Planets

An artist's concept of the Axel rover rappelling into a lunar pit.

NASA Considers a Rover Mission to Go Cave Diving on the Moon

The deep caverns and pits that dot the lunar surface could hold clues to the moon's history and perhaps provide shelter for future human exploration

NASA Releases Opportunity Rover's Final Panorama Photograph

The little Mars explorer was hit by a duststorm in June, 2018 and never recovered, but it did send back 354 images from on its final days

A mural titled "The Origin of Life on Earth" at NASA Ames Research Center. The mural depicts the formation of our planet and the conditions that led to the evolution of life.

Earth's Rock Record Could Reveal the Motions of Other Planets

Studying the layers of Earth's crust, scientists have created a "Geological Orrery" to measure planetary motions dating back hundreds of millions of years

Mars May Have Had a Planet-Wide System of Underground Lakes

A study of 24 craters shows they experienced the simultaneous rise and fall of groundwater, suggesting they were interconnected at one time

Using Landmine Detectors, Meteorite Hunt Turns Up 36 Space Rocks in Antarctica

The scientists had a hunch that more meteorites were hidden a foot below the ice—they were right

A mosaic of Mars images captured by the Viking Orbiter 1, which operated around the planet from 1976 to 1980. Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the solar system, cuts across middle of the planet, stretching over 3,000 km long and up to 8 km deep.

With Opportunity Lost, NASA Confronts the Tenuous Future of Mars Exploration

Following decades of continuous flights to Mars, NASA is facing a shortage of missions

An artist's concept of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity superimposed on a photo of Victoria Crater, taken by the rover.

How NASA's Opportunity Rover Made Mars Part of Earth

After more than 15 years exploring the surface of Mars, the Opportunity rover has finally roved its last leg

That's so metal.

Planetary Smash-Up May Have Produced This Distant Iron Exoplanet

Computer simulations suggest Kepler 107c could have been formed when two rocky planets collided, stripping it down to its metal core

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Astrophysicist Mercedes Lopez-Morales Is Grooming the Next Generation of Planet Hunters

"The Daily Show" correspondent Roy Wood, Jr. talks with the astrophysicist about adrenaline, fear, curiosity and attracting younger generations to science

We Finally Know How Long a Day on Saturn Is

By studying oscillations in the planet's iconic rings, researchers have determined it takes Saturn 10 hours, 33 minutes and 38 seconds to rotate once

The artist's concept depicts a comet-like tail of a possible disintegrating super Mercury-size planet candidate as it transits its parent star named KIC 12557548. At an orbital distance of only twice the diameter of its star, the surface temperature of the potential planet is estimated to be a sweltering 3,300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Disintegrating Planets Could Be the Key to Discovering What Worlds Are Made Of

Exoplanets that have been ripped apart by their host stars could provide an opportunity to measure the minerals of the galaxy

Planet Hunter TESS Is Already Spotting Hundreds of Crazy New Worlds

The first data from the space telescope's mission tallies more than 200 potential planets, including some just 50 light-years away

This image taken by the Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) is the most detailed of Ultima Thule returned so far by the New Horizons spacecraft. It was taken at 5:01 Universal Time on January 1, 2019, just 30 minutes before closest approach from a range of 18,000 miles (28,000 kilometers), with an original scale of 730 feet (140 meters) per pixel.

Behold the Most Distant Object Ever Visited by Spacecraft

The New Horizons spacecraft has transmitted images from its New Year’s Day approach back to Earth

Artist’s impression of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft encountering 2014 MU69, a Kuiper Belt object that orbits one billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) beyond Pluto, on Jan. 1, 2019. With public input, the team has selected the nickname “Ultima Thule” for the object, which will be the most primitive and most distant world ever explored by spacecraft.

Ring in the New Year With NASA’s Most Distant Planetary Encounter in History

The New Horizons spacecraft is on final approach to the distant Kuiper Belt Object, Ultima Thule, and you can follow along live

An artist's conception of the view from Farout.

Meet Farout, the Solar System's Most Distant Minor Planet

Observations suggest the object is 300 miles in diameter, pinkish-red and 3.5 times as far away from the sun as Pluto

An artist's rendering of the small rover that will be deployed on the far side of the Moon as part of the Chang'e-4 mission.

China Launches First Mission to Land on the Far Side of the Moon

Not glimpsed by humanity until 1959, the surface of the far side of the Moon has never been visited before

An artists concept of the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security - Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft collecting a sample from the asteroid Bennu.

Asteroid Sample-Return Mission Arrives to Collect Primordial Rocks of the Solar System

As the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrives at its target asteroid Bennu, scientists on the ground prepare for a new bounty of planetary samples

Illustration of NASA's InSight lander about to land on the surface of Mars.

Watch NASA Land the InSight Spacecraft on Mars

The InSight lander has successfully touched down on Mars

Once NASA's InSight lander touches down on the surface of Mars, it will use a seismometer to measure "Marsquakes," and a self-hammering heat probe will burrow five meters below the surface to study the internal heat of the planet.

NASA Will Attempt Its Eighth Mars Landing on Monday

Touching down on the surface of the Red Planet is one of the most difficult engineering challenges ever attempted, and InSight is about to give it a go

An artist’s impression of the newly discovered planet’s surface.

Astronomers Discover Second-Closest Known Exoplanet

The planet, a frozen Super-Earth, orbits Bernard's Star about six light-years away

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