Topic: Mercury (Planet)

Space pioneer John Glenn honored 50 years after historic flight

Hundreds of NASA workers jammed a space center auditorium to mark the 50th anniversary of John Glenn's historic flight, to see and hear the first American to circle the Earth.

Is NASA giving up on Mars? (+video)

NASA's 2013 budget includes deep cuts to its planetary science mission, particularly its efforts to send spacecraft to Mars. Instead, the space agency will focus on human spaceflight and infrared astronomy. Is NASA now heading down the wrong path?

Smallest-ever exoplanets found, one step closer to Earth-twin

These planets, while roughly the size of our planet Earth, are circling very close to their star, giving them fiery temperatures that are most likely too hot to support life, researchers said.
12/22/2011 01:04 pm

First Earth-size planets found around distant star – in a bizarre solar system

For the first time, NASA's Kepler spacecraft has found two Earth-size planets outside our solar system – a landmark achievement. But the planets are in a solar system that baffles scientists and could overthrow current models of planet formation. 
12/20/2011 07:02 pm

What will happen after sun vaporizes Earth? Scorched planets hold clues.

Scientists say they've found two planets that survived being swallowed by a red-giant star. Earth won't be so fortunate when our sun becomes a red giant in 5 billion years, but the find shows what can happen to solar systems after such dramatic events.
12/20/2011 04:47 pm

Asteroid Vesta features mountain bigger than any on Earth

Asteroid Vesta is currently in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists recently discovered a huge mountain on the asteroid Vesta.
10/05/2011 01:44 pm

Messenger's message from Mercury: Time to rewrite the textbooks

Scientists with the Messenger mission to Mercury unveiled their findings Thursday, which are answering some decades-old mysteries – but also creating new ones.
09/29/2011 06:46 pm

In search for life, more planet 'candidates' are found. Are any just right?

For a planet to support life, it faces long odds: It has to be the right size, right composition, and right distance from its star. On Monday astronomers announced a trove of new planet 'candidates.'
09/12/2011 09:27 pm

NASA's Messenger probe beams back amazing images of Mercury

NASA's Messenger probe, the first spacecraft ever to orbit Mercury, has already taken more than 20,000 images.
06/17/2011 04:56 pm

How Mercury is like Saturn (and other surprises from NASA's orbiter)

NASA's Messenger craft has been orbiting Mercury for 88 days. Among its findings: a Saturn-like magnetic field, high concentrations of sulfur, and some support for the notion there is water ice in shadowed craters.
06/16/2011 08:00 pm

End of the world May 21st? About a billion years too soon, astronomers say.

Beginning of the end of the world: May 21st is what a California minister (with a considerable following) predicts. Scientists, for their part, consider the sun's 'habitable zone' in calculating when Earth will become toast.
05/20/2011 05:54 pm

In tonight's meteor shower, watch falling debris from Halley's Comet

Halley's Comet won't be back for half a century, but tonight Earth will move through some of the debris the comet left behind, creating a spectacular meteor shower – if you live far enough south.
05/05/2011 08:55 pm

First photo of Mercury from orbiting spacecraft

The first of thousands of new photos of Mercury was released by NASA Tuesday. The Messenger spacecraft is the first to orbit Mercury and has begun a one-year mission to map the planet closest to the Sun.
03/30/2011 09:54 am

NASA milestone: MESSENGER spacecraft enters orbit around Mercury

Mercury had been excluded from the travels of instrument-loaded orbiters because of the difficulty of the mission – until now. On Thursday, the NASA MESSENGER started orbiting the planet.
03/18/2011 02:09 pm

In Pictures Space photos of the day: Mercury

NASA probe poised to be first to orbit Mercury

After a journey of 6 1/2 years, nearly 15 laps around the sun, NASA's Messenger spacecraft will perform its orbital insertion maneuver on Thursday, becoming the first spacecraft to enter Mercury's orbit.
03/16/2011 03:16 pm

Kepler telescope's astonishing haul: 54 planet-candidates in 'habitable zone'

The Kepler space telescope is designed to look for planets like Earth that could have life. But no one expected it to find 54 planet-candidates at Goldilocks distances from their stars – not too warm or cold for life as we know it – in its first four months of operation.
02/02/2011 07:17 pm

In search for Earth-size world, a historic first: Kepler finds rocky planet

For the first time, scientists have confirmed an exoplanet that is rocky like Earth – not a gas giant. It's also 2,500 degrees F and denser than iron, so it's no candidate for life, say members of the team working with the planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft.
01/10/2011 05:09 pm

Kepler-10b: NASA discovers smallest planet outside our solar system

The planet Kepler-10b, spotted by NASA's planet-hunting space telescope, is just 1.4 times larger than Earth.
01/10/2011 04:26 pm

Hey, space hounds! Here's our top space stories of 2010. What are yours?

A burping black hole, water in weird places, and whopper-size new planets are some top space stories of 2010. If you have different discoveries on your list, post them in the comments section.
12/22/2010 01:54 pm

Geminid meteor shower 2010: Why is the Phaethon asteroid going to pieces?

Geminid meteor shower 2010 climaxes between midnight Monday and dawn Tuesday. But the spectacle also poses a question: Why is the asteroid that supplies the meteorites breaking apart?
12/13/2010 06:58 pm

Should Pluto be restored as a planet? Experts weigh in.

New calculations indicate that Pluto might be the largest object in the outer solar system. Does it now deserve to be called a planet again?
11/22/2010 05:52 pm

Found: a planet not from the Milky Way, circling a star in its death throes

For the first time, scientists have found a solar system that was not formed in the Milky Way galaxy. What's more, the planet is in danger of being eaten by its host star.
11/18/2010 07:34 pm

Other Earths? A new estimate raises the odds of finding them.

Researchers predict finding many Earth-sized planets around sun-like stars, right in our own galaxy. But don't pack your bags just yet – you might not want to live on them.
10/29/2010 09:16 am

In Pictures Space photos of the day: The Moon