The surface of Venus moves like ice floating on an oceanResearchers used decades-old radar data and found that some low-lying areas of Venus' crust are moving and jostling. This evidence is some of the strongest yet of tectonic activity on Venus.
New research suggests that Venus’ crust is broken into large blocks – the dark reddish–purple areas – that are surrounded by belts of tectonic structures shown in lighter yellow–red.
Life’s prospects on PlutoWho would have thought this dwarf planet could nurture life? The idea seemed ludicrous before New Horizons explored the world.
The smooth nitrogen-ice plains of Sputnik Planitia offer a key clue to the possible presence of a subsurface ocean on Pluto. Because it lies in a spot diametrically opposite to the location of the dwarf planet’s large moon, Charon, scientists think it may represent a mass excess reflecting a watery sea beneath it.
Uranus and Neptune are called ice giants because they are smaller and compositionally different from Jupiter and Saturn, the gas giants. Jupiter and Saturn are composed of mostly hydrogen and helium, with large mantles of metallic hydrogen (which acts like a metal, due to the pressure and temperature within these planets) and only small cores of rock and ice. This is why they are called gas giants: They are mostly gaseous, with very little rock and ice.
Uranus (left) and Neptune are classified as ice giant planets because their rocky, icy cores are proportionally larger than the amount of gas they contain. The gas giants — Jupiter and Saturn — contain far more gas than rock or ice.NASA/ JPL-Caltech; NASA
A espaçonave chinesa de carga Tianzhou-3 foi lançada em 20 de setembro de 2021, transportando equipamento especial para a nova Estação Espacial Chinesa (CSS).O foguete Long March-7 transportando a espaçonave de carga Tianzhou-3 foi lançado às 7h10 GMT do Local de Lançamento Espacial de Wenchang em Hainan, informou a mídia estatal chinesa. Após cerca de sete horas de voo, a espaçonave de carga Tianzhou-3 atracou com o novo módulo principal Tianhe da CSS.
But as indicated by the many mountains on Mars, which includes the tallest in the Solar System (Olympus Mons), the planet was once a hotbed of volcanic activity. And according to a recent NASA-supported study, there is evidence that thousands of “super-eruptions” happened in the Arabia Terra region in northern Mars 4 billion years ago. These eruptions occurred over the course of 500-million years and had a drastic effect on the Martian climate.
This image taken by the Hi-RISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows several basins in Arabia Terra. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
A SpaceX Dragon cargo resupply spacecraft filled with more than 4,600 pounds of supplies and valuable scientific experiments bound for NASA’s Space Station Processing Facility is set to leave the International Space Station Thursday, Sept. 30. NASA Television, the agency’s website, and the NASA app will broadcast the spacecraft’s departure live, beginning at 8:45 a.m. EDT.
The SpaceX Cargo Dragon vehicle approaches the International Space Station for an autonomous docking to the Harmony module’s forward international docking adapter. Credits: NASA
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — A Soyuz spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station Oct. 5 carrying a cosmonaut as well as an actress and director who will film scenes for a Russian movie.A Soyuz-2 rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 4:55 a.m. Eastern and placed the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft into orbit. The Soyuz docked with the Rassvet module of the ISS at 8:22 a.m. Eastern after a two-orbit approach. The spacecraft’s commander, Anton Shkaplerov, had to perform a manual docking after a problem with the automated Kurs docking system.
Actress Yulia Peresild (left) and director Klim Shipenko (right) joined Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov on the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft that flew to the ISS Oct. 5. Credit: Roscosmos
