Moons Stories

Brr, It’s Cold in Here! NASA’s Cryo Efforts Beyond the Atmosphere

5 min read

Establishing sustained operations at the Moon and Mars presents a multitude of opportunities and challenges NASA has yet to encounter. Many of these activities require new technologies and processes to ensure the agency is prepared for its ambitious Artemis missions…

Article9 months ago

Removing Traces of Life in Lab Helps NASA Scientists Study Its Origins

5 min read

A specialized laboratory setup at JPL removes the chemical influence of modern organisms so scientists can study the chemistry that may have led to life’s emergence.

Article2 years ago

NASA Launches Power to Explore Challenge for K-12 Students

3 min read

And 3, 2, 1…lift off! NASA has officially launched its second Power to Explore Student Challenge, calling on K-12 students in the United States to learn about Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS), and then design a new RPS-powered space mission that…

Article2 years ago

Collision May Have Formed the Moon in Mere Hours, Simulations Reveal

5 min read

Billions of years ago, a version of our Earth that looks very different than the one we live on today was hit by an object about the size of Mars, called Theia – and out of that collision the Moon…

Article2 years ago
Image of Stickney Crater on Mars' moon Phobos

10 ‘Super Bowls’ in Our Solar System

4 min read

Here are 10 impressively super, bowl-shaped venues adorning worlds in our solar system, including a couple where we've actually made…touchdowns!

Article3 years ago
A full moon rises above a snow-capped peak in Alaska.

February 2020: The Next Full Moon is the Snow Moon

17 min read

The next full Moon will be early on Sunday morning, Feb. 9, 2020, at 2:33 AM EST. The Moon will appear full from Friday evening to Monday morning, making this a full Moon weekend.

Article5 years ago
Europa

NASA Scientists Confirm Water Vapor on Europa

6 min read

Forty years ago, a Voyager spacecraft snapped the first closeup images of Europa, one of Jupiter’s 79 moons. These revealed brownish cracks slicing the moon’s icy surface, which give Europa the look of a veiny eyeball. Missions to the outer…

Article5 years ago
Tara Regio is the yellowish area to left of center

Table Salt Compound Spotted on Europa

4 min read

Related links Europa overview on NASA Solar System ExplorationEuropa poster on NASA Solar System Exploration A familiar ingredient has been hiding in plain sight on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa. Using a visible-light spectral analysis, planetary scientists at Caltech…

Article5 years ago
artist's concept of a sunset on Neptune with a large rock in forground

Tiny Neptune Moon Spotted by Hubble May Have Broken from Larger Moon

4 min read

Astronomers call it “the moon that shouldn’t be there.” After several years of analysis, a team of planetary scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has at last come up with an explanation for a mysterious moon around Neptune that they…

Article6 years ago
artist concept: A distant star off to the upper left. A large banded world is in the foreground. In front of it is a smaller, blue world.

Astronomers Find First Evidence of Possible Moon Outside Our Solar System

5 min read

Using NASA’s Hubble and Kepler space telescopes, astronomers have uncovered tantalizing evidence of what could be the first discovery of a moon orbiting a planet outside our solar system. This moon candidate, which is 8,000 light-years from Earth in the…

Article6 years ago