Interns from NASA Goddard's Lunar and Planetary Sciences Academy use remote-controlled drones to probe the secret of how soaring, six-sided stone columns formed from a sea of molten Mars rock.
Half of asteroid Vesta is likely so cold and receives so little sunlight that water ice could have survived there for billions of years, the first models of Vesta's average global temperatures and illumination show.
NASA researchers will present new findings on a wide range of Earth and space science topics at the 2011 fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
The Planetary Magnetospheres Laboratory conducts research on solar system magnetic fields, solar system radio astronomy, and planetary dust, exosphere, and plasma environments. The Laboratory also develops new concepts for autonomous space research and operations through external partnerships.
Presently, the Laboratory is developing four in-house flight instruments for planetary, heliophysics, and military applications. Funded research includes investigations of the Sun (STEREO), Mercury(MESSENGER), Earth(RBSP), the Moon (NLSI, ETDP), Mars (MAVEn), Jupiter (Juno), and Saturn (Cassini).
Magnetometers developed at the Laboratory have flown to the Moon and every planet in the solar system at least once, and sometimes multiple times across different missions. Radio astronomy research targets the planets, the Sun, and their space environments and is partnered through international collaborations.
