BepiColombo may launch as early as this weekend. It seeks to unravel the mysteries of Mercury’s geologic and magnetic past and map the small planet’s cratered surface.
spacecraft
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First Spacecraft to Touch the Sun Awaiting Launch
The Parker Solar Probe will study the Sun’s corona and its electric and magnetic fields, as well as the mechanisms that drive the solar wind, all from behind an advanced protective heat shield.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Predicting and Avoiding Collisions in Space
Solar wind drivers affecting the satellite environment have about a one hour predictive horizon, but solar wind speed periodicities and ensemble modeling can extend the forecast interval.
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Senators Oppose Cutting Federal Funding for Space Station
Senators Ted Cruz and Bill Nelson say a timetable to transition the station to commercial operations in 2025 is premature, arbitrary, and political.
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New Lander en Route to Probe the Red Planet’s Interior
The Mars InSight mission aims to answer key planetary science questions about seismicity, meteorite impacts, and the formation of rocky planets.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Evidence of Extensive Ice Deposits Near Mercury’s South Pole
New radar observations and refined illumination maps reveal uneven water ice deposits twice the size of those found around the planet’s north pole, suggesting the source may be a recent comet impact.
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New Juno Data Reveal Four Key Secrets of Jupiter
Deep clouds, polar storms, lopsided gravity, and a uniformly rotating interior demonstrate that the gas giant plays by different rules than Earth.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Earth’s Radiation Belts: Celebrating Six Decades of Discovery
A recent celebration of the 60th anniversary of the launch of Explorer 1 reflected on the incredible progress and scientific insights from this and subsequent space missions.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Improving Temperature Forecasts in the Upper Atmosphere
Scientists are blending output from multi-year model runs to improve temperature forecasts in regions where satellites experience “drag,” in the hopes of avoiding future spacecraft collisions.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Earth-like Oscillations Detected in Saturn’s Stratosphere
By comparing Cassini observations spanning ten years, Saturn’s equatorial oscillation is shown to have similarities to Earth’s Quasi-Biennial Oscillation and Semi-Annual Oscillation.