One of the many surprising discoveries made by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft in orbit over Ceres is that the dwarf planet has fewer large craters than might ordinarily be expected. As the largest target in the shooting gallery which is the main asteroid belt where Ceres resides, it should be bear the scars of numerous large […]
A paper published in Geophysical Research Letters concludes that in addition to whatever ice reserves the dwarf planet Ceres may harbor under its surface, (and they could be substantial, including even a subsurface ocean) the largest body in the main asteroid belt has also likely accumulated quite a bit of water ice in permanently shadowed […]
It is in many ways high summer for NASA’s fleet of robotic spacecraft deployed throughout the solar system. On Monday evening, as the fireworks were lighting up the night sky across much of the United States, the space agency’s latest probe, Juno, arrived in orbit around Jupiter. Coming nearly five years after it launched from […]
A bit if interesting news regarding Ceres that comes not from the Dawn spacecraft, but rather from the ground based observation from the European Southern Observatory. From ESO: “Observations made using the HARPS spectrograph at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile have revealed unexpected changes in the bright spots on the dwarf planet Ceres. Although […]
One of the most exciting and innovative robotic space exploration missions we have been privileged to witness has won one of space exploration’s most prestigious awards. From NASA.gov NASA’s Dawn project team recently earned two prestigious awards, honoring its successful mission to giant asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres. On March 8, the Dawn project […]
For a brief period in the 1990’s, Solar Thermal Propulsion appeared to be on the cusp of becoming the next big thing in space technology. While that obviously has not happened yet, a recent NASA Future in Space Operations (FISO) presentation from Marshall Space Flight Center suggests it may still be an approach whose time […]
From NASA: “The movie shows Ceres in enhanced color, which helps to highlight subtle differences in the appearance of surface materials. Scientists believe areas with shades of blue contain younger, fresher material, including flows, pits and cracks. The animated flight over Ceres emphasizes the most prominent craters, such as Occator, and the tall, conical mountain […]
It doesn’t take place “a long time ago” nor in a galaxy “far, far away,” but if your interests run towards what a future in space might look like in a universe where the limitations of science (and plot points) actually count for something, SyFy’s The Expanse is easily the run away hit of an overhyped […]
(Full image here) NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has arrived at its new mapping orbit, and is beginning to send back spectacular images of the dwarf planet’s surface in rich detail. From JPL: “At its current orbital altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers), Dawn takes 11 days to capture and return images of Ceres’ whole surface. Each […]
Topographic map of Ceres. Purple is low, red is high. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA As July draws to a close and August begins, the cycle of the seasons can seem to be advancing quicker than ever. Even with some of the hottest weeks yet come, and Labor Day more than a full month away, the prevalence […]
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