India's first interplanetary mission to planet Mars, Mars Orbiter Mission, arrived in the Martian orbit on September 24, 2014 making India the first nation to enter the Mars's orbit in it’s first attempt and the first Asian nation to reach the Red planet.I
At 02:24 UTC today NASA's MAVEN spacecraft reached planet Mars and entered its orbit. MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) is the first spacecraft dedicated to exploring the tenuous upper atmosphere of Mars. It is expected to begin its primary mission in a
A new NASA mission designed to boost global monitoring of ocean winds, improve weather forecasting and climate studies is now on its way to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. The cargo ship launched on the Falcon 9 rocket from Space L
ESA announced today that the landing spot for Rosetta's lander Philae will be target Site J, an intriguing region on the 'head' of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The spot offers unique scientific potential, with hints of activity nearby, and minimum
The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission to the Comet 67P is attracting worldwide attention to comet science. While months remain until the team attempts to land a probe on the comet's surface, astonishing revelations are already confronting scientists on Ear
On January 21, 2014, astronomers around the world witnessed a supernova soon after it exploded in the Messier 82, or M82, galaxy. It is one of the closest supernovas discovered in decades. Telescopes across the globe and in space turned their at
A team of scientists has been combing through the payload of NASA's Stardust spacecraft since it returned to Earth in 2006. They found seven rare, microscopic interstellar dust particles, that most likely came from outside of our solar system. If
It's a known fact that planets have atmospheres, but the same can't be said for comets. The atmosphere of a comet, called its "coma," is made of gas and dust that spew out of the sun-warmed nucleus and it's typically wider than Jupiter.La
On August 6, 2014, after a decade-long journey through space, ESA’s comet chaser "Rosetta" will become the first spacecraft in history to rendezvous with a comet. Rosetta will also be the first mission in history to escort a comet as it or
ESA’s comet chaser Rosetta has made its first temperature measurements of its target comet, 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, and found that it is too hot to be covered in ice and must instead have a dark, dusty crust.The observations of the comet we
