Space Probes News

March 21, 2025

Top Headlines

Mar. 17, 2025 — New modeling indicates the main belt asteroid (52246) Donaldjohanson may have formed about 150 million years ago when a larger parent asteroid broke apart; its orbit and spin properties have undergone significant evolution since. When NASA's Lucy ...

Weighing in on a Mars Water Debate

Mar. 13, 2025 — Water once existed in abundance of at the surface of Mars. How much of that water has been stored in the planet's crust is still unclear, according to a new ...

Designing a Satellite to Hunt Small Space Debris

Feb. 27, 2025 — Scientists are designing a satellite and instruments capable of detecting space debris as small as 1 centimeter, less than one-half inch. Debris that small, which cannot currently be detected from the ground, can damage satellites and other ...

Lunar Trailblazer Blasts Off to Map Water on the Moon

Feb. 25, 2025 — On Wednesday 26 February, a thermal imaging camera blasted off to the Moon as part of NASA's Lunar Trailblazer mission. This aims to map sources of water on the Moon to shed light on the lunar water cycle and to guide future robotic and human ...

Latest Headlines

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Why Is Mars Red? Scientists May Finally Have the Answer

Feb. 25, 2025 — A new study shows a water-rich mineral could explain the planet's color -- and hint at its wetter, more habitable ...

Einstein Probe Catches X-Ray Odd Couple

Feb. 18, 2025 — Lobster-eye satellite Einstein Probe captured the X-ray flash from a very elusive celestial pair. The discovery opens a new way to explore how massive stars interact and evolve, confirming the unique ...

Deposits Found on a Nearby Asteroid Point to Salty Water in the Outer Solar System

Feb. 14, 2025 — Asteroids that orbit close to the Earth inevitably cause us some anxiety due to the even remote possibility of a collision. But their proximity also ...

New Research Sheds Light on Using Multiple CubeSats for in-Space Servicing and Repair Missions

Feb. 14, 2025 — As more satellites, telescopes, and other spacecraft are built to be repairable, it will take reliable trajectories for service spacecraft to reach ...

Multinational Research Project Shows How Life on Earth Can Be Measured from Space

Feb. 6, 2025 — Measurements and data collected from space can be used to better understand life on Earth. An ambitious, multinational research project has ...

Alien Ocean Could Hide Signs of Life from Spacecraft

Feb. 6, 2025 — A new study focusing on Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, shows that the physics of alien oceans could prevent evidence of deep-sea life from reaching places where we can detect ...

One in Four Chance Per Year That Rocket Junk Will Enter Busy Airspace

Feb. 5, 2025 — There's a 26 per cent annual chance that space rocket junk will re-enter the atmosphere and pass through a busy flight area, according to a recent study. While the chance of debris hitting an ...

AI-Driven Performance Prediction Model to Advance Space Electric Propulsion Technology?

Feb. 4, 2025 — A research team presents an AI assessor for Hall-effect ion thrusters, the engines of satellites and space ...

Exploring Mysteries of Asteroid Bennu

Jan. 29, 2025 — Scientists found that asteroid Bennu contained a set of salty mineral deposits that formed in an exact sequence when a brine evaporated, leaving clues about the type of water that flowed billions of ...

Follow the Water: Searching for a Lunar Oasis

Jan. 28, 2025 — As humankind imagines living off-planet -- on the moon, Mars and beyond -- the question of how to sustain life revolves around the physical necessities of oxygen, food and water. We know there is ...

Dwarf Planet Ceres: Building Blocks of Life Delivered from Space

Jan. 27, 2025 — The dwarf planet is a bizarre, cryovolcanic world. However, the organic deposits discovered on its surface so far are unlikely to originate from its interior. The organic material found in a few ...

How Titan Maintains Its Atmosphere

Jan. 27, 2025 — Scientists have performed laboratory experiments to better understand how Saturn's moon Titan can maintain its unique nitrogen-rich atmosphere. Titan is the second largest moon in our solar ...

NASA's Pandora Mission One Step Closer to Probing Alien Atmospheres

Jan. 16, 2025 — Pandora, a small satellite mission poised to provide in-depth study of at least 20 known planets orbiting distant stars to determine the composition of their atmospheres cleared an important ...

Citizen Science Reveals That Jupiter's Colorful Clouds Are Not Made of Ammonia Ice

Jan. 6, 2025 — Collaborative work by amateur and professional astronomers has helped to resolve a long-standing misunderstanding about the composition of Jupiter's clouds. Instead of being formed of ammonia ...

Research May Boost Next-Generation Space Rockets

Jan. 3, 2025 — Hidden patterns in electric propulsion plasma beams could help ensure the success of long-term space ...

Mysteries of Icy Ocean Worlds

Dec. 20, 2024 — A study introduces a novel thermodynamic concept called the 'centotectic' and investigates the stability of liquids in extreme conditions -- critical information for determining the ...

Origins of Lunar Water and Its Connection to Earth's Early History

Dec. 19, 2024 — Scientists have unveiled groundbreaking research on the origins of lunar water, offering insights that could reshape our understanding of the Earth-Moon system and the broader solar system. The ...

Anthropologists Call for Tracking and Preservation of Human Artifacts on Mars

Dec. 16, 2024 — Anthropologists argue physical artifacts of human exploration on Mars deserve cataloging, preservation and care in order to chronicle humanity's first attempts at interplanetary ...

Heart of Jovian Moon's Volcanic Rage

Dec. 13, 2024 — A new study points to why, and how, Io became the most volcanic body in the solar ...

NASA's Hubble Celebrates Decade of Tracking Outer Planets

Dec. 9, 2024 — A NASA Hubble Space Telescope observation program called OPAL (Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy) obtains long-term baseline observations of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune in order to understand ...

Mars' Infamous Dust Storms Can Engulf the Entire Planet: A New Study Examines How

Dec. 9, 2024 — Dust storms on Mars could one day pose dangers to human astronauts, damaging equipment and burying solar panels. New research gets closer to predicting when extreme weather might erupt on the Red ...

Magnetic Tornado Is Stirring Up the Haze at Jupiter's Poles

Nov. 26, 2024 — Dark ovals in Jupiter's polar haze, visible only at UV wavelengths, were first noticed 25 years ago, then ignored. A new study shows that these dark UV ovals are common, appearing at the south ...

Uranus's Swaying Moons Will Help Spacecraft Seek out Hidden Oceans

Nov. 25, 2024 — A new computer model can be used to detect and measure interior oceans on the ice covered moons of Uranus. The model works by analyzing orbital wobbles that would be visible from a passing ...

Swirling Polar Vortices Likely Exist on the Sun

Nov. 11, 2024 — Like the Earth, the Sun likely has swirling polar vortices, according to new research. But unlike on Earth, the formation and evolution of these vortices are driven by magnetic ...

Faster Space Communication With Record-Sensitive Receiver

Oct. 30, 2024 — In space exploration, long-distance optical links can now be used to transmit images, films and data from space probes to Earth using light. But in order for the signals to reach all the way and not ...

NRL Coronagraph Captures Unique Images of a Dusty Comet

Oct. 23, 2024 — U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) imaging instruments on three sun-orbiting observatories have captured sequences of comet C/2023 A3, known as Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, as it passed between the Earth and ...

NASA Reveals Prototype Telescope for Gravitational Wave Observatory

Oct. 22, 2024 — NASA has revealed the first look at a full-scale prototype for six telescopes that will enable, in the next decade, the space-based detection of gravitational ...

Out-of-This-World Simulation Key to Collecting Moon Dust

Oct. 16, 2024 — Teleoperated robots for gathering moon dust are a step closer, according to new ...

NASA, NOAA: Sun Reaches Maximum Phase in 11-Year Solar Cycle

Oct. 15, 2024 — Experts have announced that the Sun has reached its solar maximum period, which could continue for the next year. Scientists will not be able to determine the exact peak of this solar maximum period ...

Simulated Mission to Mars: Survey of Lichen Species

Oct. 15, 2024 — A collection-based survey of lichen species at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, USA and Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station in Nunavut, Canada was conducted as part of the Mars-160 ...