What would New Horizons be able to achieve if it had been built today rather than 20 years ago?
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/NASA
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is nearly two decades old. Is that a problem?
New Horizons’ look at Pluto’s Charon-facing hemisphere reveals intriguing geologic details that are of keen interest to mission scientists. This image was taken on July 11, 2015, when the spacecraft was 4 million km from Pluto.
NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI
The New Horizons spacecraft is only hours away from its closest approach to Pluto. It’s hoped the brief encounter will help answer many questions about the oddball member of our solar system.
Artist’s impression Pluto and it’s largest satellite Charon. Is this how the dwarf planet will look as New Horizons swings past?
ESO/L. Calçada
Astronomers from around the world identify their favourite images sent back to Earth by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Artist’s impression of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft encountering Pluto and its largest moon, Charon.
NASA/Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
Who gets to name the craters and features on our planets was once an ad hoc affair. But now the public can have a say with just days left to vote.
Two views of Ceres acquired by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft ten hours apart on Feb. 12, 2015, from a distance of about 52,000 miles as the dwarf planet rotated.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
With increasing knowledge and familiarity, we’ll no longer be able to identify meaningful criteria to keep these good planets down.
Artist’s concept of the New Horizons spacecraft encountering Pluto and its largest moon, Charon (foreground) in July 2015.
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute (JHUAPL/SwRI)
2015 is already shaping up to be a big year in astronomy and planetary exploration, with the best yet to come. Here are some highlights to keep your eye on throughout the year. Opportunity January 25 marked…
Like many a scientist before me, I have spent this week trying to grow a crystal. I wasn’t fussy, it didn’t have to be a single crystal – a smush of something would have done – just as long as it had a…
There is no doubt that 2014 was a fantastic year for planetary sciences – the high points were the successful landing of Philae on comet 67P, the discovery of methane by the Curiosity rover on Mars and…
Not yet, but soon … we’re getting closer to sending people to Mars.
Samantha T./Flickr
It was an exciting year in space exploration, with mind-blowing triumphs and heart-breaking failures. On Earth, new rockets and spacecraft were tested by space agencies and commercial ventures. SpaceX…
Artist’s impression of New Horizons as it swings past the dwarf planet Pluto, in July 2015.
NASA
While the Mars Rovers and the Rosetta spacecraft will continue to make headlines in 2015, the stage is set for the solar system’s next great mission – the Pluto-bound New Horizons. Discovered in 1930…
Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex has played a major role in exploring space.
CSIRO/NASA
Who can forget the hit movie The Dish and Australia’s role in beaming the first live television pictures of man’s first landing on the moon? Well, the filmmakers did play with the truth a bit but it did…
What surprises are beyond the horizon for NASA’s spacecraft during its planned encounter with Pluto and its moon, Charon?
NASA
Last week, scientists using one of the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Cameras announced the discovery of a small moon orbiting the dwarf planet Pluto - the fifth satellite discovered in orbit around…