Encountering Neptune in 1989, NASA’s Voyager mission completed humankind’s first close-up exploration of the four giant outer planets of our solar system. Collectively, since their launch in 1977, the twin […]
Voyager 2
Posted inAriel, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Miranda, Oberon, Press Release, Titania, Umbriel, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Uranus’ Swaying Moons Will Help Spacecraft Seek Out Hidden Oceans
When NASA’s Voyager 2 flew by Uranus in 1986, it captured grainy photographs of large ice-covered moons. Now nearly 40 years later, NASA plans to send another spacecraft to Uranus, […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Neptune, Press Release, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
A Clue To What Lies Beneath The Bland Surfaces Of Uranus And Neptune
Diamond rain? Super-ionic water? These are just two proposals that planetary scientists have come up with for what lies beneath the thick, bluish, hydrogen-and-helium atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune, our […]
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Uranus
Mining Old Data From NASA’s Voyager 2 Solves Several Uranus Mysteries
NASA’s Voyager 2 flyby of Uranus decades ago shaped scientists’ understanding of the planet but also introduced unexplained oddities. A recent data dive has offered answers.
Posted inAstrogeology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Neptune, Status Report, Triton, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Enhanced Voyager 2 Approach Image Sequence Of Icy Ocean World Triton
Original Caption Released with Image: Triton Voyager 2 approach sequence with latitude-longitude grid superposed. The color image was reconstructed by making a computer composite of three black and white images […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Miranda, Press Release, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Uranus’ Moon Miranda May Have An Ocean Beneath Its Surface
A new study suggests Uranus’ moon Miranda may harbor a water ocean beneath its surface, a finding that would challenge many assumptions about the moon’s history and composition and could […]
Posted inAstrobiology (general), Interstellar, SETI & Technosignatures
Centenarian Jimmy Carter’s Interstellar Message
Editor’s note: Happy 100th birthday President Jimmy Carter. Many younger people are unaware of the fact that you wrote a letter that is on board both Voyager spacecraft now traversing […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Interstellar, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Radiation
Voyager 2 Interstellar Probe Science Instrument Turned Off To Save Power
The Voyager 2 mission has been working to postpone the shut-off as long as possible. Four other instruments aboard the interstellar spacecraft continue to operate.
Posted inAstrobiology (general), Education and Outreach, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Societal Issues, Status Report
Astrobiology-Themed Imagery On Perseverance Mars Rover’s Mastcam-Z Calibration Target
The primary calibration target for Mastcam-Z, a pair of zoomable cameras aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, features color swatches used by scientists to fine-tune the cameras’ settings.
Posted inAriel, Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Webb Observes Carbon Oxides On Uranus’ Moon Ariel That Hint At A Hidden Ocean
The surface of Uranus’ moon Ariel is coated with a significant amount of carbon dioxide ice, especially on its “trailing hemisphere” that always faces away from the moon’s direction of […]