Planetary Science
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Chokes on Mars Pebbles while Collecting a Rock Sample
The rover’s latest sample collection—an effort to gather material for eventual return to Earth—is off to a rocky start
Planetary Science24 articles archived since 1845
Animals
The Best Fun Science Stories of 2021: Rhythmic Lemurs, a Marscopter and Sex-Obsessed Insect Zombies
Check out the weird and wonderful stories that delighted us this year
Planetary Science
Heavy Metal Exoplanet Found Orbiting Nearby Star
With a density close to that of pure iron, GJ 367b may be the remnant metal-rich core of an evaporated giant world
Planetary Science
NASA’s DART Mission Could Help Cancel an Asteroid Apocalypse
Our planet is vulnerable to thousands of “city-killer” space rocks. If—when—one is found on a collision course with Earth, will we be ready to deflect it?
Planetary Science
Ancient Martian ‘Lake’ May Have Just Been Ephemeral Puddles
One study suggests the Curiosity rover’s landing site is not as it seems
Planetary Science
Space Rocks Keep Hitting Jupiter: What’s the Deal with That?
The giant planet’s hefty gravitational tug helps explain a spate of recent asteroid strikes
Planetary Science
Can Digital Replica of Earth Save the World from Climate Disaster?
A new virtual model of our planet could help resolve lingering climatic uncertainties
Planetary Science
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Is Surprisingly Deep
NASA’s Juno spacecraft peered underneath the gas giant’s dense clouds to determine the structure of its iconic spinning storm
Planetary Science
Lucy, the First Mission to Jupiter’s Asteroids, Could Reveal Solar System Origins
The NASA spacecraft will loop past the never before explored Trojan asteroids during a 12-year journey
Planetary Science
Meteorite Crashes into Woman’s Bed in Canada
The woman awoke to find the space rock laying next to her head
Planetary Science
Planetary Defense Is Good—but Is Planetary Offense Better?
A new approach could mitigate the most damaging effects of an imminent asteroid or comet strike—or ensure many threatening objects never get close to striking Earth in the first place...
Planetary Science
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Finds Signs of Epic Ancient Floods on Mars
New results from the mission reveal that its landing site of Jezero Crater has a surprisingly dynamic and complex hydrologic history
Planetary Science
Physics Nobel Honors Breakthroughs in Understanding Climate and Other Complex Systems
Half the award goes to Giorgio Parisi for his studies of disorder and chaos. The remainder is shared between Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann for modeling global warming and climate variability...
Planetary Science
NASA Unveils Ice-Hunting VIPER Rover’s Lunar Landing Site
The space agency’s first-ever robotic moon rover will touch down in late 2023 just west of Nobile, a crater near the lunar south pole
Planetary Science
Solar ‘Superflares’ Rocked Earth Less Than 10,000 Years Ago—and Could Strike Again
Although our sun is considered a quiet star, it is now thought to have repeatedly pelted our planet with enormous eruptions in the not too distant past. Could another occur in the near future?...
Planetary Science
Success! Perseverance Mars Rover Finally Collects Its First Rock Core
The mission is living up to its name, drilling and storing a Martian rock after a misstep in August
Planetary Science
The Solar System’s Oort Cloud May Harbor an Astonishing Number of Objects from Other Stars
Contrary to what we’ve long assumed, this reservoir of comets surrounding the solar system may have more visitors than permanent residents
Astronomy
This Report Could Make or Break the Next 30 Years of U.S. Astronomy
A battle for the future of American stargazing is about to begin—and the stakes are sky high
Space Exploration
NASA Just Broke the ‘Venus Curse’: Here’s What It Took
Despite the best efforts of scientists eager to study Earth’s sister world, U.S. efforts to send a dedicated spacecraft to Venus languished—until NASA made a surprising announcement...
Planetary Science
Brown Dwarfs Could Reveal Secrets of Planet and Star Formation
They’re not quite stars and not quite planets but can help us understand both
