A robot that can inch up icy surfaces may help scientists reach new heights in some of Earth’s most dangerous and remote landscapes.
Space & Planets
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Measuring the Magnetic Reconnection Rate in the Magnetotail
Both simulations and observations are used to measure the magnetic reconnection rate in the Earth’s magnetotail, suggesting that the rate is correlated with the intensity of a magnetic substorm.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Plasma Activity Around Sunspots May Foreshadow Solar Storms
A new study identifies possible precursors to space weather in the regions encircling sunspots.
Posted inNews
Hello, Goodbye: First Interplanetary CubeSats Zip Past Mars
The InSight lander safely arrived on Mars early last week. Two tiny spacecraft made up part of its communications array and transmitted landing data back to Earth.
Posted inScience Updates
Magnetic Mars Engages Lay Audiences in Science
A NASA team has developed resources to intrigue the public with the discoveries from its Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission. Here are four tips for communicating that science.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Cassini Reveals a Missing Link on Saturn’s Rotating Aurora
The bright aurorae dancing in the sky are produced by charged particles traveling along the magnetic field lines from tens of planetary radii. By why do aurorae rotate at Saturn but not at Earth?
Posted inNews
Atacama Desert’s Unprecedented Rains Are Lethal to Microbes
Rainfall in the driest parts of Chile’s Atacama Desert in 2017 resulted in hypersaline lagoons that killed the majority of microbes adapted to millions of years of arid conditions.
Posted inFeatures
Exploring Planetary Breadcrumbs One Asteroid at a Time
Six ongoing and future missions explore the variety of asteroids in the solar system, seeking to uncover what makes each of them special.
Posted inNews
Could Life Be Floating in Venus’s Clouds?
If present, microbes could explain evolving patterns in the planet’s atmosphere when observed in ultraviolet light.
Posted inNews
Girl Scouts Can Now Earn Space Science Badges
Young Girl Scouts can be explorers, adventurers, and investigators as they work toward badges that teach them about the Sun, the solar system, and the stars.