership, consensus building, and enthusiasm for engaging the public in science, Stone left a deep impact on the space community. Edward C. Stone, former director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and longtime project scientist of the agency’s Voyager mission, died on June 9, 2024. He was 88. He […]
Posted June 11, 2024
Planetary Science
Science-enabling Technology
Technology Highlights
The Solar System
“Follow the water!”  The solar system is full of water in different states, from the Sun’s water vapor to the ice of Pluto and beyond. Water is not only linked to the possibility to sustain life, it is also interesting for its own geological properties and potential uses. For example, ice on the Moon and Mars could support human exploration.
Posted June 4, 2024
Sign up for our newsletter:

Categories

1
1
10
6
18
1
4
2
1
1
18
37
15
29
10
349
43
6
1
2
14
1
1
Io
4
10
2
57
189
3
1
1
9
11
2
6
9
5
2
2
1
1
336
3
1
1
2
14
1
51
613
11
7
6
1
24
140
13
3
3
253
1
6
1
10
4
4
215
12
1
11
1
29
1
188
1
2
4
2
93
3
3

Recent Posts