When you buy through links in our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn commission. An illustration shows a comet exiting the solar system after encountering Saturn. | Credit: Robert Lea (Created with Canva) Scientists have discovered a comet heading out of the Solar System after a close encounter with Saturn. The comet, dubbed… Read More »
Ed Stone, the scientist who guided NASA’s groundbreaking Voyager mission to the outer planets for 50 years and led the Jet Propulsion Laboratory when it landed the first rover on Mars, died Tuesday. He was 88 years old. A physicist on the ground floor of space exploration, Stone played a leading role in NASA missions… Read More »
Earlier this year, researchers discovered a vast liquid ocean lurking beneath the icy crust of Saturn’s tiny moon Mimas. Now the same team may have discovered how it was created. New research suggests that Mimas’ icy crust is melting and thinning as its orbit around Saturn becomes less flat, or less “eccentric,” due to the… Read More »
Europa may be headed to Saturn’s moon Enceladus to search for life, according to a new report from planetary scientists planning a future large-class mission to the outer solar system. European Space Agency (ESA) is showing significant foresight with its “Voyager 2050” program, which describes scientific goals and missions for the middle of this century.… Read More »
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will begin investigating the spectacular light shows of solar system giants Uranus and Saturn. Two separate teams of astronomers at the University of Leicester will use the $10 billion space telescope to study auroras on gas giant Saturn and cold ice giant Uranus. The aim will be to explain… Read More »
Titan’s subsurface ocean and similar oceans inside other outer icy moons solar systemmay not have the organic chemistry required for lifeaccording to new astrobiological research. Titan Saturn‘s largest moon and the second largest moon in the entire solar system. It is famous for being covered in a smog of petrochemicals and having a veritable soup… Read More »
Astronomers have discovered that Saturn’s small moon called Mimas may harbor a liquid ocean hidden beneath its thick icy crust and therefore have habitable conditions. This shocking finding radically changes the definition of what an ocean moon could be and could ultimately redefine our search for alien life on moons in the solar system. That’s… Read More »