SUNSET: 
Rosetta Catches Its Comet
On August 6th, the ESA's Rosetta spacecraft finally completed its decade-long voyage to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
NASA Gears Up for Mars 2020 Rover
Six years from now, there will be a new NASA robot heading to the Red Planet: the Mars 2020 rover. On July 31st mission planners unveiled the rover’s seven scientific instruments, which will pave the way for human exploration of Mars.
Rosetta's Comet has a Split Personality
The Rosetta spacecraft is closing in on Comet 67P/C-G, providing astronomers with an ever more detailed view of its structure. Judging by the latest photos, it actually has two components and is shaped like… a rubber ducky?
One Year Until New Horizons
New Horizons will reach Pluto a year from today, and the scientific community is abuzz with speculation about what the space probe might see when it gets there. Meanwhile, the New Horizons team scours the skies for a Kuiper Belt Object that New Horizons can visit after its Pluto flyby.
Is Mercury a Hit-and-Run Survivor?
How did the the innermost planet get its huge iron core? New computer modeling suggests that Mercury is a lucky survivor of chaotic primordial smashups.
Rosetta's Comet Sleeps Again
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko only woke briefly before starting another nap, expected on-again-off-again behavior that bodes well for the comet-chasing spacecraft's arrival in August 2014.
NASA Amassing Targets for Asteroid Mission
Despite skepticism from scientists and politicians alike, NASA is proceeding with its asteroid redirect mission and has found six candidates for exploration so far.
Kepler: Revived and Working Again
NASA’s crippled planet-hunting spacecraft has been reworked for at least two years of productive new missions.
35-year-old ISEE 3 Craft Phones Home
Although its scientific work for NASA ended in the early 1980s, the International Sun-Earth Explorer never quite died — and this week it was revived by a team of volunteers intent on letting it continue exploring interplanetary space.
New, Intriguing Double Martian Crater
A small asteroid slammed into the Martian surface sometime between March 27 and 28, 2012, creating a crater swarm in the ground. The largest pit is 159 feet across.
Opportunity Rover Gets a Cleaning
The Mars rover Opportunity has been cleaned of heavy dust coating its solar panels, thanks to some strong winds blowing over the rim of Endeavour Crater.
Drama at Saturn: The Birth (or Demise) of a Moonlet?
New images from NASA’s Cassini mission show bright spots along Saturn’s A ring, likely caused by a small moonlet in the process of forming or shattering.
LADEE Skims the Moon Before Crash
NASA has a fully functioning spacecraft orbiting the Moon, all science goals completed, and a lunar eclipse coming up. It's a perfect opportunity to make some risky but potentially rewarding swoops within 2 miles of the lunar surface.
Rosetta Spots Its Comet
The European Space Agency’s comet-chasing spacecraft has imaged its destination for the first time since waking up from 957 days of hibernation.
Interactive Mosaic of Moon's North Pole
With the first interactive lunar north pole mosaic released by the NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera team you can explore an area of the Moon’s northern hemisphere about the size of Alaska and Texas combined.
The Incredible, Shrinking Mercury
Now that they've seen all of the innermost planet up close, geologists realize that Mercury's crust buckled and fractured as the planet cooled and shrank far more than previously measured.
Satellite Lost and Found in Space
SkyCube, a crowd-funded nanosatellite built to engage the public in space exploration, has been deployed from the International Space Station. Now its creators are anxiously waiting to establish two-way contact.
A Meteorite Lights up the Lunar Night
Astronomers have witnessed the largest lunar impact to date. With an impact energy equivalent to 15 tons of TNT — approximately 3 times as great as the previous record-holder — the flash was visible even to the naked-eye.
Pesky Problems for Lunar Reflectors
For more than 40 years, astronomers have been firing lasers at specially-designed reflectors left on the lunar surface. But over time they've gotten dusty — and especially finicky whenever there's a full Moon.
Curiosity Navigates the Crossroads
NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory — Curiosity — has successfully crossed a sand dune standing between the rover and its final science destination.
