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Curiosity rover reaches Martian sand dunes
NASA's Curiosity rover is studying sand dunes towering up to two stories tall, returning new images showing a rippled landscape that represents a case of still-active geology on the red planet.
Falcon 9’s near-term manifest coming into focus
SpaceX's launch of a cluster of communications satellites for Orbcomm, set for as soon as next weekend, holds the headlines, but the company's Falcon 9 rocket could fly at least four times in the next two months, assuming smooth launch campaigns and no glitches.
VideoWith widespread salts and ices, Ceres in a class of its own
The dwarf planet Ceres turns out to be a world with untold wonders, with vivid bright spots likely made of dried mineral salts and hazes apparently triggered by daytime heating, drawing a comparison to comets and strikingly differentiating it from neighboring bodies in the asteroid belt.
Akatsuki probe relays its first images from Venus orbit
Japanese scientists released Wednesday the first views of Venus captured by the Akatsuki spacecraft after arriving in orbit this week, setting the stage for regular observations of the planet's blistering atmosphere over the next few years.
VideoJapanese probe fires rockets to steer into orbit at Venus
Five years after missing a shot to enter orbit at Venus, Japan's Akatsuki spacecraft completed a critical rocket burn late Sunday in a bid to salvage the research mission and become the only space probe operating around Earth's nearest planetary neighbor.
Tiny thrusters to do heavy lifting as Japanese probe approaches Venus
Inside a month until its next chance to swing into orbit around Venus, Japan's Akatsuki spacecraft has weathered unexpectedly "severe" conditions after missing an arrival opportunity in 2010, according to the mission's project scientist.
VideoSolar wind blasting away Martian atmosphere
The solar wind, the million-mile-per-hour stream of charged particles blasted away from the sun, is slowly but surely stripping away Mars' atmosphere and likely played a major role in turning the red planet from a habitable world in the distant past into the dry, frozen wasteland seen today, scientists said Thursday.
VideoRecord-breaking Hurricane Patricia viewed from orbit
Astronauts on the International Space Station and a fleet of Earth-watching satellites caught views of Hurricane Patricia, the most powerful cyclone on record in the Western Hemisphere, after the storm exploded in strength to become a monster Category 5 hurricane Friday.
VideoNASA to post new ‘blue marble’ pictures every day
Your daily dose of planet Earth is now just a click away, thanks to a new NASA website hosting photos looking back at the world from a small satellite stationed almost a million miles away, realizing a dream of former Vice President Al Gore nearly two decades ago.
NASA might pick two Discovery missions, but at a price
A senior NASA official said Monday the agency could select two new robotic planetary science missions next year for launch in the early 2020s, and the five finalists favor Venus and asteroid research.