Planetary Science

  1. Planetary Science

    Space Flight Basics

    For armchair space explorers, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory offers a tutorial on how to operate an interplanetary space mission. Originally created a decade ago, the newly updated guide includes information on spacecraft engineering, mission design, trajectories, launch, navigation, telecommunications, and much more. Go to: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/

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  2. Planetary Science

    Nearby star may have its own asteroid belt

    Observations of warm dust swaddling a young, nearby star suggest that astronomers may have found evidence of a massive asteroid belt outside the solar system.

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  3. Planetary Science

    Asteroid Eros poses a magnetic puzzle

    Measurements with a magnetometer aboard the NEAR-Shoemaker spacecraft a few days after it landed on the asteroid 433 Eros confirmed a major puzzle: The rock has no detectable magnetic field.

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  4. Planetary Science

    Debate over life in Mars rock rekindles

    Two recent studies could inject new life into the argument that a 4-billion-year-old Martian meteorite contains fossils of bacteria from the Red Planet but several scientists say the reports fall short of resurrecting that notion.

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  5. Planetary Science

    Images suggest icy eruptions on Ganymede

    New stereo images of Ganymede, the solar system's largest satellite, suggest that eruptions of water or slushy ice a billion or more years ago gave parts of the moon a facelift, creating long, flat bands of nearly pure water-ice.

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  6. Planetary Science

    Happy landing: Craft descends onto Eros

    On Feb. 12, NEAR Shoemaker became the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid, the space rock 433 Eros.

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  7. Planetary Science

    Stormy Weather

    The 11-year cycle of solar storms has begun to peak, already affecting several Earth satellites and disturbing electric power systems on the ground, and scientists expect 2 more years of this solar maximum turmoil.

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  8. Planetary Science

    Voyager 1 Affects Voyager 2 Mission

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