Four years ago, NASA purposely smashed a spacecraft into a small asteroid to see if they could deflect it—a test to prove humanity could protect Earth from threatening space rocks.

When NASA’s DART spacecraft collided with a small asteroid moon in late 2022, the impact made history. It was the first real-world test of a bold planetary defense idea: Could a spacecraft push an ...

Planetary science is a multifaceted field that investigates the origin, evolution and present‐day state of planets, moons and other bodies within our Solar System and beyond. By integrating ...

A small mare ridge in Northeast Mare Imbrium taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera. Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University Scientists have produced the first global map and ...

In a new study published in The Planetary Science Journal, scientists from the University of Chicago and Jet Propulsion Laboratory have uncovered unexpected findings about Jupiter’s atmosphere. The ...

What can the close flyby of the asteroid 99942 Adophis to Earth in 2029 teach scientists about the interiors of asteroids and other planetary bodies? This is what a recent study published in The ...

An asteroid is the most likely reason the dinosaurs went extinct—but could something similar happen to us? A new study has compared the likelihood of a devastating asteroid impact to other causes of ...

The Science of the Impact When DART struck, the tiny spacecraft transferred its energy into Dimorphos. But the real surprise came from what happened next. Scientists analyzing LICIACube’s images ...

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Scientists have produced the first global map and analysis of small mare ridges (SMRs) on the moon, a characteristic geological feature of tectonic activity. Published in The Planetary Science Journal ...