Japan’s Mission to Mars’ Moon Phobos Will Bring a Sample Home by 2029
Japan’s space agency (JAXA) is gearing up for its Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, with plans to have a sample from Mars’ moon Phobos return…
Moons News
First Evidence of Water Vapor at Jupiter’s Moon Ganymede – May Hold More Water Than All of Earth’s Oceans
Astronomers have used archival datasets from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to reveal the first evidence for water vapor in the atmosphere of Jupiter’s moon…
Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration Mission Will Return a Sample From Mars’ Moon Phobos
The role of the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission in the new era of Martian life exploration. The surface of the Martian moon, Phobos, is…
NASA’s Juno Celebrates 10 Years With New Infrared View of Mammoth Jovian Moon Ganymede
The spacecraft used its infrared instrument during recent flybys of Jupiter’s mammoth moon to create this latest map, which comes out a decade after Juno’s…
NASA’s Dragonfly Mission to Saturn’s Moon Titan Announces Big Science Goals
Among our solar system’s many moons, Saturn’s Titan stands out – it’s the only moon with a substantial atmosphere and liquid on the surface. It…
A Few Steps Closer to Jupiter’s Moon Europa: Spacecraft Hardware Makes Headway
Take a closer look at the complex choreography involved in building NASA’s Europa Clipper as the mission to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa approaches its 2024…
Hubble Finds First Evidence of Water Vapor in the Atmosphere of Jupiter’s Moon Ganymede
Oxygen Found on the Frozen World Is Linked to Sublimating Surface Ice Though larger than the blistering planet Mercury, the Jovian moon Ganymede is no…
Hear the Eerie Radio Emissions NASA’s Juno Spacecraft Recorded From Jupiter and Its Moon Io
The Juno Waves instrument “listened” to the radio emissions from Jupiter’s immense magnetic field to find their precise locations. By listening to the rain of…
“Beautiful!” – Ride With NASA’s Juno Spacecraft As It Flies Past the Solar System’s Biggest Moon and Jupiter
The Juno probe flew closer to Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede, than any other spacecraft in more than two decades, offering dramatic glimpses of both the…
Surface of Jupiter’s Moon Europa Churned by Small Impacts – May Currently Have Conditions Suitable for Life
Jupiter’s moon Europa and its global ocean may currently have conditions suitable for life. Scientists are studying processes on the icy surface as they prepare…
Possible Signs of Alien Life? Methane in the Plumes of Saturn’s Moon Enceladus
A study published in Nature Astronomy concludes that known geochemical processes can’t explain the levels of methane measured by the Cassini spacecraft on Saturn’s icy…
Moons of Free-Floating Planets Can Possess Enough Water for Life to Evolve and Thrive
The moons of planets that have no parent star can possess an atmosphere and retain liquid water. Astrophysicists at LMU have calculated that such systems…
NASA Has Just Rejected Missions to the Strange Moons of Jupiter and Neptune – Here’s What We Would Have Discovered
It’s been 30 years since NASA last visited Venus, with the Magellan orbiter in 1990. Now, two new missions have been selected to explore the deadly atmosphere, crushing…
See the Dramatic First Images NASA’s Juno Spacecraft Captured As It Sailed by the Icy Orb, Ganymede
The spacecraft flew closer to Jupiter’s largest moon than any other in more than two decades, offering dramatic glimpses of the icy orb. The first…
Close Encounters of the Jovian Kind: NASA’s Juno to Get a Close Look at Jupiter’s Moon Ganymede
The first of the gas-giant orbiter’s back-to-back flybys will provide a close encounter with the massive moon after over 20 years. On Monday, June 7,…
Jupiter’s Moon Europa May Have an Interior Hot Enough to Fuel Seafloor Volcanoes
Jupiter’s moon Europa has an icy crust covering a vast, global ocean. The rocky layer underneath may be hot enough to melt, leading to undersea…
NASA’s Io Volcano Observer: Following the Heat and Hunting Clues to Planet Evolution
A proposed mission called Io Volcano Observer (IVO) would visit Jupiter’s moon Io, which is a true volcanic wonderland with hundreds of erupting volcanoes gushing…
Encased in an Icy Shell, the Ocean on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus Appears to Be Churning
Buried beneath 20 kilometers of ice, the subsurface ocean of Enceladus—one of Saturn’s moons—appears to be churning with currents akin to those on Earth. The…
