Planetary Science Stories

The largest portion of the Europa's surface can be seen at the highest resolution from Galileo.

NASA-Funded Study Examines Tidal Effects on Planet and Moon Interiors

2 min read

NASA-supported scientists have developed a method to compute how tides affect the interiors of planets and moons, which will help interpret data from missions like NASA's Europa Clipper.

Article2 weeks ago
A young woman with curly blonde hair wearing a cozy sweater smiles at the camera, standing in a modern hallway with plants in the background.

Sadie Coffin Named Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences/NASA Citizen Science Leaders Series Fellow

2 min read

In August, the Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences (AAPS) announced a fellowship opportunity in partnership with the NASA Citizen Science Leaders Series. Fifty-five people applied! The applications came from graduate students and early career professionals in diverse disciplines, including astronomy,…

Article2 weeks ago
In the style of comic art, Europa clipper flies toward Europa, which appears as a quarter circle in close-up in the bottom left. A cutaway of the moon's surface reveals it's icy shell and an ocean beneath. Hydrothermal vents are visible. An altered image of Jupiter looms large in the background.

NASA’s New Edition of Graphic Novel Features Europa Clipper

2 min read

NASA has released a new edition of Issue 4 of the Astrobiology Graphic History series. The issue now includes NASA's Europa Clipper mission.

Article3 weeks ago

NASA’s Perseverance Captures ‘Googly Eye’ During Solar Eclipse

4 min read

The tiny, potato-shaped moon Phobos, one of two Martian moons, cast a silhouette as it passed in front of the Sun, creating an eye in Mars’ sky. From its perch on the western wall of Mars’ Jezero Crater, NASA’s Perseverance…

Article3 weeks ago

How NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer Could Decipher the Moon’s Icy Secrets

6 min read

There’s water on the Moon, but scientists only have a general idea of where it is and what form it is in. A trailblazing NASA mission will get some answers. When NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer begins orbiting the Moon next year,…

Article3 weeks ago
A computer generated image of Mars with approximately 80% showing the surface of Mars in bands of gray while the other 20% is a checkboard image inferring this part of the surface has not yet be rendered.

New Project Invites You To Do Martian Cloud Science with NASA

2 min read

Like staring at the clouds? Love the planet Mars? How about staring at the clouds…on Mars?  Now you can join Cloudspotting on Mars: Shapes, a new NASA citizen science project, and help identify beautiful cloud formations on the Red Planet. …

Article3 weeks ago

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Looks Back While Climbing Slippery Slope

6 min read

On its way up the side of Jezero Crater, the agency’s latest Red Planet off-roader peers all the way back to its landing site and scopes the path ahead.   NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is negotiating a steeply sloping route…

Article3 weeks ago

Europa Trek: NASA Offers a New Guided Tour of Jupiter’s Ocean Moon

3 min read

NASA Science Activation's Solar System Treks collaborated with Astrobiology SciComm Guild SMEs to create enhancements to the Europa Trek portal.

Article4 weeks ago
Bands of white, tan, and orange clouds shroud Venus in this view from a spacecraft.

Old Data Yields New Secrets as NASA’s DAVINCI Preps for Venus Trip

5 min read

How NASA's DAVINCI mission to Venus uses old data to reveal new secrets.

Article1 month ago

Could Life Exist Below Mars Ice? NASA Study Proposes Possibilities

4 min read

Researchers think meltwater beneath Martian ice could support microbial life. While actual evidence for life on Mars has never been found, a new NASA study proposes microbes could find a potential home beneath frozen water on the planet’s surface. Through…

Article1 month ago