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Saturn’s moons align for cosmic photo opportunity
NASA has released an image of Saturn's moons Enceladus and Tethys caught in a rare alignment by the Cassini spacecraft, which is heading for its final close encounter with the icy moon Enceladus Saturday.
Asteroid probe confirmed on good trajectory after Earth flyby
A Japanese space probe picked up just the right amount of speed when it flew by Earth earlier this month, using the planet's gravity to slingshot toward an asteroid scientists think is a primordial leftover from the ancient solar system, mission managers said Monday.
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.