Researchers could launch an electron beam device into space to study the Earth's magnetic field and trigger artificial auroras and lightning.
Space & Planets
Posted inScience Updates
Volatiles in Mars: Constraints, Questions, and Future Directions
Workshop on Volatiles in the Martian Interior; Houston, Texas, 3–4 November 2014
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Scientists Watch Solar Winds Blast Mercury's Magnetic Field
A NASA team used the MESSENGER spacecraft to analyze Mercury's magnetosphere during intense solar wind pressure.
Posted inScience Updates
Changing of the Guard: Satellite Will Warn Earth of Solar Storms
This summer, Earth gets a new guardian—the Deep Space Climate Observatory—to help warn astronauts and operators of critical planetary infrastructure about the Sun's raging magnetic storms.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Large-Scale Electric Currents May Flow Through Mercury's Crust
NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft discovered electric currents in Mercury's magnetosphere directed toward and away from the planet. Do the currents reach the planet? If so, where do they go?
Posted inScience Updates
A Suite of Software Analyzes Data on the Sphere
The software improves data analysis over small portions of a spherical planetary surface. Among other applications, it has helped track Greenland's ice loss over time.
Posted inNews
Dawn Spacecraft Enters into Orbit Around Dwarf Planet Ceres
A 16-month investigation of the dwarf planet Ceres could reveal a lot about the most massive body in the asteroid belt and could advance our understanding of the formation of terrestrial planets.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Satellite Data Yield Detailed Picture of the Lunar Wake
Researchers use satellite data to characterize the physical properties of the lunar wake and the processes that govern it.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Shooting Stars and Cosmic Dust Help Form Clouds, Fertilize Plankton
Tons of cosmic dust enter Earth’s atmosphere each day, triggering a range of phenomena that scientists are only just beginning to understand.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
"Knobby Terrain" a Sign of Mars's Explosive Past
Newly identified knobby terrain related to ancient volcanoes on Mars hint that pyroclastic ash and rock flowed down slopes early in the red planet's history.