SUNSET: 
NASA to Snag a Near-Earth Asteroid
Not content to let private companies have all the fun in asteroid exploration and exploitation, NASA managers have proposed a high-flying mission that would capture a small asteroid and dispatch astronauts to study it — all within the next decade.
Is Saturn's Family Showing Its Age?
A detailed analysis of Cassini images suggests that the rings of moons of Saturn are ancient creations that in recent times have been coated to varying degrees by a dark, reddish patina.
Curiosity Wades Into Mudstone and More
In the six months since it landed onto the floor of Gale crater, NASA's newest rover has found plenty of evidence that this bit of Mars was soaking wet — and probably more than once.
Radar Reveals Martian Flood Channels
Using a ground-penetrating radar instrument, researchers have "unearthed" new details about one of the Red Planet's most recent catastrophic floods.
Watching GRAIL's Demise
When a pair of small spacecraft crashed into a mountain on the Moon last December 17th, NASA's eagle-eyed Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter looked on — and recorded not only the debris kicked up by each impact but also the tiny craters they made.
Habitable Oasis on Mars?
The results from the Curiosity rover's first rock-drilling are in: the rock formed in the presence of fairly neutral, not-too-salty water and has a chemical makeup that might have provided energy for microorganisms.
Update on Russia's Mega-Meteor
The cosmic intruder that exploded so spectacularly over Chelyabinsk last month was a typical asteroidal fragment. Now researchers are piecing together the story of its arrival and aftermath.
Mars has Front-Row Seat for 2014 Comet
Comet Siding Spring (C/2013 A1) has a small chance of striking the Red Planet in October 2014. It'll likely miss — but come close enough to put on a spectacular show for spacecraft on or near the planet.
Earth Briefly Gains Third Radiation Belt
Last September, just days after launching twin spacecraft deep into Earth's magnetosphere, space physicists discovered a third region of trapped high-energy particles in the Van Allen radiation belts.
Scorching Rain on the Sun
NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory captures "coronal rain," a beautiful and mysterious phenomenon on the Sun.
Info on Russian Meteor Pours In
The fireball that exploded over Russia on February 15th left more than a million square feet of damaged windows, bringing home how fragile life on Earth can be. Here's what S&T's staff has managed to piece together about what happened.
"Black Rain" on Callisto and Ganymede
Those distant, dinky irregular moons of Jupiter are likely responsible for deep drifts of dark dirt on the two largest Galilean satellites.
Lessons from the Russian Meteor Blast
Friday's meteorite explosion over Russia offers the strongest motivation yet for investigation of near-Earth objects.
Name Pluto's Moons!
Two of Pluto's moons have no proper names, but that's about to change. Planetary astronomer Mark Showalter announces a contest where you can help name the newest discoveries.
The First-Ever Meteorite from Mercury?
Is this a piece of the innermost planet? Northwest Africa 7325 is a meteorite like no other — in fact, it's a near-perfect geochemical match to the surface of Mercury.
Water Once Flowed Under Mars's Surface
Fossilized wrinkles in impact craters suggest once again that water might once have flowed on Mars — this time, beneath the surface.
Floating Ice on Titan?
Astronomers had thought that ice on the Saturnian moon's methane-ethane seas would sink. But a new study suggests that, if the right conditions are met, ice could actually float on this alien-Earth world.
Asteroid Apophis Takes a Pass in 2036
The early results are in from a giant radar dish tracking asteroid 99942 Apophis, and it's good news for planet Earth: there's essentially no chance that this threatening object will hit us in 2036.
A Chunk of Martian Crust — on Earth!
The meteorite known as NWA 7034 is a 2-billion-year-old sample of the Red Planet's crust, with unique geochemical properties and far higher water content than that of any other Martian meteorite.
Sutter's Mill: A Meteoritic Gold Mine
When a brilliant daylight fireball broke apart over California on April 22nd, professional and amateur meteorite hunters sprang into action — and their effort to recover fragments quickly has been dramatically rewarded.
