Planetary Science

Korean orbiter returning spectacular views of lunar landscapes

Danuri, Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, Mission Reports, Moon, News, Planetary Science, ShadowCam, South Korea, X Home Page Highlight / By

South Korea’s Danuri spacecraft captured this view of Tsiolkovskiy crater March 22 on the far side of the moon. Credit: Korea Aerospace Research Institute Nearly halfway through its primary mission, South Korea’s first spacecraft to explore the moon has been collecting data and snapping pictures of lunar landscapes and craters since maneuvering into orbit late …

Korean orbiter returning spectacular views of lunar landscapes Read More »

Europe’s first mission to Jupiter poised for launch from South America

Airbus Defense and Space, Ariane 5, Arianespace, Callisto, Europa, European Space Agency, Ganymede, JUICE, Jupiter, Launch, Mission Reports, News, Planetary Science, X Home Page Highlight / By

The European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or JUICE, spacecraft is buttoned up for launch inside the payload fairing of an Ariane 5 rocket. The illustration on the Ariane 5 payload fairing was the winning submission in a children’s art competition, drawn by eight-year-old Yaryna  from Ukraine. Credit:ESA-Manuel Pedoussaut The European Space Agency’s $1.7 …

Europe’s first mission to Jupiter poised for launch from South America Read More »

Japanese space science missions facing delays after H3 rocket failure

Astronomy, H-2A, H3, Hitomi, Japan, JAXA, Mars, Mission Reports, MMX, Moon, News, Phobos, Planetary Science, SLIM, x-rays, XRISM / By

The spacecraft for the Japanese-led X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, or XRISM, undergoes acoustic testing in Japan in December 2022. Credit: JAXA The launch of a Japanese X-ray telescope and robotic lunar lander has been delayed to no earlier than August, and the launch schedule for another Japanese mission to return samples from a moon …

Japanese space science missions facing delays after H3 rocket failure Read More »

China releases first pictures from Zhurong rover since Mars landing

Bill Nelson, China, CNSA, Elon Musk, Mars, Mars rover, Mission Reports, NASA, News, Planetary Science, Solar System, Tianwen, Tianwen 1, Utopia Planitia, X Sidebar, Zhurong / By

China’s Zhurong rover sits atop the Tianwen 1 mission’s landing platform on Mars. Credit: CNSA China’s space agency released the first pictures from the Zhurong Mars rover Wednesday, showing the six-wheel robot ready to drive down a ramp from its landing platform to begin exploring the Red Planet. The 529-pound (240-kilogram) Zhurong rover landed Friday, …

China releases first pictures from Zhurong rover since Mars landing Read More »

Chinese rover heads for landing on Mars

China, CNSA, Mars, Mars rover, Mission Reports, News, Planetary Science, Solar System, Tianwen, Tianwen 1, Utopia Planitia, X Home Page Highlight, Zhurong / By

Artist’s illustration of the Tianwen 1 orbiter and rover at Mars. Credit: CNSA / Chinese Academy of Sciences / Nature Astronomy A Chinese rover outfitted with cameras, a weather station, and a sophisticated laser spectrometer could touch down on Mars as soon as Friday, a feat that would make China the second nation to successfully …

Chinese rover heads for landing on Mars Read More »

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter aces first longer-range flight on Mars

Ingenuity, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Jezero Crater, Mars, Mars 2020, Mars Helicopter, Mission Reports, NASA, News, Perseverance, Planetary Science, Solar System, X Sidebar / By

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter flew farther and faster Sunday than the rotorcraft’s first two test flights in the Martian atmosphere, traveling the length of a football field while exceeding distances and speeds achieved during testing on Earth, officials said. On Sunday’s test flight, the diminutive rotor-driven drone flew a distance of some 164 feet (50 meters) …

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter aces first longer-range flight on Mars Read More »

NASA’s Mars helicopter completes second, higher flight

Ingenuity, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Jezero Crater, Mars, Mars 2020, Mars Helicopter, Mission Reports, NASA, News, Perseverance, Planetary Science, Solar System, X Sidebar / By

This is the first color image of the Martian surface taken by an aerial vehicle while it was aloft. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter captured it with its color camera during its second successful flight test on April 22, 2021. At the time this image, Ingenuity was 17 feet (5.2 meters) above the surface and pitching …

NASA’s Mars helicopter completes second, higher flight Read More »

In another first, NASA’s Perseverance rover generates oxygen on Mars

Haystack Observatory, Human Spaceflight, ISRU, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mars, Mars 2020, Mission Reports, MIT, MOXIE, NASA, News, Perseverance, Planetary Science, Solar System, X Sidebar / By

This view from the Perseverance rover’s navigation cameras shows the “Mars 2020” and “Perseverance” name plates on the vehicle’s robotic arm. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech In another first, an instrument inside NASA’s Perseverance rover has made oxygen out of carbon dioxide sucked in from the atmosphere of Mars, officials said Wednesday. The technology could help future astronauts …

In another first, NASA’s Perseverance rover generates oxygen on Mars Read More »

SLS core ready for shipment to Florida; NASA still hopes for late 2021 launch

Aerojet Rocketdyne, ARTEMIS, Artemis 1, Boeing, Human Spaceflight, Kennedy Space Center, Launch, Mission Reports, Mississippi, Moon, NASA, News, Orion, Pegasus, Planetary Science, Solar System, Space Launch System, Stennis Space Center, Steve Jurczyk, X Sidebar / By

Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi hoist the Space Launch System core stage out of the B-2 test stand April 19 after a hot fire test March 18. Credit: NASA Teams at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi removed the core of NASA’s first Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket from a test stand earlier …

SLS core ready for shipment to Florida; NASA still hopes for late 2021 launch Read More »

After successful first flight, NASA wants to push Mars helicopter to its limits

Ingenuity, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Jezero Crater, Mars, Mars 2020, Mars Helicopter, Mission Reports, NASA, News, Perseverance, Planetary Science, Solar System, X Home Page Highlight / By

The work isn’t over for NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter. Engineers hope to fly the rotorcraft four more times in the next two weeks before calling it quits on the pioneering technology experiment, which accomplished the first powered flight of an aircraft on another planet Monday. As officials celebrated the helicopter’s historic flight, teams were already …

After successful first flight, NASA wants to push Mars helicopter to its limits Read More »