Solar System News
Courtesy of Science Daily

Professor to predict weather on Mars Is there such a thing as "weather" on Mars? There are some doubts, considering the planet's atmosphere is only 1 percent as dense as that of the Earth. Mars, however, definitely has clouds, drastically low temperatures and out-of-this-world dust storms. A professor of atmospheric sciences now hopes to analyze and forecast Martian weather. Publ.Date : Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST Are Earth's Oceans Made Of Extraterrestrial Material? Contrary to preconceived notions, the atmosphere and the oceans were perhaps not formed from vapors emitted during intense volcanism at the dawning of our planet. Scientists now suggest that water was not part of the Earth's initial inventory but stems from the turbulence caused in the outer solar system by giant planets. Ice-covered asteroids thus reached the Earth around one hundred million years after the birth of the planets. Publ.Date : Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Sees Channels From Hale Crater A new image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows channels to the southeast of Hale crater on southern Mars. Taken by the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, this view covers an area about 3 kilometers (2 miles) wide. Publ.Date : Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST MESSENGER Spacecraft Reveals More Hidden Territory On Mercury A NASA spacecraft gliding over the battered surface of Mercury for the second time this year has revealed more previously unseen real estate on the innermost planet. The probe also has produced several science firsts and is returning hundreds of new photos and measurements of the planet's surface, atmosphere and magnetic field. Publ.Date : Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST Cassini Makes Successful Flight Through Plume Of Saturn's Moon Enceladus The Cassini spacecraft has weathered the Monday, Nov. 2, flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus in good health and has been sending images and data of the encounter back to Earth. Cassini had approached Enceladus more closely before, but this passage took the spacecraft on its deepest plunge yet through the heart of the plume shooting out from the south polar region. Scientists are eagerly sifting through the results. Publ.Date : Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST Frost-Covered Phoenix Lander Seen In Winter Images From Mars Winter images of NASA's Phoenix Lander showing the lander shrouded in dry-ice frost on Mars have been captured with the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE camera, aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Publ.Date : Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST Unsettled Youth: Spitzer Observes A Chaotic Planetary System Before our planets found their way to the stable orbits they circle in today, they wiggled and jostled about like unsettled children. Now, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has found a young star with evidence for the same kind of orbital hyperactivity. Young planets circling the star are thought to be disturbing smaller comet-like bodies, causing them to collide and kick up a huge halo of dust. Publ.Date : Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST 'Ultra-primitive' Particles Found In Comet Dust Dust samples collected from the stratosphere have yielded an unexpectedly rich trove of relics from the ancient cosmos, scientists report. The dust includes presolar grains and material from interstellar molecular clouds. This "ultra-primitive" material likely wafted into the atmosphere after the Earth passed through the trail of an Earth-crossing comet in 2003, giving scientists a rare opportunity to study cometary dust in the laboratory. Publ.Date : Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST Key Process For Space Outpost Proved On 'Vomit Comet' Ride During flights simulating the moon's low gravity, researchers find that sifters can separate soil particles and produce the best feedstock for an oxygen generator. Scientists are designing and testing components of the generator, which would provide oxygen needed for a lunar or Martian outpost. Publ.Date : Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EDT Galileo's Notebooks May Reveal Secrets Of New Planet Galileo knew he had discovered a new planet in 1613, 234 years before its official discovery date, according to a new theory. Publ.Date : Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT Long Night Falls Over Saturn's Rings As Saturn's rings orbit the planet, a section is typically in the planet's shadow, experiencing a brief night lasting from 6 to 14 hours. However, once approximately every 15 years, night falls over the entire visible ring system for about four days. Publ.Date : Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT Astronomers Find Organic Molecules Around Gas Planet Peering far beyond our solar system, NASA researchers have detected the basic chemistry for life in a second hot gas planet, advancing astronomers toward the goal of being able to characterize planets where life could exist. The planet is not habitable but it has the same chemistry that, if found around a rocky planet in the future, could indicate the presence of life. Publ.Date : Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT Volunteers Wanted For Simulated 520-day Mars Mission Starting in 2010, an international crew of six will simulate a 520-day round-trip to Mars, including a 30-day stay on the martian surface. In reality, they will live and work in a sealed facility in Moscow, Russia, to investigate the psychological and medical aspects of a long-duration space mission. ESA is looking for European volunteers to take part. Publ.Date : Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT How The Moon Produces Its Own Water The Moon is a big sponge that absorbs electrically charged particles given out by the Sun. These particles interact with the oxygen present in some dust grains on the lunar surface, producing water. This discovery, made by the ESA-ISRO instrument SARA onboard the Indian Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter, confirms how water is likely being created on the lunar surface. Publ.Date : Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT New View Of The Heliosphere: Cassini Helps Redraw Shape Of Solar System The solar system, as defined by the heliosphere, the region of the sun's influence, may have a quite different shape than scientists had thought. Publ.Date : Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT New Concept May Enhance Earth-Mars Communication Direct communication between Earth and Mars can be strongly disturbed and even blocked by the Sun for weeks at a time, cutting off any future human mission to the Red Planet. An European Space Agency engineer working with engineers in the UK may have found a solution using a new type of orbit combined with continuous-thrust ion propulsion. Publ.Date : Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT Catching The Interstellar Wind: Spacecraft Finds Ribbon-like Structure At Edge Of Heliosphere NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft has made it possible for scientists to construct the first comprehensive sky map of our solar system and its location in the Milky Way galaxy. The new view will change the way researchers view and study the interaction between our galaxy and sun. Results include the discovery of a narrow ribbon of bright details or emissions not resembling any of the current theoretical models of the interstellar boundary region. Publ.Date : Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT Asteroid Is Actually A Protoplanet, Study Of First High-resolution Images Of Pallas Confirms Pallas is in the gray area between a small asteroid and a planet, researchers report. Pallas lies in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars and is about the size of Arizona. Publ.Date : Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope Discovers Largest Ring Around Saturn NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered an enormous ring around Saturn -- by far the largest of the giant planet's many rings. Publ.Date : Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT Rocket Smash Could Find Moon’s Water Ice, Expert Says Crashing a rocket into the Moon will create “one more dimple” on the lunar surface and could find water ice on Earth’s nearest neighbour, according to one expert. Publ.Date : Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT 'Trash Can' Nuclear Reactors Could Power Human Outpost On Moon Or Mars NASA has made a series of critical strides toward the development of new nuclear reactors the size of a trash can that could power a human outpost on the moon or Mars. Three recent tests at different NASA centers and a national lab have successfully demonstrated key technologies required for compact fission-based nuclear power plants for human settlements on other worlds. Publ.Date : Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT Chemistry Of Titan's Hazy Atmosphere Unraveled A team of University of Hawai'i at Manoa researchers led by Ralf Kaiser, physical chemist at UH Manoa, unraveled the chemical evolution of the orange-brownish colored atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan, the only solar system body besides Venus and Earth with a solid surface and thick atmosphere. Publ.Date : Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT Cosmic Rays Hit Space Age High Planning a trip to Mars? Take plenty of shielding. According to sensors on NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer spacecraft, galactic cosmic rays have just hit a Space Age high. Publ.Date : Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT Global View Of Valleys On Saturn's Moon Titan Shows North-South Contrast Scientists are presenting the first results of a global analysis of spatial patterns, occurrence and origin of river channels on Saturn's moon Titan. Publ.Date : Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EDT