Cassini
NASA’s Cassini probe witnessed a giant storm on Saturn that raced around the ringed planet, ran into its own tail, and consumed itself like the legendary Ouroboros – a snake that eats its tail. The storm, which at its peak was almost as wide as the Earth, lasted for 267 days and was marked by violent lightning bursts and an unusual rise in air temperature. This self-destructing storm is a phenomenon never seen before, and sheds new light on Saturn’s meteorology that could help with weather prediction on Earth. Read More
It will soon be spring on Saturn ... and it will last for the next eight years or so. To celebrate the slow passing of the seasons of the giant ringed planet, NASA has released four real-color images sent back by the Cassini space probe. The images not only show the seasonal changes, but also the mysterious vortex recently discovered at the south pole of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. Read More
After revealing the strong possibility of an underground liquid water ocean on Titan, further analysis of radar data collected by a flyby of the Huygens/Cassini spacecraft is now suggesting that, despite a dramatically different composition, Saturn's largest moon may share many of Earth's geological processes. By studying those features, exogeologists are beginning to answer some pressing questions on the forces that shaped Titan's geological past. Read More
The icy surface of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is almost certainly hiding an ocean of liquid water according to data received by NASA from its Cassini spacecraft. The finding could shed light on the mystery of how methane in Titan's atmosphere is replenished. Read More
“I’m Chris Lewicki, and I’m an asteroid miner!” These were the opening words spoken by the President and Chief Engineer of Planetary Resources Inc., as the asteroid mining company emerged from three years of silent running to outline its plans to mine Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) within the decade. Read More
IBEX space probe provides a peek at interstellar material
Over the course of a year, NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) scans the entire sky. During February, its instruments are aligned in the correct direction to intercept atoms that have crossed the boundary from interstellar space into our solar system, become caught by the Sun's gravity and slung around the star. This has now allowed IBEX to capture the most complete glimpse of the material that travels in the galactic wind in the space between star systems. The results indicate this material doesn't look like the same material that makes up our solar system. Read More
March 11, 2006 NASA's Cassini spacecraft may have found evidence of liquid water reservoirs that erupt in Yellowstone-like geysers on Saturn's moon Enceladus. The rare occurrence of liquid water so near the surface raises many new questions about the mysterious moon. "We realize that this is a radical conclusion -- that we may have evidence for liquid water within a body so small and so cold," said Dr. Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader at Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. "However, if we are right, we have significantly broadened the diversity of solar system environments where we might possibly have conditions suitable for living organisms." High-resolution Cassini images show icy jets and towering plumes ejecting large quantities of particles at high speed. Scientists examined several models to explain the process. They ruled out the idea that the particles are produced by or blown off the moon's surface by vapor created when warm water ice converts to a gas. Instead, scientists have found evidence for a much more exciting possibility -- the jets might be erupting from near-surface pockets of liquid water above 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit), like cold versions of the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone. Read More
23 January 2005 Last week, the European Space Agency's's Huygens probe made an historic first ever descent to the surface of Titan, the largest of Saturn's moons, some1.2 billion kilometres from Earth. Data coming from the probe shows the physical processes shaping Titan are much the same as those shaping Earth - precipitation, erosion, mechanical abrasion and other fluvial activity. The images being processed and interpreted by scientists around the world from the Huygens data are astounding. The rivers in this image are not water - they are METHANE! If you fancy a quick trip to Titan, check out these videos. Read More
3 January 2005 Global cooperation will see yet another frontier breached in the next week as the European Space Agency's Huygens probe makes its descent towards the surface of Saturn's largest and most mysterious moon, Titan. The European Space Agency's Huygens probe was successfully released by NASA's Cassini orbiter on Christmas Day and is now on a controlled collision course toward Titan, where on 14 January it will make a descent through one of the most intriguing atmospheres in the solar system to an unknown surface. This will be the first man-made object to explore in-situ this unique environment, whose chemistry is assumed to be very similar to that of the early Earth just before life began, 3.8 billion years ago. Read More
