Explore
Major Moons
We have completed reconnaissance missions to all eight of the planets, and will soon perform surveys of two dwarf planets, Ceres and Pluto. Among the most compelling targets for future flagship missions are the solar system's moons. Can we use Phobos as a base from which to tele-operate Mars missions? Is there prebiotic chemistry or even life within the buried oceans of Europa, Ganymede, or Enceladus, or in the methane-ethane rivers and lakes on Titan? What could we learn about the Kuiper belt by studying Neptune's captured moon Triton? What could human explorers do on our own Moon using technology developed over the last 40 years?
These questions drive interest in future missions among scientists, but it's an uphill battle to sell decisionmakers on the value of expensive missions to objects that are "only" moons. For us to capitalize on the successes of our reconnaissance missions, it is essential to educate the public about the reasons that other worlds' moons are so exciting, and that they are worlds every bit as worthy of study as the planets.
Recent Blog Entries about our Moon, Phobos, Europa, Ganymede, Enceladus, Titan, and Triton
New Horizons workshop, day 1: Chemistry & climate on Pluto & other cold places
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/08/30 11:27 CDT
New Horizons workshop, day 1: Chemistry & climate on Pluto & other cold places
Pretty picture: Earth and Moon from JunoCam
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/08/30 11:53 CDT
Pretty picture: Earth and Moon from JunoCam
Pretty picture: five moons for Cassini
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/08/03 09:57 CDT
Explaining how to combine the red, green and blue images from a recent Cassini image session containing five of Saturn's moons: Janus, Pandora, Enceladus, Mimas and Rhea.
Cassini animations: Rhea and Dione and Titan
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/06/28 04:12 CDT
I've been mucking about in the Cassini data archives (as I often do when procrastinating) and unearthed a neat, if short, mutual event sequence of two crescent moons passing by each other.
Posted by James Wray on 2011/06/11 01:10 CDT
For now, Mars continues to eclipse Jupiter's moon Europa (shown here to scale) in NASA's flagship mission plans, but not in its appeal to many planetary scientists.
Shuttle LIFE Organisms Return from Space
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2011/06/09 05:40 CDT
Shuttle LIFE Organisms Return from Space
We did it -- Shuttle LIFE launches!
Posted by Bill Nye on 2011/05/16 09:39 CDT
Today at 8:56 a.m. EDT, Space Shuttle Endeavour launched on its final mission, and we are part of this historic moment!
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/04/01 03:08 CDT
Here's a photo worthy of hanging on the wall: a gorgeous, 4000-pixel-square portrait of the full Moon captured by Rolf Hempel from Germany on the night of the "Supermoon."
Connect With Us
Facebook! Twitter! Google+ and more…
Continue the conversation with our online community!
