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Stardust-NExT
Stardust is the first spacecraft to collect material from a comet and return it to Earth. In 2004, it collected particles from comet Wild-2 using an extremely light, silicon-based solid called aerogel. The samples were returned to Earth in 2006 to be examined by scientists around the world.
In 2007, NASA renamed the mission Stardust-NExT and gave the spacecraft a new target, comet Tempel 1. Stardust performed a flyby of the comet on February 14, 2011. Coming within 200 kilometers (124 miles) of the comet's nucleus, the spacecraft captured high-resolution images of its surface.
A. NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft took this image of Tempel 1 during its encounter with the comet in 2005.
B. This Stardust image reveals a crater (arrows) created by Deep Impact’s impactor.
Artist concept courtesy of NASA and comet images courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Maryland/Cornell
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Kepler: Earth-Size Planet Candidates Found in Habitable Zone!
Kepler, NASA's latest space telescope, was launched in 2009. Capable of detecting objects Earth-size and smaller, it has been searching distant stars for planets similar to our own. Specifically, Kepler is looking for Earth-like planets within a solar system's "habitable zone." Determined by the planet’s distance from its star, this zone maintains a temperature range that allows liquid water to exist on a planet's surface.
On February 2, 2011, mission scientists announced the discovery of 54 new planet candidates found in habitable zones. Five are near Earth’s size. Follow-up observations will verify if they are actual planets. They also found six confirmed planets orbiting a Sun-like star, Kepler-11. This is the largest group of planets orbiting a single star yet discovered outside our solar system.
Artist concept courtesy of NASA |
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MESSENGER: Entered Orbit Around Mercury!
MESSENGER, the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging Mission, launched in 2004. During its journey, the spacecraft performed flybys of the Earth, Venus, and Mercury to adjust its trajectory. On March 17, 2011, it became the first spacecraft ever to orbit Mercury, where it will study the planet for one Earth year.
On March 30, 2011, MESSENGER captured this view of Mercury's south polar region. The crater Camoes dominates the center of the image. A large cliff or “scarp” (arrows) cuts across its floor and wall. Mariner 10 first discovered the planet’s gigantic scarps, which extend for hundreds of kilometers. Scientists think they formed when Mercury’s interior cooled, causing the entire planet to shrink slightly. Images returned by MESSENGER will help them map the global extent of the scarps.
Since entering orbit, MESSENGER can now image Mercury’s near-polar regions, areas out of view during the spacecraft's three previous flybys of the planet.
Artist concept and image courtesy of NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab/Carnegie Institution of Washington |
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