Riding with Robots

Image: Ringshine

Wed, 7 March 2007 02:00:02 -0600

The sweep of Saturn’s backlit rings, as seen in a view captured yesterday. The ringshine gently illuminates the planet’s night side. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Blueberries

Mon, 5 March 2007 02:00:02 -0600

A microscopic view of the tiny hematite stones on the surface of Mars dubbed "blueberries." The area shown is roughly three centimeters square. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/USGS)

Image: Landslide in the Labyrinth of Night

Tue, 27 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

A meteorite blasted out a crater four miles wide, right on the edge of a canyon in the Noctis Labyrinthus system, the labyrinth of night. This false-color image combines frames taken in daylight at visible wavelengths with shots taken at night in infrared. Warmer, hard rock is red, while cooler dust and sand are green and blue. The impact might have triggered the massive landslide that flowed all the way to the other side of the canyon. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

New Podcast

Mon, 26 February 2007 13:00:02 -0600

News and pictures from the Rosetta encounter at Mars

Image: Buzzing by Barsoom 2

Sun, 25 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

The comet lander aboard Rosetta took this amazing image of its parent ship’s solar panels as it swooped over Mars. This was taken just four minutes before closest approach to the planet, about 1000 kilometers above the surface. The area visible is near the Syrtis region. (Credit: ESA/CIVA)

Image: Buzzing by Barsoom

Sat, 24 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Mars, as seen today by the Rosetta probe, which passed by for a gravitational navigation assist on its way to a distant encounter with a comet. The greenish areas at the edges of the disc are clouds above the red surface of the planet. Next up for the robotic explorer is another swing by Earth in November before heading directly for the comet. (Credit: ESA/MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA)

Image: Spectral Desert

Fri, 23 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

The Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, took these shots of a dune field in the Nili Patera region. The image on the right was constructed from three visible wavelengths, but has been color-stretched to bring out subtle contrasts. On the left is a spectral map constructed using three infrared wavelengths that highlight the composition of surface. Areas with high concentrations of iron- and magnesium-rich igneous minerals appear red. (Credit: NASA/JPL/JHUAPL/USGS)

Image: Rings and Rings

Thu, 22 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Bands of clouds ring the storm at Saturn’s south pole. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: The Pit Craters of Tractus Catena

Wed, 21 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Tractus Catena is part of the Tharsis volcanic region on Mars. This image was taken in the late afternoon (Tharsis time) on February 1. It shows craters that formed not from meteorite impacts, but from the collapse of empty spaces underground. Those caverns could have resulted from tectonic faults, or from voids left after magma drained away. (Credit: NASA/JPL/UA)

Image: A Thorough Inspection

Tue, 20 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Opportunity continues its very deliberate and thorough circumnavigation of Victoria Crater. Each day it takes a series of pictures of the crater, the surrounding soil, and the sky through a variety of different filters. It’s also working on analyzing the chemistry of the soil, taking stereoscopic views to gauge the exact geometry of the crater walls, examining the rocks from a distance with the thermal emission spectrometer, and watching for clouds in the sky. When this phase is finally over, Mars explorers are still planning to drive the rover down into the crater. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Tapestry

Mon, 19 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Saturn’s translucent rings cross the image vertically in the foreground, casting their shadows on the planet’s curving horizon in the background. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Hyperion

Sat, 17 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Saturn’s moon Hyperion was partly blown away by impacts. It rotates irregularly, and has a sponge-like structure. Much of its interior is empty space. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Underground Flows

Fri, 16 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter team announced that high-resolution photos from the robotic spacecraft have turned up evidence in several places for the ancient underground flow of fluid, possibly including water. This shot shows fractures within the layered deposits of Meridiani Planum, about 375 kilometers northeast of the rover Opportunity's location. The scene includes many signs of ancient fluid flow in the form of bleached and cemented features, called halos, along the cracks. A similar kind of crack exists in the floor of Victoria Crater, so Opportunity may get a chance to check it out (Credit: NASA/JPL/UA)

Image: The Yin and Yang of Iapetus

Thu, 15 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Giovanni Cassini discovered Iapetus in 1671, but more than three centuries later--even with his robotic namesake patrolling the Saturn system up close--it’s still a mysterious world. The moon’s leading edge is covered with a very dark, uniform material, while the trailing side is bright. Some signs point to the explanation that Iapetus is sweeping up the dark stuff from space as it cruises through its orbit, while other evidence hints that the material may have come from inside. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Closing In

Wed, 14 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

The New Horizons spacecraft is now just a couple of weeks from its closest approach to Jupiter. The probe is now well within the Jupiter system, and close enough return images sharper than those possible from the Hubble Space Telescope. (Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)

Image: Trails into Chaos

Tue, 13 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

The European Space Agency has released new topographic 'hiking maps' of Martian canyons. The maps provide detailed height contours of the complex geological features in the Iani Chaos region, which in the past was the site of ice melted by volcanic heat. These days, if you want to hike the labyrinth of canyons and cliffs in Iani, you'll have to bring your own water. See the full map. (Credit: ESA/TU Berlin)

Image: Shower of Stars

Mon, 12 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

This long exposure captures the faint glow from one of Saturn’s outer rings (the horizontal line in the bottom third of the image) as well as stars blurred by the spacecraft’s motion. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Return of the Dust Devils

Sat, 10 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

This is the season for swirling dust devils in Gusev Crater, and yesterday Spirit caught sight of the first one. You can see it in the distance, near the horizon on the right side of this image. Now the rover’s handlers just hope that one of the mini-twisters passes over Spirit’s dusty solar panels to clean them, as has happened in the past. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Slippery Slopes

Fri, 9 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

These slope streaks in Acheron Fossae are thought to result from dust that slides downhill like snow avalanches, exposing darker material underneath. This is an entirely dry process, but it’s possible some of the gullies in the crater pictured at the right resulted from groundwater seepage. (Credit: NASA/JPL/UA)

Image: Ringside

Thu, 8 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

If you step outside this month and look at the Eastern sky just after dark, you can see Saturn rising in the constellation Leo. It appears as a bright, pale yellow star. Saturn is at a point in its orbit relative to the Earth called opposition, which makes this a perfect time to see it in a telescope. But I have to warn you, no matter how good your scope is, you won’t get this kind of view. This natural-color image is a composite of several pictures sent this week by Cassini from orbit around the ringed planet.(Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI/Ian Regan)

Image: Secrets in the Soil

Wed, 7 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

This is a close-up inside an unnamed crater in the northern latitudes of Mars. Sand dunes can be seen at the bottom of the image, but the pudding-like texture of the ground toward the top of the picture means that the soil there could be infused with ‘volatiles’ - perhaps ice or water. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

Image: Weather Map

Tue, 6 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

The New Horizons probe, on its way to Pluto and points beyond, is now speeding towards a fly-by of Jupiter later this month. This map of the giant planet’s clouds and storms was built using a composite of images taken over the course of a full Jovian day by the New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI). Just for a sense of scale: three Earths could fit within the large oval storm at the center right of this image. (Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)

New Podcast

Mon, 5 February 2007 13:00:02 -0600

Dr. Sue Smrekar, deputy mission scientist for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, is the guest.

Image: In a Different Light

Mon, 5 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Saturn reveals itself in different ways depending on which camera filter Cassini uses. In this sequence of three images, the first frame was taken in blue light, the second in infrared, and the third using a filter sensitive to light reflected by methane. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Written in Stone

Sat, 3 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Opportunity gets a close view of the edge of Victoria Crater. The layers in the cliff record the story of the massive impact that blasted out the crater, as well as the history that preceded it. When Opportunity ventured into other nearby craters, it found evidence that this stark desert was sometimes wet, and the layers exposed here suggest a still more ancient desert covered in dunes. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: The Cloud

Fri, 2 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

When this cloud covering Titan’s north pole emerged from the winter shadows, Saturn explorers realized it spans nearly 1,500 miles (about 2,400 kilometers). The enormous cloud might be the source of the liquid that fills the recently-revealed lakes of methane, reinforcing the idea that Titan hosts a complete cycle of methane clouds, rain and evaporation. (Credit: NASA/JPL/UA)

Image: Polar Angle

Thu, 1 February 2007 02:00:02 -0600

A view taken this week of Saturn’s southern hemisphere, including some very distinct banding in the clouds, and a glimpse of the massive storm at the south pole. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Fresh Impact

Wed, 31 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

This impact crater near the giant volcano Olympus Mons is called Tooting, after a London suburb. It's about 29 kilometers, or 18 miles, across and is younger than most craters found on Mars. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

Image: Tethys

Tue, 30 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Saturn’s moon Tethys is made almost entirely of water ice. It’s scarred with a 400-kilometer-wide impact crater named Odysseus. Cassini was more than a million kilometers away from Tethys when it took this shot. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Red Jewel

Mon, 29 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Mars and the Milky Way, as seen by the Rosetta probe, on its way to a distant encounter with a comet. Rosetta will swing by Mars in February. (Credit: ESA/MPS/UPD)

Image: Spectacle in Deep Space

Sat, 27 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Saturn in all its glory. Ian Regan built this natural color picture by carefully and painstakingly combining several black and white images from the Cassini raw images feed provided by NASA. Many of Saturn’s compelling features can be seen here, including the tenuous, twisting F-ring, storms near the north pole, ring spokes, ring shadows in the northern hemisphere, reflected ring light on the night side. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI/Ian Regan)

Image: On Approach

Thu, 25 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Jupiter looms larger each day in New Horizon’s cameras as the spacecraft closes in at 43,000 miles per hour. Closest approach will take place on February 28. (Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)

Image: The Streak

Wed, 24 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Winds painted these patterns on the ancient lava flows northwest of the volcano Ascraeus Mons. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

Image: Clouds and Rings

Tue, 23 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

A fairly unusual image, one that simultaneously reveals raging storms in Saturn’s cloud tops and the quiet arc of rings. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Scenic Drive

Mon, 22 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Opportunity continues its patrol at the edge of Victoria Crater. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Sister Moons

Sat, 20 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

A collage of three images taken this week, showing three members of the Saturn family (from smallest to largest): Enceladus, Rhea, and Titan. The moons are not shown exactly to scale, but Titan is in fact by far the largest moon, and Enceladus one of the smaller ones. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Rendezvous with a Giant

Fri, 19 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

The New Horizons probe, on its way to Pluto and beyond, is speeding towards an encounter with Jupiter next month. The robotic craft will use the massive planet’s gravity to boost its speed, and will do some interesting science while it’s there. Already explorers have been surprised by the early data and pictures that are coming in. This is the first close-up visit to Jupiter since Cassini passed this way in 2001. (Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)

Pluto Probe Begins Jupiter Pass

Thu, 18 January 2007 13:00:02 -0600

The New Horizons Pluto mission has begun its swing by Jupiter, and is already returning interesting data and pictures.

Image: Seeing Shangri-La

Thu, 18 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

For me, this incomplete chart of Titan’s hidden surface conveys at a glance one of the most powerful lures of planetary exploration: even in the 21st century, there are still maps with blank spaces. Each time the Cassini probe makes another fly-by of this shrouded world, we get an additional glimpse of the exotic and puzzling new landscape. Over the course of the next few months, many of the fuzzy areas on this map will come into focus. In the coming years similar expeditions, already underway, will arrive at their destinations and chart the surfaces of Mercury and Pluto. This is the most basic kind of exploration--what lies over the next hill? What will be found on the far shore? (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Cydonia

Wed, 17 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Ever since Viking images of the Cydonia area were published in the 1970s, the thousand-foot (300 meter) mesa at the upper left has been known as “the face.” But in tighter views, like this recent shot from the Mars Odyssey Orbiter, it’s much easier to see the formation for what it is. A deeper reason for fascination with the Cydonia region is the evidence for ice hiding just below the surface. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

Image: Twisting within Swirling within Spinning

Tue, 16 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

The view from Saturn on Sunday. A number of massive storms can be seen swirling around the pole. This image was taken from about 900,000 KM away, using camera filters especially sensitive to infrared light and light reflected by methane. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

New Podcast

Fri, 12 January 2007 01:00:02 -0600

Watch the latest podcast, a conversation with Dr. Ed Stone, chief Voyager scientist and former director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Image: Ada in 3D

Thu, 11 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

To the southeast of Opportunity’s location on the Meridiani plains is this fresh impact crater called Ada. It has odd characteristics, such as the double rim and erosion features normally associated with much older craters. This stereo anaglyph displays the crater in 3D if you use red/blue glasses. When viewed in 3D, this image makes the crater look deeper than it really is, because Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter scientists take stereo images with wider separation angles than that of your eyes in order to bring out additional details. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: RAT Hole on Mars

Wed, 10 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Spirit’s Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) made this circular mark in the Martian soil yesterday as it used the tool to brush aside surface dust and let researchers peek underneath. The RAT used to be able to drill right into rocks, but its dull blades are victims of the unexpectedly long time the rover has been working on Mars (it’s now entering the fourth year of its three-month mission). Another problem is a bad wheel that has to be dragged through the dirt. The rover handlers are always coming up with new ways to keep the hardy robots rolling, though. Watch the latest podcast to find out more. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Slice the Sky

Tue, 9 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Saturn’s shadow cuts across the countless icy particles spinning in the F-ring. The long exposure also reveals a blur of stars. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

New Podcast

Tue, 9 January 2007 01:00:02 -0600

The latest edition of the Riding with Robots podcast is now live.

Image: Close Up

Mon, 8 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

A microscopic view, taken by Opportunity, of stones on the surface of Mars, including the little spheres of hematite sometimes called “blueberries.” (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Resolution

Sun, 7 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

When he first glimpsed the rings through his tiny, simple telescope in the 1600s, Galileo didn’t understand what he was seeing. He described the blurry objects protruding from the sides of the planet as “handles” and “ears.” What would he have thought of images as clear as this one? (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Heading for Home

Sat, 6 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Spirit heads back toward the enigmatic geologic feature “Home Plate,” passing its own tracks as it doubles back. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Ring Shadows

Fri, 5 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Sunlight filters through the immense ring system on Tuesday, casting translucent shadows across the cloud tops of Saturn. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Titan Lakes

Thu, 4 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

This radar image depicts the surface of Saturn’s giant moon Titan. It has been colorized to highlight the areas thought to be lakes of liquid methane. Recent observations like this one provide the best evidence yet that this deeply cold world has a complete ‘hydrologic’ cycle: clouds, rain, rivers, lakes and so on--only with methane in the place of water. (Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS)

Image: Tethys

Wed, 3 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Even from a distance of nearly half a million kilometers, Cassini spotted details on the surface of Saturn's icy moon Tethys. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Ranks of Rings

Tue, 2 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Saturn’s rings: ranks of ice and rock, marshaled by gravity and mathematics. The rings are thousands of miles across, but less than one thick. Cassini captured this view on New Year’s Eve, then sent it to Earth the next day. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: On the Edge of a New Year

Mon, 1 January 2007 02:00:02 -0600

Untold discoveries await Opportunity, now on the cusp of new adventures inside Victoria Crater. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Zoom

Sat, 30 December 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Zooming in on a cliff in Sinus Meridiani at 3:30 in the afternoon, Mars time. The tightest view in this series of four images resolves objects as small as about 81 centimeters across. (Credit: NASA/JPL/UA)

Image: The Colors of Titan

Fri, 29 December 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Cassini took pictures of Titan on Christmas Day as the probe rushed toward a close encounter with the giant moon on Thursday. Explorers will be analyzing data from this latest pass to search for evidence of a possible underground ocean. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Layer Cake Crater

Thu, 28 December 2006 02:00:02 -0600

A fresh crater in the north polar ice cap reveals what's inside the ice. You can also see the full-size image. (Credit: NASA/JPL/UA)

New Podcast Available

Wed, 27 December 2006 04:00:02 -0600

The latest Riding with Robots podcast, a special video edition, is now online.

Image: Rays at Night

Wed, 27 December 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Gratteri Crater, as seen in the pre-dawn hours in infrared light. After nightfall, hard rocks retain more heat than fine sand. In this image, the brighter areas are warmer exposed rock, and the dark rays are the fine-grained material that was blasted out when the crater formed. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

Image: Twisted

Tue, 26 December 2006 02:00:02 -0600

While most of Saturn's rings look smooth (at least from a distance) the F-ring is twisted and tied up in knots by its shepherd moons. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Colors in the Cliff-Side

Sat, 23 December 2006 02:00:02 -0600

A mosaic showing a color-enhanced view of “Cape Verde” inside Victoria Crater. In the time since the impact that made the crater, the walls have eroded outward, exposing these layers. Above the bright line near the middle of the wall are rocks that were jumbled by the impact, and below are layers left intact. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Shepherd in the Ice

Fri, 22 December 2006 02:00:02 -0600

The tiny moon Pan perturbs icy particles as it passes, clearing the Encke Gap in Saturn's rings. If you look carefully (or turn up your monitor’s brightness) you can see the dark side of the moonlet. Before Cassini arrived at the planet, the best pictures of Pan came from the Voyager probes, and revealed nothing more than a blur so slight that the moon wasn’t even noticed until nine years later. The donut-shaped object on the right side of the image is a camera flaw. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Extreme Close-Up

Thu, 21 December 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Just how close a view of Mars would you like? In this series of four images, Spirit closes in on its most recent target, then breaks out its microscopic imager for a closer look. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Rain in the Martian Mojave?

Wed, 20 December 2006 02:00:02 -0600

This view of Mojave Crater on Mars bears a remarkable similarity to areas in the Mojave Desert on Earth. Both landscapes may have been shaped by the same forces: flash floods that came after heavy rains. In the case of Mars, though, the temporary precipitation probably resulted from a large meteor impact. (Credit: NASA/JPL/UA)

Image: Rings and Rays

Tue, 19 December 2006 02:00:02 -0600

The sunlight at Saturn is only 1/90th as intense as it is at the Earth, but Saturn scatters what light it receives in beautiful ways. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Night and Day on Dione

Mon, 18 December 2006 02:00:02 -0600

A tectonic feature can be seen running nearly in parallel to Dione’s terminator, the boundary between the day-lit side and the night side of this large Saturnian moon. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: On the March

Sun, 17 December 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Sand dunes are slowly moving up the walls of Inuvik Crater and out onto the northern plains of Mars. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

New Podcast Available

Sat, 16 December 2006 23:00:02 -0600

The latest edition of the Riding with Robots podcast is now online.

Image: Curves and Bands

Sat, 16 December 2006 02:00:02 -0600

The rings usually get the spotlight, but Saturn itself is sometimes pretty interesting, as in this view of the cloudtops taken on Wednesday. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Making Tracks

Fri, 15 December 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Opportunity looks at its own prints on the plains of Mars yesterday as it continues its circumnavigation of the crater. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Ice Cliffs

Thu, 14 December 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Layers of ice mixed with dust, exposed in a canyon called Chasma Boreale, which cuts into the north polar cap of Mars. Scrolling through the full-size version of this false-color image feels like climbing across an alien landscape. (Credit: NASA/JPL/UA)

Image: What Lies Beneath

Wed, 13 December 2006 02:00:02 -0600

On the left is Titan as seen on Sunday by Cassini as the ship raced towards a close fly-by on Tuesday. In natural light, the planet-sized moon is enshrouded in a thick, orange haze (seen here in black-and-white). On the right is the surface of Titan as seen by cloud-penetrating instruments aboard Cassini during two previous passes that took place in October. Bit by bit, this world is giving up its secrets. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI/UA)

News: Sneak Preview of New Widget

Wed, 13 December 2006 01:00:02 -0600

You can now beta test a new-and-improved version of the Riding with Robots widget, which automatically downloads the latest images from the site to your desktop.

Image: The Grandest Canyon

Tue, 12 December 2006 01:00:02 -0600

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took this picture one day last month at 3:30 in the afternoon (Mars time). It reveals in great detail the walls of Candor Chasma, which is part of Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the solar system. Mars explorers are still debating how the light layers formed, but a future look with different instruments on board MRO will help settle the issue. The full-size image, reduced here, offers a resolution of 25 centimeters per pixel. (Credit: NASA/JPL/UA)

Image: Black and White

Mon, 11 December 2006 01:00:02 -0600

Saturn’s strange moon Iapetus speeds through space, its leading face covered with an as-yet-unexplained dark material, its trailing side shining brightly in the sun. The dark side may be the result of the moon sweeping up material ejected by, or blasted off, other bodies - or the coloration might come from its own eruptions. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Dust in the Wind

Sun, 10 December 2006 01:00:02 -0600

The Mars Odyssey orbiter spied these patterns of wind streaks on the plains near the north polar cap of Mars. The full image has a resolution of 20 meters per pixel. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

Image: Lonely Planet

Sat, 9 December 2006 10:00:02 -0600

Opportunity turns away from Victoria Crater and looks back over the Meridiani Plains. The rover’s work is helping to determine if this desert was once a shallow sea. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: High Clouds

Fri, 8 December 2006 10:00:02 -0600

With the sun at a low angle, you can really see the texture in Saturn's swirling cloud banks. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Thwack!

Thu, 7 December 2006 10:00:02 -0600

This is one of 20 very fresh impact craters discovered by the late, great Mars Global Surveyor orbiter. The black-and-white image has been enhanced to approximate natural colors. This meteor struck the upper north flank of the Martian volcano Ulysses Patera sometime between 2002 and March of this year. The sheer number of new craters observed by MGS caught Mars explorers by surprise. (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

Image: Liquid Water Flow on Mars

Wed, 6 December 2006 10:00:02 -0600

Mars explorers believe the white streak in the lower right of this image, which shows the interior of a crater in the Centauri Montes region, was caused by liquid water that briefly burst out from underground--not millions of years ago as in many other places on the Red Planet--but sometime during the past seven years. If confirmed, the implications of this discovery are profound, and a little baffling. Where does the liquid water come from, and how does it stay in liquid form? If it was ice before, what melted it? How much water is there? And, of course--could it sustain some kind of life? (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

News: Liquid Water Discovered on Mars

Wed, 6 December 2006 09:00:02 -0600

Today NASA announced they have evidence of water flowing near and at the surface of Mars during the past few years. See more details about this remarkable discovery.

Image: The View Out the Window

Wed, 6 December 2006 08:00:02 -0600

A massive storm swirls in the upper reaches of Saturn's atmosphere. JPL calls this scene reminiscent of the view out the window of an Earth-orbiting spaceship. It’s a reminder that as strange as these sights from the space robots are, they’re just as real as the room you’re in right now, and if you could ride along with Cassini, this is what you’d really see. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Victoria in 3D

Tue, 5 December 2006 08:00:02 -0600

You can use red-blue 3D glasses to see the depth in this Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of Victoria Crater. And check out MRO’s new images of Spirit and the Viking landers on the ground. (Credit: NASA/JPL/UA)

Image: Saturn Skies

Mon, 4 December 2006 08:00:02 -0600

The bands in Saturn's atmosphere reveal winds blowing in different directions, some at speeds in excess of 1,000 mph. Saturn is made mostly of hydrogen, with some helium, methane, ice and rock - much like the primordial cloud from which the whole solar system formed. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Intricate Shadows

Sun, 3 December 2006 08:00:02 -0600

The rings cast delicate shadows across Saturn’s turbulent cloud tops. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Get Busy

Sat, 2 December 2006 08:00:02 -0600

After a long period of scant movement during a winter of too little light, Spirit gets to work in the early spring sunshine at Gusev Crater. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Ring World

Fri, 1 December 2006 08:00:02 -0600

The sweep of Saturn's rings as seen from above. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Proof of Aliens on Mars

Thu, 30 November 2006 08:00:02 -0600

On Mars, we ARE the aliens. This is a high-resolution shot from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter showing Opportunity's lander in Eagle Crater, where the rover left it nearly three Earth years ago. (Credit: NASA/JPL/UA)

News: MRO Images Start to Flow

Thu, 30 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

The HiRISE team has begun releasing a flood of Mars images.

Image: Making Waves

Wed, 29 November 2006 08:00:02 -0600

Saturn's moonlet Daphnis, just four miles across, makes ripples in the ring particles as it patrols the Keeler gap. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Mystery on Ice

Tue, 28 November 2006 08:00:02 -0600

An extreme close-up of layers of ice and dust near the north pole of Mars. The full image has a resolution of 25 centimeters per pixel. (Credit: NASA/JPL/UA)

Image: Another Look at the Beast

Mon, 27 November 2006 08:00:02 -0600

Viewing the mammoth maelstrom at Saturn's south pole at different wavelengths of light allows different cloud layers to manifest themselves. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

New Podcast

Mon, 27 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

A new edition of the Riding with Robots podcast is now online: Driving to the Brink.

Image: Watch Your Step

Sat, 25 November 2006 08:00:02 -0600

An even closer look at the cliffs of Victoria Crater. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: The Face of Mimas

Fri, 24 November 2006 08:00:02 -0600

The face of Saturn's battered moon Mimas tells a tale about eons of impacts. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Monument Valley, Mars

Thu, 23 November 2006 08:00:02 -0600

This incredibly detailed Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shot features layers in the floor of Becquerel Crater. The landscape is very reminiscent of the red rock country of Utah and Arizona. The full image, available here, reveals features mere centimeters across. If someone were standing in this picture, you would see them and their shadow. (Credit: NASA/JPL/UA)

New Podcast

Wed, 22 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

A new edition of the Riding with Robots podcast is now online: Requiem for a Robot.

Image: The Beauty is in the Details

Tue, 21 November 2006 08:00:02 -0600

At close range, fine details reveal themselves within the concentric orbits of ice in Saturn's rings. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

News: Mars Global Surveyor Mission Ends?

Tue, 21 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

After an amazing decade at the Red Planet, the Mars Global Surveyor has probably been lost.

Image: Riding the Edge

Mon, 20 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Opportunity edges up to the rim of Victoria Crater as the rover continues its survey and looks for a safe way in. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

New Podcast

Sun, 19 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

The new Riding with Robots podcast is now online.

Image: Venus Cloud Waves

Fri, 17 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

The south polar vortex of Venus is at the upper left, and at the lower right are wave structures about 150 kilometers long. (Credit: ESA/VIRTIS/INAF-IASF/Obs. de Paris-LESIA)

Image: Accidental Art

Thu, 16 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Sometimes even the "throw-away" images among the raw downlinks from the space probes are intriguing in their own way. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: On the Move

Wed, 15 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

As the Martian winter wanes, Spirit can finally eke enough power out of its dusty solar panels to be on the move again for the first time in months. The first drive was just a few inches, but it's a start. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Clues in the Colors

Tue, 14 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Mars explorers believe water cut some of the channels in this part of Arabia Terra. Each of the colors in this false-color image represents a different kind of rock. The geologic history of Mars is just as long and complex as the Earth's, and scientists are just beginning to understand it. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

Image: Stripes

Mon, 13 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

In this view, Saturn's disc is striped with clouds at the top and ring shadows around the middle. Cassini is now in its 33rd orbit around Saturn, which will last about 12 days. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: New Angle

Sun, 12 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Opportunity is catching new views of Victoria Crater as it begins to circumnavigate the rim of the deep crater. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: The Eye

Fri, 10 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

The winds in this monster storm at the south pole of Saturn tear around the center at 350 miles per her. The maelstrom spans 5,000 miles. Saturn explorers point out that such a well-defined, hurricane-like storm has never been seen before outside of Earth. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Blue Heat

Fri, 10 November 2006 05:00:02 -0600

The nighttime clouds of Venus, imaged in infrared light and then rendered in blue tones that belie this world's searing temperatures. 9 November marks a year since Venus Express was launched. (Credit: ESA/VIRTIS/INAF-IASF/Obs. de Paris-LESIA)

Image: Night Falls on the Rings

Thu, 9 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Saturn's shadow falls across the rings. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Polar Clouds

Wed, 8 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

The Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft was launched 10 years ago this week, and the mission was only slated to run until 2000. Images like this one show how much knowledge the extra time has yielded. It shows clouds over the north pole that formed just at the time predicted based on the past four Martian years of observations. (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

Image: Dunes

Tue, 7 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

This contrast-enhanced view of Victoria Crater reveals the beauty of the dunes at its center, as well what appear to be small craters-within-a-crater. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Strange Horizon

Mon, 6 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

In this view, sighted over the weekend, Saturn and the rings form a curved, double horizon. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Splat!

Sun, 5 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

This Martian impact crater shows radiating streaks and signs of subsurface ice melted when the meteor slammed into the ground. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

Image: Saturn-Shine!

Fri, 3 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

The planet's brilliance overwhelms Cassini's cameras. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Wall of Time

Thu, 2 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Mars explorers will be kept busy for some time digging into the treasure trove of Martian history hidden within the walls of Victoria Crater. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Stormy Weather

Wed, 1 November 2006 06:00:02 -0600

A view taken this week of clouds roiling and spinning at the top of Saturn's atmosphere. It's a reminder that even without the rings, this planet is a weird and wonderful world. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI

Image: Ancient Fire

Tue, 31 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

The summit caldera of a volcano called Syrtis Major. The ridges rise thousands of feet above the floor of the basin. The volcano is not tall, but it's 800 miles wide, and visible even using backyard telescopes. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

Image: Minding the Gap

Mon, 30 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Saturn's moonlet Pan, just 20 KM across, on patrol in the Encke gap on Friday. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Ringside

Sun, 29 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

The rings--legions of ice crystals ranked and marshaled by momentum and gravity--measure thousands of miles wide but only about one mile thick. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: "McMurdo" Panorama Released

Thu, 26 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

A small section of the giant "McMurdo" panorama of the Columbia Hills that Spirit has been working on for the past several months. NASA released the spectacular image in honor of the rover's 1,000th Martian day on the planet. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Moon Buzzing

Wed, 25 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Yesterday Cassini made another close run above the cloudtops of Titan. On this pass, it was specifically looking for more evidence about what the enigmatic surface is made of. The findings should be available in the next couple of days. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: The Gap

Tue, 24 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Opportunity sent this image from the surface of Mars today. No, that's not an alien artifact; it's a gap in the data, caused by interference from the Sun, which will continue to make communications with Mars spotty until the end of the month. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Dust in the Wind

Mon, 23 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

The thin Martian wind can be seen drawing dunes and ripples in the dust. The crater is about a kilometer across. Though released today, this image was captured back in July. (Current communication with Mars is all but cut off until the end of the month due to a solar conjunction between Earth and the Red Planet.) (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

Image: The Shadowy Edge

Fri, 20 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Sunlight and shadow on Saturn's rings. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: The Northern Ice

Thu, 19 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

The north pole of Mars as seen by the MRO during its instrument check-out. The white areas are a cap of perennial water ice, and the tan areas are the north polar layered materials that have been featured in other striking images. Fresh dispatches from Mars will be scarce during the next week and a half, because the Sun is blocking the Earth's view of the planet, making communications spotty. (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

Image: Twisted

Wed, 18 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Saturn's rings appear perfectly smooth from a distance, but this extreme close-up on the F ring shows how tiny moonlets distort and shape it. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Candor Chasma

Tue, 17 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

The intriguing rocks of Candor Chasma, seen here in a color-coded view, are one of several possible targets for a future rover mission. Some of the stone shows strong signs of having been weathered by water. This image is a reminder that while many eyes are on the new Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the veteran workhorses like Mars Odyssey are still churning out interesting discoveries. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

Image: Twilight on Mars

Mon, 16 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this color-enhanced view inside an unnamed crater in the Terra Sirenum region. Liquid water may have formed these gullies during recent times. During its short weeks at the planet, the MRO has already returned more raw data than the rovers combined. (Credit: NASA/JPL/UA)

Image: Vortex

Sat, 14 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

The swirling south pole of Saturn, as seen just a few days ago. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Tempest

Fri, 13 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Another thermal image of a cloud-enshrouded world, but this time it's right next door: this is a view into the complex atmosphere of Venus. The lighter the color, the thinner the clouds and the more heat is escaping from the hellishly-hot surface. Some of these clouds are moving at hundreds of miles an hour. (Credit: ESA/VIRTIS/INAF-IASF/Obs. de Paris-LESIA)

Image: Weather Report from a Billion KM Away

Thu, 12 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Another striking scene observed by Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, which can image the heat rising through Saturn's clouds. The bright spots are actually clearings in the clouds, and Saturn explorers are using images like this to understand the planet's weather in new ways. (Credit: NASA/JPL/UA)

Image: Dashed

Wed, 11 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Collapsed underground lava tubes from the Elysium volcanic complex make dashed lines on a Martian plain. How interesting would it be to explore the caves of the uncollapsed sections? (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

Image: True Tethys in False Color

Tue, 10 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Saturn's moon Tethys, as seen in a combination of ultraviolet, green and infrared light by Cassini's cameras. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Ancient Lakebed, Modern Mystery

Mon, 9 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Ancient layers and more recent ripples on the floor of Holden Crater, displayed in never-before-seen detail, as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. (Credit: NASA/JPL/UA)

News: US Space Policy Updated

Sun, 8 October 2006 05:00:02 -0600

A new version of the space policy for the United States has been announced.

Image: Red Cliffs Rising

Sat, 7 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Mars explorers are making a detailed survey of Victoria Crater in order to determine if and where they will command the rover to enter the crater and sample some of these exposed rock layers. (Credit: NASA/JPL/JPL)

Image: Caught in the Act

Fri, 6 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Although the picture is zoomed in so much it's a little blurry, this is one of the most remarkable images ever captured by robotic space explorers: it's Opportunity, perched on the edge of Victoria Crater, as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter from orbit. The blue-ish object at the upper left is the rover, and you can even see the shadow of its camera mast. (Credit: NASA/JPL/U of A)

Image: The Heat Within

Thu, 5 October 2006 06:00:02 -0600

Cassini's infrared imager can see heat rising from deep within the planet, silhouetting clouds against the glowing interior. (Credit: NASA/JPL/U of A)

Image: Northern Exposure

Thu, 5 October 2006 05:00:02 -0600

The north pole of Mars as shown in a composite of images from the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter. (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

Image: Rift

Wed, 4 October 2006 05:00:02 -0600

This is another of the first images from the new Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It shows a deep rift in the Cerberus Fossae system that was formed by tectonic activity. This is a very high resolution image: the full-scale version resolves objects as small as 165 centimeters across. Not meters, centimeters. (Credit: NASA/JPL/U of A)

News: Europa Calling

Wed, 4 October 2006 04:00:02 -0600

More details emerge about the Europa Explorer mission concept.

Image: Shadowed Splendour

Tue, 3 October 2006 05:00:02 -0600

Saturn's cloud tops glow gently in light scattered by the rings. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: A Mysterious Country

Mon, 2 October 2006 05:00:02 -0600

Mars explorers call these unexplained layers deep in Hellas Basin "taffy-pull terrain." (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

Image: The White Whisps of Dione

Sun, 1 October 2006 05:00:02 -0600

Saturn's moon Dione and its distinctive white streaks, which may be places where material ejected from inside the moon fell back as snow. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: New Mars Orbiter Sends First Images

Sat, 30 September 2006 05:00:02 -0600

One of the first images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which recently began science operations. It reveals layers of ice near the North Pole in never-before-seen detail. The full-resolution version of this image resolves objects less than two meters across. The white patches are probably water frost. (Credit: NASA/JPL/U of A)

Image: Ring Shine

Fri, 29 September 2006 05:00:02 -0600

The shimmering translucence of Saturn's rings becomes apparent when light from a distant object shines through them, as in this shot. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: The Cliffs of Victoria

Thu, 28 September 2006 05:00:02 -0600

Here's an even closer look inside the crater. It looks like Mars explorers will be busy for many weeks to come. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Rock Tumbler

Thu, 28 September 2006 04:00:02 -0600

The moon Janus tumbles silently above the cloud tops of Saturn. About every four years it trades orbits with its twin moon, Epimetheus. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Looking Over the Edge

Wed, 27 September 2006 04:00:02 -0600

Opportunity has finally arrived at the rim of Victoria Crater, which is 800 meters (about half a mile) across. Explorers hope the tall stacks of exposed rock will tell many tales about planet's history, including the ancient sea or lakes that once covered the Meridiani Plains. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

News: Titan Video CDs

Tue, 26 September 2006 05:00:02 -0600

The ESA has made the Huygens probe Titan descent videos available as multi-language, downloadable CD-ROM images.

Image: Victoria Revealed

Tue, 26 September 2006 04:00:02 -0600

Opportunity has nearly reached the rim of Victoria Crater. Today the robot explorer is getting its best view yet into the giant impact site, where a treasure of clues to Mars' past is exposed in the sheer walls of the massive crater. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Ancient Impact

Mon, 25 September 2006 04:00:02 -0600

This crater in Arabia Terra dates back to the oldest epoch in Mars' history. It has been filled and emptied of sediment and carved by wind. Colors in this enhanced view correspond to different kinds of rock. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

News: New Horizons Update

Mon, 25 September 2006 03:00:02 -0600

Mission managers have posted an update on the mission to Pluto.

Image: Shrouded World

Mon, 25 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Cassini swooped in low over Titan to study its thick veil of clouds. Other recent passes, which used radar to pierce the mist, have discovered mountains of ice and rivers of methane. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Juventae Chasma

Sun, 24 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

This enhanced view into the deep canyon known as Juventae Chasma shows different kinds of rocks coded by color - red for hard stone and blues and greens for sand and dust. This area is rich in minerals like gypsum that usually only form in the presence of water. This site is one landing target being considered for a future rover. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

Image: Light Show

Sat, 23 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Another view of the spectacular solar occultation at Saturn, as seen by Cassini a few days ago. Today, the probe is making another close pass of the ever-more intriguing moon Titan. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

News: Widget Now Available for Opera

Fri, 22 September 2006 04:00:02 -0600

Thanks to Wups, who has ported the Riding with Robots widget to the Opera browser widget platform.

Image: Faces in the Stones

Fri, 22 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Europe's Mars Express orbiter obtained this image of the Cydonia region. You can see the famous "face" at the center-right (although it doesn't look much like a face at this angle) and a mesa at the center-left that suggests the shape of a skull. (Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin)

Image: The Ancient Towers of Mars

Thu, 21 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

The Mars Global Surveyor orbiter acquired this striking image of a crater floor in Western Arabia Terra. The layers were probably laid down by an ancient lake. Today, only waves of sand dunes lap at the shore. (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

Image: Hidden Rings Revealed

Wed, 20 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Images like this one helped Saturn explorers discover a new ring and other structures this week. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

News: New Mars Orbiter Ready to Get Down to Business

Tue, 19 September 2006 01:00:02 -0600

NASA has announced that the newly-arrived Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is ready to begin its work.

Image: Saturn Backlit

Mon, 18 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Another view of Saturn's occultation of the Sun a few days ago. The upper reaches of the planet's atmosphere are glowing nearly as brightly as the rings. You can also see the slightly flattened shape of Saturn's disc, which is due to its unusually fast rate of spin. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Rings Ablaze

Sun, 17 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Cassini captured this spectacular solar occultation on Friday when the sun passed directly behind Saturn. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Silent Vigil

Fri, 15 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

While its twin craft Opportunity gets most of the headlines lately, Spirit keeps up its watch from its Winter station in the Columbia Hills, ready to move out again once Spring arrives in the next few weeks. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Moonlet Making Waves

Thu, 14 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Saturn's tiny moon Daphnis making ripples in the rings last Saturday. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Nine Years at Mars

Wed, 13 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

The Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft has been in orbit for nine years this week. To mark the occasion, the MGS team released this beautiful image of a crater in the dunes of Syrtis Major. (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

Image: Veil of Rings

Tue, 12 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Just hours ago, Cassini spied Saturn's crescent through a translucent veil of rings. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

News: Blast from the Past

Tue, 12 September 2006 01:00:02 -0600

Enhanced pictures from Soviet landers on Venus have revealed new details.

Image: Small World, Big Mysteries

Mon, 11 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Cassini snapped this shot of Saturn's moon Enceladus over the weekend. Enceladus is one of those most rare of places: a world with liquid water - in this case hidden beneath its airless surface. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Screened Light

Sat, 9 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

The light from an object behind Saturn's rings shines through the F ring, offering explorers clues about the ring's composition. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Yardangs!

Fri, 8 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Eons of soft winds blowing in the thin Martian air of the Apollinaris Patera region carved these yardang formations. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

News: Updates from Pluto

Thu, 7 September 2006 01:00:02 -0600

A probe en route to Pluto carries out a successful test, and the mission's chief scientist blasts the recent planetary demotion.

Image: Chaos and Order

Wed, 6 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Countless random shards of ice in Saturn's rings, the remnants of a shattered moon, march in ordered arcs under gravity's spell. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: There's Always Time for Curiosity

Tue, 5 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Opportunity stops to inspect a small crater yesterday as it works its way, meter by meter, toward Victoria. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: One Last Look at Home

Mon, 4 September 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Just a few days before it crashed into the surface of the moon over the weekend, SMART-1 caught a final glimpse of the home planet rising over the horizon. (Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin)

Image: Perspective on Kasei Valles

Thu, 31 August 2006 02:00:02 -0600

The Kasei Valles, named for the Japanese word for Mars, resulted from massive floods and glaciers. This perspective view was built by combining visual images and altitude data from instruments on Europe's Mars Express orbiter. (Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin)

News: More News from Mars

Wed, 30 August 2006 01:00:02 -0600

A spectacular zoom shot into a Martian crater honors a pioneer, while a new explorer gets ready for its main mission.

Image: Closer and Closer

Tue, 29 August 2006 02:00:02 -0600

This view, slightly blurry because the spacecraft that took it was traveling so fast, comes from just 165 KM above the surface of Earth's moon via SMART-1. SMART-1 is lowering its orbit as it rushes toward a planned impact in September. (Credit: ESA)

Image: Rock and Robot

Mon, 28 August 2006 02:00:02 -0600

In this image, one of a series of self-portraits taken to assess the robot's condition, Spirit captured its own high-gain antenna and a bit of the Martian surface. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: The Sands of Baldet

Fri, 25 August 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Shifting sands cover and uncover darker material on the floor of Mars' Crater Baldet, which is 180 KM across. (Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin)

Image: The Weather Outside is Frightful

Thu, 24 August 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Four views of Saturn's violent and beautiful upper atmosphere, including raging storms, all taken on the same day last week. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

News: Assorted Mars Items

Thu, 24 August 2006 01:00:02 -0600

China and Russia are planning a joint Mars mission. Meanwhile, is there a new Mars 'life rock?'

Image: Rivers from Dust, Stone from Water

Wed, 23 August 2006 02:00:02 -0600

These 'rivers' on Mars are really only channels filled with dust, but the layered sedimentary rocks around them probably formed in a large crater lake long ago. (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

News: When Will We Go Back to Saturn?

Wed, 23 August 2006 01:00:02 -0600

A piece in Air and Space magazine examines a student-proposed mission to Enceladus.

Image: Sunlight and Shadows

Tue, 22 August 2006 06:00:02 -0600

The interplay of sunlight and shadow at Saturn, as seen by Cassini this week. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

News: SMART-1 Wrap-Up

Tue, 22 August 2006 05:00:02 -0600

The ESA has released a complete summary of the SMART-1 lunar mission, which is about to end.

Image: Making Tracks

Mon, 21 August 2006 02:00:02 -0600

The view from the Meridiani Plains on Mars yesterday as Opportunity makes it way from Beagle Crater toward its next target, the massive Victoria Crater. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Dione Raw

Sat, 19 August 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Sometimes the raw, uncalibrated images sent by the probes offer their own strange beauty, as in this overexposed view of Dione on Wednesday. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Titan

Fri, 18 August 2006 02:00:02 -0600

In plain light, Saturn's planet-like moon Titan is shrouded in a thick orange haze. But take a look at just the right wavelength, and you can see through to the continents of ice, dark dune deserts and seas of methane. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

News: Ice Eruptions on Mars

Thu, 17 August 2006 05:00:02 -0600

Every spring brings violent eruptions to the polar ice cap of Mars, according to recent observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter.

Image: The 200-Million-Mile-Long Arm

Thu, 17 August 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Opportunity examining a dune yesterday, its robotic arm acting in proxy for the Earth-bound explorers of Mars. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

News: Introducing "Plutons"

Wed, 16 August 2006 05:00:02 -0600

An international astronomical committee is recommending that a new class of small planets be named that would include Pluto, plus add at least three other worlds to the family of planets: Charon, Ceres and Xena.

Image: More Signs of Water?

Tue, 15 August 2006 02:00:02 -0600

The Mars Global Surveyor orbiter took this shot of a crater where some kind of fluid recently seeped from beneath a layer in the walls. (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

News: Word from Venus

Mon, 14 August 2006 05:00:02 -0600

The ESA reports on the status of the Venus Express mission.

Image: The Mysterious Geysers of Enceladus

Mon, 14 August 2006 02:00:02 -0600

One discovery from the Cassini mission so far that has truly shocked planetary explorers is the fact that Saturn's small moon Enceladus hides a reservoir of liquid water beneath its surface. In this shot, taken on Friday, you can clearly see the twin geysers that blast some of that water, now frozen, into space. No one knows exactly what lies hidden inside Enceladus, but on Earth wherever there is water there is life. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

News: The Great Pluto Debate

Fri, 11 August 2006 04:00:02 -0600

NPR is one of many news outlets discussing the fate of Pluto's status as a "planet."

Image: Ringed Rhea

Fri, 11 August 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Here's a natural color view of Saturn's moon Rhea partially hidden by the rings. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

News: Mars Rover Update

Thu, 10 August 2006 03:00:02 -0600

JPL offers the latest news from Spirit and Opportunity.

Image: At the Rim

Thu, 10 August 2006 02:00:02 -0600

Opportunity has now wheeled right up to the rim of Beagle crater. It will spend a little time inspecting the exposed layers and ejected rocks. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: On the Edge

Wed, 9 August 2006 02:00:02 -0600

A view from the far side of the moon, looking at Mezentsev crater. This comes from Europe's SMART-1 probe, which is now its last few months of flight before a planned crash landing. (Credit: ESA/Space-X)

News: Spain Welcomes Space Science Center

Wed, 9 August 2006 01:00:02 -0600

The ESA introduces its European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC).

Image: Dancing Moons

Tue, 8 August 2006 01:00:02 -0600

Saturn's moon Enceladus emerges after passing behind Rhea. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Martian Mud Flow

Mon, 7 August 2006 01:00:02 -0600

On the floor of this crater on the northern plains of Mars are signs that the soil holds, or at least once held, water or ice. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

Image: Saturn in Silhouette

Thu, 3 August 2006 01:00:02 -0600

The view from Cassini a few days ago as it sped around Saturn. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

News: Trouble with the Deep Space Network

Thu, 3 August 2006 00:00:02 -0600

- A key communications antenna will be offline until early 2007, threatening data from several missions.

Image: The Face of Mars

Wed, 2 August 2006 00:00:02 -0600

This portrait of Mars is actually a mosaic of past images that were taken at this same point in the Martian year, so it depicts the planet as it appears this month. (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

Image: Thin Veil of Ice

Tue, 1 August 2006 00:00:02 -0600

Saturn's rings are thousands of kilometers wide, but less than one thick. Seen edge-on, they seem to disappear entirely. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Ice Cliffs

Mon, 31 July 2006 00:00:02 -0600

Mars Global Surveyor caught sight of these layers of frozen carbon dioxide (dry ice) in a steep slope near the north pole of Mars. (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

Image: The Face of Dione

Sun, 30 July 2006 00:00:02 -0600

Cassini snapped this shot of Saturn's moon Dione last week. The light streaks on the face of the small world might be the result of eruptions that fell back as snow. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Arrival at Beagle Crater

Fri, 28 July 2006 00:00:02 -0600

Yesterday Opportunity caught this early glimpse inside the impact crater called Beagle. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

News: Titan Discoveries

Thu, 27 July 2006 02:00:03 -0600

The ESA reports that the results of observations made by teams around the world in conjunction with the landing of the Huygens probe on Titan are now being published.

Image: Extreme Close-Up

Thu, 27 July 2006 00:00:02 -0600

Most of the images on this site feature objects that measure thousands of miles across. This one, from Opportunity's microscopic imager, measures mere millimeters. Shots like this one have helped Mars explorers sift for clues to the planet's watery past. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Majesty

Wed, 26 July 2006 00:00:02 -0600

This was Cassini's view yesterday from the vantage point of its recently-modified orbit around Saturn. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: The Exotic Lakes of Titan

Tue, 25 July 2006 00:00:02 -0600

On Friday, Cassini flew by Saturn's giant moon Titan, and used its powerful radar system to penetrate the world's thick orange clouds. It discovered what explorers had long suspected might exist: large lakes that closely resemble those on Earth, with one slight difference--these frigid lakes are not filled with water, but with methane. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Moon Shadow

Mon, 24 July 2006 00:00:02 -0600

Saturn's moon Epimetheus casts a shadow on the cloudtops as it speeds by. At the bottom of the image are the shadows of the rings. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Weather Report from 1 Billion KM Away

Fri, 21 July 2006 00:00:02 -0600

Four views of Saturn's cloud tops, each taken within the last three days. The winds in these turbulent bands can gust at hundreds of miles per hour. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: The West Coast of Xanadu

Thu, 20 July 2006 00:00:02 -0600

Cassini's radar pierced thick clouds over Saturn's moon Titan to glimpse this image of the western edge of a continent-sized region called Xanadu. The landscape is marked with features that are commonly seen on earth, including mountains, rivers and islands. But instead of water, it's methane that falls from the orange skies of Titan, forming channels and possibly even lakes and seas. Future radar passes will reveal more. (Credit: NASA/JPL)

Image: Silent Hill

Wed, 19 July 2006 00:00:02 -0600

This was the view on Monday from Spirit's winter station in the Columbia Hills. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Chaos in 3D

Tue, 18 July 2006 00:00:02 -0600

This 3D anaglyph (viewable with red-blue glasses) peers into the twisted canyons of the Iani Chaos region of Mars. The mesas are about a kilometer high. This bizzare terrain is believed to have formed during the removal of subsurface water or ice, resulting in flooding at the surface, and is considered a prime candidate for the future landing site of the Mars Science Laboratory. (Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin)

Image: Martian Mesas

Mon, 17 July 2006 00:00:02 -0600

Mars Global Surveyor caught this view of striking mesas towering above windswept dunes on the floor of a Martian crater. Near the bottom of the frame are tracks made by dust devils. (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

News: Nine Years to the Ninth Planet, and Counting

Sun, 16 July 2006 00:00:03 -0600

An update on the New Horizons mission to Pluto and beyond.

Image: Skull Rock

Sun, 16 July 2006 00:00:02 -0600

As Opportunity nears Beagle Crater, it has found several large rocks that may have been ejected when the meteor that formed the crater slammed into the ground. This one reminds me of a cattle skull baking in the desert sun. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Image: Touching Titan

Sat, 15 July 2006 00:00:02 -0600

Rhea seems almost to touch the brilliant ring of Titan's backlit atmosphere in this view from the Saturn system in June. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Looking into the Eyes of the Vortex

Fri, 14 July 2006 00:00:02 -0600

These infrared images depict the double vortex that Venus Express discovered twisting over the south pole of Venus. The brighter areas depict heat escaping, through the vortex, from the hellishly-hot lower layers of the clouds. (Credit: ESA/VIRTIS/INAF-IASF/Obs. de Paris-LESI)

Image: Rendezvous with a Goddess

Thu, 13 July 2006 00:00:02 -0600

This was the view from the Venus Express probe as it rushed toward the planet. This series of images was taken in ultraviolet light, then color enhanced to reveal the complex elegance of the clouds. (Credit: ESA/MPS)

News: Capturing the Sun in 3D

Thu, 13 July 2006 00:00:01 -0600

The STEREO mission, scheduled for launch in August, will use a pair of spacecraft to catch three-dimensional views of coronal mass ejections.

Image: Black Dunes

Wed, 12 July 2006 19:00:01 -0600

The dunes of Meridiani look almost black in the afternoon sun in this view seen by Opportunity yesterday. In the middle foreground is a patch of the 'flagstone' sedimentary deposit that hints at the lakes or seas that once covered these plains. The cylinder rising from the rover's back is an antenna. (Credit: NASA/JPL)

News: 'Letting the Child Walk:' Even Smarter Robots for Mars

Mon, 10 July 2006 20:00:01 -0600

The ESA is offering a preview of its planned ExoMars rover, which will feature advanced autonomous capabilities.

Image: Light Play

Tue, 11 July 2006 19:00:01 -0600

A few weeks ago Cassini spied Saturn's moon Enceladus shooting jets of water ice from its mysterious polar geysers, while Rhea peeked out from just behind the rings. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

News: New SuperKaramba Widget

Mon, 10 July 2006 20:00:01 -0600

The Riding with Robots widget is now available as a free SuperKaramba theme for Linux.

Image: Getting a New Angle

Mon, 10 July 2006 19:00:01 -0600

Opportunity takes on a tilt as it crosses a small dune Saturday on the outskirts of Beagle Crater. In other shots from the last few days, several boulders can be seen that were probably ejected when a meteor slammed into the sand here and formed the crater. (Credit: NASA/JPL)

News: Music from the Moon

Mon, 10 July 2006 18:00:01 -0600

China said on Friday it will transmit 30 pieces of Chinese music to the Earth next year from aboard its first lunar satellite.

Image: Working through the Winter

Sun, 9 July 2006 00:00:01 -0600

During the harsh Martian winter, Spirit's solar panels (seen in part here) barely get enough sunlight in a day to power three 100-watt light bulbs for an hour. So unlike its twin (which is crossing the plains on the other side of the planet at a lower latitude where there is more sunlight), Spirit has holed up in the Columbia Hills to conserve power. It's not idle, though; it's currently receiving a flight software upgrade, working on a high-resolution panorama, and conducting several long-duration science experiments. (Credit: NASA/JPL)

Image: Desert Dunes

Fri, 7 July 2006 00:00:01 -0600

These dramatic dunes and mesas look like they could be in the red rock country of Utah and Arizona. They're actually a view, taken within the last few weeks, of a slightly more distant red rock country: Rabe Crater. (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

News: The Mars Agenda

Thu, 6 July 2006 18:00:01 -0600

According to a report at Space.com, a review by the National Academies in the US includes recommendations for improving NASA's Mars program, including faster action on a sample return mission.

Image: Flood Zone

Thu, 6 July 2006 00:00:01 -0600

The land forms in Maja Valles, such as the tear-drop shapes around these craters, point to massive flooding in this region. These floods were catastrophic, blasting as much as 100 million cubic meters per second over the landscape. The crater in the top center is interesting, too. It resulted from a later impact, after the floods, but the shape of the 'splat' it made indicates the ground was still wet with water or ice when it hit. Many places on Mars are thought to hide ice or even liquid water not far beneath the surface. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

Image: Tracking Kepler

Wed, 5 July 2006 00:00:01 -0600

The SMART-1 lunar probe can track fixed points on the surface of the moon as it orbits above. This sequence of images shows Kepler crater, and you can see a slight rotation of the surface as the spacecraft rolls to keep its target in view. In September, SMART-1 will end its successful three-year mission with a controlled impact. (Credit: ESA)

Image: Titan Uncovered

Tue, 4 July 2006 00:00:01 -0600

Saturn's moon Titan is the size of a planet, and the only moon with its own atmosphere. Before the Cassini probe arrived, Titan's thick orange haze prevented anyone from catching sight of the surface. Cassini, and the Huygens lander it delivered, revealed that beneath the shroud Titan was just as strange as anyone could have guessed, with icy volancoes and river channels carved by methane rain. On Sunday, Cassini made its 16th fly-by of Titan, shooting by the moon at about 13,000 miles per hour (5.8 km/sec). Once again the robotic explorer showed off its ability to pierce the clouds by tuning its electronic eyes to just the right wavelength. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Rings and Rhea

Mon, 3 July 2006 00:00:01 -0600

A view, glimpsed on Saturday, of Saturn's second-largest and most heavily-cratered moon, Rhea.(Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Cloudscape

Sat, 1 July 2006 10:00:01 -0600

The cloud tops of Saturn, framed by the slightly translucent rings, as seen yesterday. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Squeeze Play

Fri, 30 June 2006 10:00:01 -0600

In order to help them see distant targets across the vast expanse of the Meridiani plains, sometimes mission managers for Opportunity squeeze the images so that details are easier to pick out. In this view, you can easily see the white rim of Beagle Crater, a milestone on the way to the much larger Victoria Crater. In the lower portion you can see roughly the same territory in a normal view. Beagle Crater is probably one of the younger impact sites that Opportunity has seen, and--like so many other places on Mars so far--may hold interesting surprises. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Cornell University)

Image: Interloper in the Ice

Thu, 29 June 2006 10:00:01 -0600

Saturn's moon Pan is only 16 miles across and orbits right inside the rings, where it creates patterns and ripples among the icy ring particles. The object that moves into the frame toward the end of this sequence is a bright star. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

News: Sunshade Flip

Wed, 28 June 2006 18:00:01 -0600

NASA and JHUAPL report that the Messenger probe to Mercury has taken care of some important business as it approaches the Sun. Next up: a Venus fly-by in October.

Image: Double Vortex

Wed, 28 June 2006 16:00:01 -0600

Here's another remarkable series of images from Venus Express, which has discovered a double swirling vortex in the clouds above the planet's south pole. In this false-color image, the brighter colors represent warmer air. (Credit: ESA/VIRTIS/INAF-IASF/Obs. de Paris-LESIA)

News: "Half Time Show" at Saturn

Wed, 28 June 2006 11:00:01 -0600

NASA is celebrating the halfway point for the Cassini mission with this re-cap of the head-spinning discoveries revealed so far.

Image: Blues for a Hot Planet

Tues, 27 June 2006 16:00:01 -0600

Venus Express captured this ultraviolet/visible light view of our neighbor world as the probe slipped into orbit in April. Don't let the soft cyan hues of this image fool you: the temperatures at ground level beneath those acidic clouds are hot enough to melt lead. (Credit: ESA/VIRTIS/INAF-IASF/Obs. de Paris-LESIA)

News: Mars Rover Update

Tues, 27 June 2006 11:00:01 -0600

NASA reports the latest from the surface of Mars: Opportunity is within half a mile of its next major target, and Spirit is staying busy despite the extreme Martian winter.

Image: Liquid Gold?

Mon, 26 June 2006 16:00:01 -0600

For Mars explorers, the most precious commodity is not oil, but liquid water. That makes this otherwise unassuming crater one of the most interesting places on the planet, because the streaks down the side of the crater (near the top of this image) may have formed from seeping ground water. At the center of the crater (the bottom of this image) are dunes criss-crossed with the tracks of dust devils. (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

Image: A River Ran Through It?

Sun, 25 June 2006 16:00:01 -0600

This false-color view of Holden Crater clearly shows channels that seem to have been carved by flowing water. This site may be the landing target for the Mars Science Laboratory, a rover due for launch in 09. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

Image: The Two Faces of Iapetus

Sat, 24 June 2006 10:00:01 -0600

On Tuesday Cassini glimpsed Saturn's moon Iapetus, which is remarkable for its one very bright side and one very dark side. Debate still surrounds the cause of this two-faced look. Some think the dark material on the moon's leading side was swept up from space, possibly originating from another moon, while others think it seeped from inside. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Image: Dune Sea in the Afternoon Sun

Fri, 23 June 2006 16:00:01 -0600

The view on Thursday, at about 2 PM local Martian time, from the Meridiani Plains. The Opportunity rover is working its way carefully through these dunes toward its next major objective, Victoria Crater, which it should reach within the next few weeks. (Credit: NASA/JPL)

News: SMART-1 Prepares to End Mission with a Bang

Fri, 23 June 2006 11:00:01 -0600

The ESA has announced that after sixteen months orbiting the Moon, the mission is preparing for the end of its scientific exploration, which will conclude with a controlled impact.

Image: Multi-Layered Mystery

Fri, 23 June 2006 10:00:01 -0600

No one knows for sure whether the layers in these striking Martian cliffs, found in a crater called Galle, tell a story of wind or water or both. This image is a composite of several shots taken from orbit. (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

News: Two Moons of Pluto Officially Named

Thu, 22 June 2006 11:00:01 -0600

JHUAPL reports that the names Nix and Hydra have been approved for the two small satellites of Pluto discovered in May 2005.

Image: Ringside

Wed, 21 June 2006 10:00:01 -0600

Tiny Enceladus, the back-lit clouds of Titan, and the strands of Saturn's rings combine in this sight captured by Cassini a few days ago. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

Site Update: New Screen Saver Beta

Thu, 22 June 2006 00:00:01 -0600

Get the latest downlinks whenever your Mac is idle with the new, free Riding with Robots screen saver.

News: Mars Orbiter on Track

Wed, 21 June 2006 11:00:01 -0600

NASA reports that the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aerobraking process is on schedule, and science operations should begin in November.

Image: Lonely Planet

Wed, 21 June 2006 10:00:01 -0600

Opportunity looks back on its tracks across Meridiani. Via the rover, millions of Earth-bound people have visited this once-lonely plain. (Credit: NASA/JPL)

Update: Riding With Robots Widget Upgrade

Tues, 20 June 2006 22:00:01 -0600

Version 1.1 offers improved auto-update functionality and increased stability. And it's still free.

Image: The Dance

Tues, 20 June 2006 10:00:01 -0600

Enceladus swings in front of another of Saturn's moons last week. Below, an image from May shows even more clearly the mysterious geysers jetting out from water reserves beneath the tiny world's south pole. Some of the visual noise in the images results from cosmic rays striking Cassini's instruments. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

News: Martian Balloon Probe Planned

Mon, 19 June 2006 13:00:01 -0600

The New York Times has an interesting story about a privately-funded bid to send a balloon to the Martian atmosphere in 2009.

Image: The Snows of Udzha

Sun, 18 June 2006 14:00:01 -0600

Near the north polar cap of Mars, these layers of water ice and dust contain the history of a thousand Martian winters and more. They are found in a crater called Udzha, named for a town in Siberia. This is a view from orbit, taken by the Mars Odyssey probe. Someday an explorer on the ground may read these layers like a book. (Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)

Image: Mimas Rising

Sat, 17 June 2006 14:00:01 -0600

Cassini caught this glimpse of Saturn's moon Mimas last Sunday. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

News: New Horizons Tracks an Asteroid

Sat, 17 June 2006 13:00:01 -0600

Mission managers report that NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, on its way to Pluto and points beyond, has entered the asteroid belt and has successfully tracked a small asteroid with its cameras, which is good news for future encounters.

Editor's Note: Fresh Posts to Resume on 17 June

Mon, 12 June 2006 15:00:01 -0600

I'll be away from an Internet connection for a few days. New posts will resume when I get back. Thanks!

Image: Moving Out!

Mon, 12 June 2006 14:00:01 -0600

After a clean escape from the sand dune, Opportunity has once again struck out across the Meridiani Plains. Up soon: the massive and mysterious Victoria Crater. (Credit: NASA/JPL)

Image: Gravity and Grace

Fri, 9 June 2006 13:00:01 -0600

This view of Titan is one of those images from space that reveals the surprising artistic potential of a collaboration between nature, machines and people. (Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI)

News: New Horizons Enters Asteroid Belt

Fri, 9 June 2006 12:00:01 -0600

Mission managers report that NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, on its way to Pluto and points beyond, has entered the asteroid belt and will pass near a little-known object on 13 June.

Image: Escape!

Wed, 7 June 2006 18:00:01 -0600

On Monday, Opportunity's hazard cameras saw this view of the rover's wheels (left and right sides) and experiment arm (center). It looks like the front wheels have cleared the sand trap that has bogged down the robot explorer for several days. (Credit: NASA/JPL)

Image: Chaos

Wed, 7 June 2006 05:00:01 -0600

This false-color image zooms in on a mysterious region of Mars known as Aram Chaos. The area shown in this crop is about 20 KM across. This kind of chaotic terrain is thought by many scientists to be the source of water that created channels that have been discovered nearby. One view holds that the water was released in catastrophic floods from melted underground ice. This image was acquired back in 2004, but was just recently released by the ESA. (Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin)

News: Russia Plans Return to Moon

Tue, 6 June 2006 05:00:01 -0600

Aviation Week reports that Russia is planning the complex "Luna-Glob" mission for launch in 2012. It will include subsurface penetrators and a soft lander.

Image: The Guardians

Mon, 5 June 2006 23:00:01 -0600

Saturn's moon Janus seems to stand guard in the foreground as in the background Prometheus tends to its usual job as "shepherd moon," helping to define the orbit of the outermost ring with its gravity.

Image: Robot Trap!

Sun, 4 June 2006 8:00:01 -0600

During the past few days the rover Opportunity has been struggling to free its wheels from a sand dune. This happened once before at a place that came to be called "Purgatory." This time the rover doesn't seem to be stuck as deeply, and mission managers have more experience with extraction. They're hopeful Opportunity will be on its way again soon.

Image: Rings of Light

Sat, 3 June 2006 22:00:01 -0600

On Friday, Cassini saw the unusual atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan catching the sunlight against a backdrop of rings.

Widget Rides into Top Ten Downloads

Fri, 2 June 2006 16:00:01 -0600

Thanks to everyone who has downloaded the Riding with Robots Dashboard widget for Mac. After Apple featured it as the download of the week on their site, it jumped to the number 5 spot. I hope people find it useful for keeping in contact with the high frontier.

Image: Dark Vortex

Fri, 2 June 2006 14:00:01 -0600

The recently-arrived Venus Express orbiter sends us this view looking down on the south pole of Venus. The composite image, one of the first to reveal the south polar region, shows the day half on the left and the night half on the right. The day side image was taken in visible light, and the night side with an infrared filter. Venus is about the same size as the Earth, but plays the role of hell to Earth's heaven, with acid clouds and temperatures that could melt lead. In the infrared view, the brighter regions are where the cloud cover was somewhat thinner and allowed more heat to escape the inferno.

News: Loosely Affiliated

Fri, 2 June 2006 13:59:35 -0600

The Hayabusa probe landed on the asteroid Itokawa last November. Today the journal Science features the results of Hayabusa's exploration, including the surprising discovery that the asteroid turns out to be less of a giant space rock of death and more of a fairly loose pile of rubble, barely held together by its own weak gravity.

News: Even More Bizzare than Before

Fri, 2 June 2006 10:59:35 -0600

In an article published in the scientific journal Nature, researchers studying data from Cassini discuss their findings that Saturn's moon Enceladus actually "rolled over" like a bowling ball some time in its past. This might explain some of the strange little world's surprising features, such as the warm spot near its south pole where active geysers spew into space.

News: Bigger Brains for Hunting Devils

Mon, 29 May 2006 09:59:35 -0600

The BBC is reporting that the Mars Exploration Rovers will soon receive a software upgrade that will allow them to sort through the imagery they collect to identify dust devils, clouds and other interesting sights, and send only the most interesting images to Earth. The rovers are already remarkably autonomous (for example, they can drive themselves over short distances) and this is just another step toward even more self-capable space robots in the future.

Image: Rippled Horizon

Sun, 28 May 2006 11:59:35 -0400

This was the view on Sunday looking across the Meridiani Plains on Mars. The rover Opportunity is making its way carefully across these dunes towards a huge crater called Victoria. This desert, now harsher than any on Earth, was once covered by water. Peering into the layers of stone exposed in the walls of Victoria should yield further clues about the origin and fate of this long lost sea.

Image: On the Edge

Thu, 24 May 2006 11:59:35 -0400

This was the view on Wednesday from about 1.2 million kilometers above Saturn. The rings, seen almost edge-on, are casting lacy shadows on the cloud tops.

Image: Blade of Ice

Wed, 23 May 2006 11:59:35 -0400

One of the most incredible images yet from Cassini at Saturn, this shot shows the rings intersecting a view of the huge, fog-shrouded moon Titan in the background and its tiny sibling Epimetheus in the foreground.

News: Termination Shock

Tue, 22 May 2006 11:59:35 -0400

The twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft are the fastest and farthest-traveling objects made by humans. They are both nearing the edge of the solar system after nearly three decades of flight at thousands of miles per hour. This week NASA announced that the Voyagers will pass through the termination shock, one of the markers of the solar system's edge, at different distances in their respective flight paths. This implies that the heliosphere (the field of radiation eminating from the Sun that envelops the Earth and other planets) is being contorted by an interstellar magnetic field.