Category: Solar System
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Celebrating 10 Years at Mars with NASA’s MAVEN Mission
A decade ago, on Sept. 21, 2014, NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmospheric and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft entered orbit around Mars, beginning its ongoing exploration of the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere. The mission has produced a wealth of data about how Mars’…
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NASA Develops Process to Create Very Accurate Eclipse Maps
New NASA research reveals a process to generate extremely accurate eclipse maps, which plot the predicted path of the Moon’s shadow as it crosses the face of Earth. Traditionally, eclipse calculations assume that all observers are at sea level on…
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Voyager 1 Team Accomplishes Tricky Thruster Swap
The spacecraft uses its thrusters to stay pointed at Earth, but after 47 years in space some of the fuel tubes have become clogged. Engineers working on NASA’s Voyager 1 probe have successfully mitigated an issue with the spacecraft’s thrusters,…
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NASA’s Hubble, MAVEN Help Solve the Mystery of Mars’ Escaping Water
Mars was once a very wet planet as is evident in its surface geological features. Scientists know that over the last 3 billion years, at least some water went deep underground, but what happened to the rest? Now, NASA’s Hubble…
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Super Blue Moons: Your Questions Answered
The Moon of August 30-31, 2023, is a full moon, a supermoon, and a blue moon. Here’s what it all means.
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NASA Explores Industry, Partner Interest in Using VIPER Moon Rover
As part of its commitment to a robust, sustainable lunar exploration program for the benefit of all, NASA issued a Request for Information Friday to seek interest from American companies and institutions in conducting a mission using the agency’s VIPER…
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NASA’s DART Mission Sheds New Light on Target Binary Asteroid System
In studying data collected from NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission, which in 2022 sent a spacecraft to intentionally collide with the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos, the mission’s science team has discovered new information on the origins of the target…
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UPDATED: 10 Things for Mars 10
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,…
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New Evidence Adds to Findings Hinting at Network of Caves on Moon
An international team of scientists using data from NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) has discovered evidence of caves beneath the Moon’s surface.
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NASA: Life Signs Could Survive Near Surfaces of Enceladus and Europa
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.…