Mars's core, widely thought to be at least partially molten, may eventually solidify completely, and researchers have turned to lab experiments to find out how.
Space & Planets
Posted inNews
Cores from Crater Tied to Dinosaur Demise Validate Impact Theory
Drilling into the famous, deeply buried Chicxulub crater off Mexico, researchers found deformed and porous granite that opens new avenues of research.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Unprecedented Views of Mercury Constrain Hollow Formation
The consistently shallow depths of the depressions scattered across Mercury's surface suggest their morphology is not determined by the thickness of a volatile-rich outer layer.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mars's Atmosphere Matches Earth's Turbulent Nature
Mars is even more like Earth than we thought, according to a statistical analysis of the planet's swirling atmosphere.
Posted inNews
New NASA Science Head Foresees Progress in Search for Alien Life
Thomas Zurbuchen said other top goals for science and the agency include understanding and protecting life on Earth and probing fundamental aspects of the universe like dark matter and dark energy.
Posted inNews
Cracking Comet: A Window to the Past
An unusual feature on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko offers insights into cometary origins.
Posted inAGU News
Kite Receives 2016 Ronald Greeley Early Career Award in Planetary Science
Edwin Kite will receive the 2016 Ronald Greeley Early Career Award in Planetary Science at the 2016 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, to be held 12–16 December in San Francisco, Calif. The award recognizes significant early-career contributions to planetary science.
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Schiaparelli Lander Likely Crash-Landed on Mars
After its thrusters shut off prematurely, the European Space Agency's newest lander probably crash-landed from 2–4 kilometers above the surface.
Posted inEditors' Vox
To Bennu and Back
Justin Filiberto shares his experience as a guest at the OSIRIS-REx launch; a mission to obtain samples from the asteroid Bennu in hopes of learning more about the origin of water on Earth.
Posted inNews
European-Russian Mission Reaches Mars: Lander’s Fate Yet Unknown
Although the mission’s lander might not have survived, the new Trace Gas Orbiter spacecraft will explore clues that may indicate extraterrestrial life.