Technological improvements, including an advanced thermal protection system and innovative solar arrays, have helped to get this mission off the drawing board.
News
More Discoveries in the Cards from Defunct Comet Mission
A year after the end of the Rosetta mission, the real scientific fun begins.
Playing with Water: Humans Are Altering Risk of Nuisance Floods
New research suggests that excessive groundwater usage and damming have changed the natural risk of nuisance floods, for better or worse, in eastern U.S. coastal cities.
Honoring Earth and Space Scientists
Remembering AGU members and others who have passed away.
Giant Snails’ Century-Old Shells Recorded Monsoon Rainfall
Researchers explored past precipitation in India using shells from very large land snails collected there in 1918 and preserved in a British museum.
Unprecedented Hurricane Season Sees Widespread Damage
This hurricane season has broken multiple records already.
Faults off Alaska Look Akin to Those Behind 2011 Japan Disaster
In a seismically quiet segment of Alaska’s subduction zone lie faults with structures similar to those of the system that caused the deadly Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.
Pluto’s Features Receive First Official Names
Names of mountains, plains, valleys, and craters honor human and technological pioneers, Pluto scientists, and underworld mythology from around the world.
Caribbean Sediment Traced to 1755 Portuguese Quake and Tsunami
Archaeologists digging in Martinique chanced upon the first tsunami deposit from the earthquake found in the New World. The tsunami left a strong trace, it seems, because the wave went up a river.
World’s Heavy Dependence on Fossil Fuels Projected to Continue
The report forecasts a 2.8% annual increase in renewable energy through 2040, making it the world’s fastest growing source of energy for electricity generation.