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Mercury Exploration of a Pla
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MERCURY: EXPLORATION OF A PL
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1976
| Description |
MERCURY: EXPLORATION OF A PLANET (EPISODE 2) HQ 282 - (1976) - 28 Minutes The flight of the Mariner 10 spacecraft to Venus and Mercury is detailed in animation and photography. Views of Mercury are featured. Included is animation on the origin of the solar system. Dr. Bruce C. Murray, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, comments on the mission. |
| Date |
1976 |
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -
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10/15/97
| Date |
10/15/97 |
| Description |
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A seven-year journey to the ringed planet Saturn begins with the liftoff of a Titan IVB/Centaur carrying the Cassini orbiter and its attached Huygens probe. This spectacular streak shot was taken from Hangar AF on Cape Canaveral Air Station, with a solid rocket booster retrieval ship in the foreground. Launch occurred at 4:43 a.m. EDT, Oct. 15, from Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Station. After a 2.2-billion mile journey that will include two swingbys of Venus and one of Earth to gain additional velocity, the two-story tall spacecraft will arrive at Saturn in July 2004. The orbiter will circle the planet for four years, its complement of 12 scientific instruments gathering data about Saturn's atmosphere, rings and magnetosphere and conducting closeup observations of the Saturnian moons. Huygens, with a separate suite of six science instruments, will separate from Cassini to fly on a ballistic trajectory toward Titan, the only celestial body besides Earth to have an atmosphere rich in nitrogen. Scientists are eager to study further this chemical similarity in hopes of learning more about the origins of our own planet Earth. Huygens will provide the first direct sampling of Titan's atmospheric chemistry and the first detailed photographs of its surface. The Cassini mission is an international effort involving NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI). The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the U.S. contribution to the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science. The major U.S. contractor is Lockheed Martin, which provided the launch vehicle and upper stage, spacecraft propulsion module and radioisotope thermoelectric generators that will provide power for the spacecraft. The Titan IV/Centaur is a U.S. Air Force launch vehicle, and launch operations were managed by the 45th Space Wing. |
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -
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10/15/97
| Date |
10/15/97 |
| Description |
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A seven-year journey to the ringed planet Saturn begins with the liftoff of a Titan IVB/Centaur carrying the Cassini orbiter and its attached Huygens probe. Launch occurred at 4:43 a.m. EDT, Oct. 15, from Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Station. After a 2.2-billion mile journey that will include two swingbys of Venus and one of Earth to gain additional velocity, the two-story tall spacecraft will arrive at Saturn in July 2004. The orbiter will circle the planet for four years, its complement of 12 scientific instruments gathering data about Saturn's atmosphere, rings and magnetosphere and conducting closeup observations of the Saturnian moons. Huygens, with a separate suite of six science instruments, will separate from Cassini to fly on a ballistic trajectory toward Titan, the only celestial body besides Earth to have an atmosphere rich in nitrogen. Scientists are eager to study further this chemical similarity in hopes of learning more about the origins of our own planet Earth. Huygens will provide the first direct sampling of Titan's atmospheric chemistry and the first detailed photographs of its surface. The Cassini mission is an international effort involving NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI). The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the U.S. contribution to the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science. The major U.S. contractor is Lockheed Martin, which provided the launch vehicle and upper stage, spacecraft propulsion module and radioisotope thermoelectric generators that will provide power for the spacecraft. The Titan IV/Centaur is a U.S. Air Force launch vehicle, and launch operations were managed by the 45th Space Wing. |
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -
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10/15/97
| Date |
10/15/97 |
| Description |
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A seven-year journey to the ringed planet Saturn begins with the liftoff of a Titan IVB/Centaur carrying the Cassini orbiter and its attached Huygens probe. Launch occurred at 4:43 a.m. EDT, Oct. 15, from Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Station. After a 2.2-billion mile journey that will include two swingbys of Venus and one of Earth to gain additional velocity, the two-story tall spacecraft will arrive at Saturn in July 2004. The orbiter will circle the planet for four years, its complement of 12 scientific instruments gathering data about Saturn's atmosphere, rings and magnetosphere and conducting closeup observations of the Saturnian moons. Huygens, with a separate suite of six science instruments, will separate from Cassini to fly on a ballistic trajectory toward Titan, the only celestial body besides Earth to have an atmosphere rich in nitrogen. Scientists are eager to study further this chemical similarity in hopes of learning more about the origins of our own planet Earth. Huygens will provide the first direct sampling of Titan's atmospheric chemistry and the first detailed photographs of its surface. The Cassini mission is an international effort involving NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI). The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the U.S. contribution to the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science. The major U.S. contractor is Lockheed Martin, which provided the launch vehicle and upper stage, spacecraft propulsion module and radioisotope thermoelectric generators that will provide power for the spacecraft. The Titan IV/Centaur is a U.S. Air Force launch vehicle, and launch operations were managed by the 45th Space Wing. |
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -
…
10/15/97
| Date |
10/15/97 |
| Description |
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A seven-year journey to the ringed planet Saturn begins with the liftoff of a Titan IVB/Centaur carrying the Cassini orbiter and its attached Huygens probe. Launch occurred at 4:43 a.m. EDT, Oct. 15, from Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Station. After a 2.2-billion mile journey that will include two swingbys of Venus and one of Earth to gain additional velocity, the two-story tall spacecraft will arrive at Saturn in July 2004. The orbiter will circle the planet for four years, its complement of 12 scientific instruments gathering data about Saturn's atmosphere, rings and magnetosphere and conducting closeup observations of the Saturnian moons. Huygens, with a separate suite of six science instruments, will separate from Cassini to fly on a ballistic trajectory toward Titan, the only celestial body besides Earth to have an atmosphere rich in nitrogen. Scientists are eager to study further this chemical similarity in hopes of learning more about the origins of our own planet Earth. Huygens will provide the first direct sampling of Titan's atmospheric chemistry and the first detailed photographs of its surface. The Cassini mission is an international effort involving NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI). The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the U.S. contribution to the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science. The major U.S. contractor is Lockheed Martin, which provided the launch vehicle and upper stage, spacecraft propulsion module and radioisotope thermoelectric generators that will provide power for the spacecraft. The Titan IV/Centaur is a U.S. Air Force launch vehicle, and launch operations were managed by the 45th Space Wing. |
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -
…
10/15/97
| Date |
10/15/97 |
| Description |
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A seven-year journey to the ringed planet Saturn begins with the liftoff of a Titan IVB/Centaur carrying the Cassini orbiter and its attached Huygens probe. Launch occurred at 4:43 a.m. EDT, Oct. 15, from Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Station. After a 2.2-billion mile journey that will include two swingbys of Venus and one of Earth to gain additional velocity, the two-story tall spacecraft will arrive at Saturn in July 2004. The orbiter will circle the planet for four years, its complement of 12 scientific instruments gathering data about Saturn's atmosphere, rings and magnetosphere and conducting closeup observations of the Saturnian moons. Huygens, with a separate suite of six science instruments, will separate from Cassini to fly on a ballistic trajectory toward Titan, the only celestial body besides Earth to have an atmosphere rich in nitrogen. Scientists are eager to study further this chemical similarity in hopes of learning more about the origins of our own planet Earth. Huygens will provide the first direct sampling of Titan's atmospheric chemistry and the first detailed photographs of its surface. The Cassini mission is an international effort involving NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI). The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the U.S. contribution to the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science. The major U.S. contractor is Lockheed Martin, which provided the launch vehicle and upper stage, spacecraft propulsion module and radioisotope thermoelectric generators that will provide power for the spacecraft. The Titan IV/Centaur is a U.S. Air Force launch vehicle, and launch operations were managed by the 45th Space Wing. |
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This picture of Venus was ca
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| Description |
This picture of Venus was captured by the Mariner 10 spacecraft during its approach to the planet in early 1974. Taken with the spacecraft's imaging system using an ultraviolet filter, the picture has been color enhanced to simulate Venus's natural color as the human eye would see it. Although the planet closest to the Earth in size and distance from the Sun, Venus is perpetually blanketed by a thick veil of clouds high in carbon dioxide, its surface temperature approaches 900 degrees Fahrenheit. Launched on November 3, 1973 atop an Atlas Centaur rocket, Mariner 10 flew by Venus on February 5, 1974. It then went on to an encounter with Mercury, thus becoming the first spacecraft ever to fly by more than one planet. Mariner 10 was designed, built and managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications. |
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Mariner 2, the world's first
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| Description |
Mariner 2, the world's first successful interplanetary spacecraft, was launched August 27, 1962 and passed 34,916 kilometers (21,648 miles) from Venus on December 14, 1962. Mariner 2 measured the temperatures of the clouds and surface of Venus as well as fields and particles near the planet and in interplaentary space. Contact was lost January 3, 1963 when the spacecraft was 86.9 million kilometers (53.9 million miles) from Earth. Mariner 2 was designed, built and controlled in flight by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA. |
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This artist's rendering show
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| Description |
This artist's rendering shows the Magellan spacecraft in an elliptical orbit around Venus and illustrates the mapping and data transmission phases of the mission. During the mapping phase, the spacecraft turns its large antenna toward Venus. For 37 minutes, the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) maps the 15 mile wide swath from the north pole to 66 degrees south latitude, acquiring imaging, altimetry and radiometry data. As the spacecraft reaches the high point of its orbit, the antenna is turned toward Earth and, for 115 minutes, the data is transmitted to Earth receiving stations. Magellan Mission Launched May 4, 1989, the Magellan spacecraft was designed to conduct the most comprehensive observation of the surface and gravitational features of Venus ever undertaken. During its 243 day (one Venus rotation) primary mission, the spacecraft will map up to 90 percent of the planet with high resolution imaging radar and will return more digital imaging data than all previous U.S. planetary missions combined. Lifted into Earth orbit by a shuttle, Magellan was sent on its 15 month journey to Venus by an Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) booster rocket. On arrival at Venus, a solid rocket motor will insert the spacecraft into an elliptical orbit and then will be jettisoned. For 37 minutes of each orbit, the imaging radar, called Synthetic Aperture Radar or SAR, will image a 15 mile wide swath of Venus' surface while also acquiring altimetry and radiometry data to determine the altitudes and temperatures of surface features. Then as the spacecraft moves toward the high point of its orbit, Magellan will turn its large antenna toward Earth and, for 115 minutes, transmit the radar data at 268 kilobits (1 kilobit equals 1,000 bits of data) per second to Earth receiving stations. Also during this period, gravity data will be acquired as small accelerations of the spacecraft are measured from Earth. ##### JPL 400·344C, Rev 1 12189 This artist's rendering shows the Magellan spacecraft in an elliptical orbit around Venus and illustrates the mapping and data-transmission phases of the mission. During the mapping phase, the spacecraft will turn its large antenna toward Venus. For 37 minutes, the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) will map a 15-mile-wide swath from the north pole to 66 degrees south latitude, acquiring imaging, altimetry, and radiometry data. As the spacecraft reaches the high point of its orbit, the antenna will turn toward Earth and, for 115 minutes, the data will be transmitted to Earth receiving stations. Magellan Mission On arrival at Venus in August 1990, the Magellan spacecraft will begin the most comprehensive observation of the surface and gravitational features of Venus ever undertaken. During its 243-day (one Venus rotation) primary mission, the spacecraft will map up to 90 percent of the planet with high-resolution imaging radar and will return more digital imaging data than all previous U.S. planetary missions combined. For 37 minutes of each three-hour elliptical orbit, the imaging radar, called Synthetic Aperture Radar or SAR, will image a 15-mile-wide swath of Venus' surface while also acquiring altimetry and radiometry data to determine the altitudes and temperatures of surface features. Then, as the spacecraft moves toward the high point of its orbit, Magellan will turn its large antenna toward Earth and, for 115 minutes, will transmit the radar data at 268 kilobits (1 kilobit equals 1,000 bits of data) per second to Earth receiving stations. Also during this period, gravity data will be acquired as ground engineers measure slight changes in the spacecraft's orbital motion. |
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These images are composites
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3/16/95
| Date |
3/16/95 |
| Description |
These images are composites of the complete radar image collection obtained by the Magellan mission. The Magellan spacecraft was launched aboard space shuttle Atlantis in May 1989 and began mapping the surface of Venus in September 1990. The spacecraft continued to orbit Venus for four years, returning high-resolution images, altimetry, thermal emissions and gravity maps of 98 percent of the surface. Magellan spacecraft operations ended on October 12, 1994, when the radio contact was lost with the spacecraft during its controlled descent into the deeper portions of the Venusian atmosphere. The surface of Venus is displayed in these five global views. The center image (A) is centered at Venus’s north pole. The other four images are centered around the equator of Venus at (B) 0 degrees longitude, (C) 90 degrees east longitude, (D) 180 degrees and (E) 270 degrees east longitude. Magellan synthetic aperture radar mosaics are mapped onto a rectangular latitude-longitude grid to create this image. Data gaps are filled with Pioneer-Venus Orbiter altimetric data, or a constant mid- range value. Simulated color is used to enhance small-scale structure. The simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Soviet Venera 13 and 14 spacecraft. The bright region near the center in the polar view is Maxwell Montes, the highest mountain range on Venus. Ovda Regio is centered in the (C) 90 degrees east longitude view. Atla Regio is seen prominently in the (D) 180 east longitude view. The scattered dark patches in this image are halos surrounding some of the younger impact craters. This global data set reveals a number of craters consistent with an average Venus surface age of 300 million to 500 million years. The image was produced by the Solar System Visualization Project and the Magellan science team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory'’s Multimission Image Processing Laboratory. ##### |
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This image is a composite of
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3/16/95
| Date |
3/16/95 |
| Description |
This image is a composite of the complete radar image collection obtained by the Magellan mission. The Magellan spacecraft was launched aboard space shuttle Atlantis in May 1989 and began mapping the surface of Venus in September 1990. The spacecraft continued to orbit Venus for four years, returning high- resolution images, altimetry, thermal emissions and gravity maps of 98 percent of the surface. Magellan spacecraft operations ended on October 12, 1994, when the radio contact was lost with the spacecraft during its controlled descent into the deeper portions of the Venusian atmosphere. Venus is displayed in this simple cylindrical map of the planet's surface. The right and left edges of the image are at 240 degrees east longitude. The top and bottom of the image are at 90 degrees north latitude and 90 degrees south latitude, respectively. Magellan synthetic aperture radar mosaics are mapped onto a rectangular latitude- longitude grid to create this image. Data gaps are filled with Pioneer-Venus Orbiter altimetric data, or a constant mid-range value. Simulated color is used to enhance small-scale structure. The simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Soviet Venera 13 and 14 spacecraft. At the top, left of center, the bright region is Maxwell Montes, the highest mountain range on Venus. Extending along the equator to the right of center is Aphrodite Terra, a large highland region on Venus. The scattered dark patches in this image are halos surrounding some of the younger impact craters. This global data set reveals a number of craters consistent with an average Venus surface age of 300 million to 500 million years. The image was produced by the Solar System Visualization Project and the Magellan science team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory'’s Multimission Image Processing Laboratory. ##### |
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Magellan
This hemispheric view of Ven
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3/16/95
| Date |
3/16/95 |
| Description |
This hemispheric view of Venus, as revealed by more than a decade of radar investigations culminating in the 1990-1994 Magellan mission, is centered at 270 degrees east longitude. The Magellan spacecraft imaged more than 98 percent of Venus at a resolution of about 100 meters, the effective resolution of this image is about 3 kilometers. A mosaic of the Magellan images (most with illumination from the west) forms the image base. Gaps in the Magellan coverage were filled with images from the Earth- based Arecibo radar in a region centered roughly on 0 degrees latitude and longitude, and with a neutral tone elsewhere (primarily near the south pole). The composite image was processed to improve contrast and to emphasize small features, and was color-coded to represent elevation. Gaps in the elevation data from the Magellan radar altimeter were filled with altimetry from the Venera spacecraft and the U.S. Pioneer Venus missions. An Orthographic projection was used, simulating a distant view of one hemisphere of the planet. The Magellan mission was managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA. Data processed by JPL, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, and the U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ. ##### |
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Magellan
This hemispheric view of Ven
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3/16/95
| Date |
3/16/95 |
| Description |
This hemispheric view of Venus, as revealed by more than a decade of radar investigations culminating in the 1990-1994 Magellan mission, is centered at 0 degrees east longitude. The Magellan spacecraft imaged more than 98 percent of Venus at a resolution of about 100 meters, the effective resolution of this image is about 3 kilometers. A mosaic of the Magellan images (most with illumination from the west) forms the image base. Gaps in the Magellan coverage were filled with images from the Earth-based Arecibo radar in a region centered roughly on 0 degrees latitude and longitude, and with a neutral tone elsewhere (primarily near the south pole). The composite image was processed to improve contrast and to emphasize small features, and was color-coded to represent elevation. Gaps in the elevation data from the Magellan radar altimeter were filled with altimetry from the Venera spacecraft and the U.S. Pioneer Venus missions. An Orthographic projection was used, simulating a distant view of one hemisphere of the planet. The Magellan mission was managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA. Data processed by JPL, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, and the U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ. |
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Magellan
This hemispheric view of Ven
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3/16/95
| Date |
3/16/95 |
| Description |
This hemispheric view of Venus, as revealed by more than a decade of radar investigations culminating in the 1990-1994 Magellan mission, is centered at 90 degrees east longitude. The Magellan spacecraft imaged more than 98 percent of Venus at a resolution of about 100 meters, the effective resolution of this image is about 3 kilometers. A mosaic of the Magellan images (most with illumination from the west) forms the image base. Gaps in the Magellan coverage were filled with images from the Earth- based Arecibo radar in a region centered roughly on 0 degrees latitude and longitude, and with a neutral tone elsewhere (primarily near the south pole). The composite image was processed to improve contrast and to emphasize small features, and was color-coded to represent elevation. Gaps in the elevation data from the Magellan radar altimeter were filled with altimetry from the Venera spacecraft and the U.S. Pioneer Venus missions. An Orthographic projection was used, simulating a distant view of one hemisphere of the planet. The Magellan mission was managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA. Data processed by JPL, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, and the U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ. |
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Magellan
This hemispheric view of Ven
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3/16/95
| Date |
3/16/95 |
| Description |
This hemispheric view of Venus, as revealed by more than a decade of radar investigations culminating in the 1990-1994 Magellan mission, is centered at the North Pole. The Magellan spacecraft imaged more than 98 percent of Venus at a resolution of about 100 meters, the effective resolution of this image is about 3 kilometers. A mosaic of the Magellan images (most with illumination from the west) forms the image base. Gaps in the Magellan coverage were filled with images from the Earth-based Arecibo radar in a region centered roughly on 0 degrees latitude and longitude, and with a neutral tone elsewhere (primarily near the south pole). The composite image was processed to improve contrast and to emphasize small features, and was color-coded to represent elevation. Gaps in the elevation data from the Magellan radar altimeter were filled with altimetry from the Venera spacecraft and the U.S. Pioneer Venus missions. An Orthographic projection was used, simulating a distant view of one hemisphere of the planet. The Magellan mission was managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA. Data processed by JPL, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, and the U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ. ##### |
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Band of Rubble
| Title |
Band of Rubble |
| Description |
This artist's animation illustrates a massive asteroid belt in orbit around a star the same age and size as our Sun. Evidence for this possible belt was discovered by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope when it spotted warm dust around the star, presumably from asteroids smashing together. The view starts from outside the belt, where planets like the one shown here might possibly reside, then moves into to the dusty belt itself. A collision between two asteroids is depicted near the end of the movie. Collisions like this replenish the dust in the asteroid belt, making it detectable to Spitzer. The alien belt circles a faint, nearby star called HD 69830 located 41 light-years away in the constellation Puppis. Compared to our own solar system's asteroid belt, this one is larger and closer to its star -- it is 25 times as massive, and lies just inside an orbit equivalent to that of Venus. Our asteroid belt circles between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Because Jupiter acts as an outer wall to our asteroid belt, shepherding its debris into a series of bands, it is possible that an unseen planet is likewise marshalling this belt's rubble. Previous observations using the radial velocity technique did not locate any large gas giant planets, indicating that any planets present in this system would have to be the size of Saturn or smaller. Asteroids are chunks of rock from "failed" planets, which never managed to coalesce into full-sized planets. Asteroid belts can be thought of as construction sites that accompany the building of rocky planets. |
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It's a Rocky World
| Title |
It's a Rocky World |
| Description |
This artist's concept show a massive asteroid belt in orbit around a star the same age and size as our Sun. Evidence for this possible belt was discovered by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope when it spotted warm dust around the star, presumably from asteroids smashing together. The view is from outside the belt, where planets like the one shown in the foreground, might possibly reside. A collision between two asteroids is depicted to the right. Collisions like this replenish the dust in the asteroid belt, making it detectable to Spitzer. The alien belt circles a faint, nearby star called HD 69830 located 41 light-years away in the constellation Puppis. Compared to our own solar system's asteroid belt, this one is larger and closer to its star -- it is 25 times as massive, and lies just inside an orbit equivalent to that of Venus. Our asteroid belt circles between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Because Jupiter acts as an outer wall to our asteroid belt, shepherding its debris into a series of bands, it is possible that an unseen planet is likewise marshalling this belt's rubble. Previous observations using the radial velocity technique did not locate any large gas giant planets, indicating that any planets present in this system would have to be the size of Saturn or smaller. Asteroids are chunks of rock from "failed" planets, which never managed to coalesce into full-sized planets. Asteroid belts can be thought of as construction sites that accompany the building of rocky planets. |
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Blacker than Black
| Title |
Blacker than Black |
| Description |
This artist's animation illustrates the hottest planet yet observed in the universe. The scorching ball of gas, a "hot Jupiter" called HD 149026b, is a sweltering 3,700 degrees Fahrenheit (2,040 degrees Celsius) -- about three times hotter than the rocky surface of Venus, the hottest planet in our solar system. The planet is so hot that astronomers believe it is absorbing almost all of the heat from its star, and reflecting very little to no light. Objects that reflect no sunlight are black. Consequently, HD 149026b might be the blackest known planet in the universe, in addition to the hottest. The temperature of this dark and balmy planet was taken with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. While the planet reflects no visible light, its heat causes it to radiate a little visible and a lot of infrared light. Spitzer, an infrared observatory, was able to measure this infrared light through a technique called secondary eclipse. HD 149026b is what is known as a transiting planet, which means that it crosses in front of and passes behind its star -- the secondary eclipse -- when viewed from Earth. By determining the drop in total infrared light that occurs when the planet disappears, astronomers can figure out how much infrared light is coming from the planet alone. The Spitzer observations of HD 149026b also suggest a hot spot in the middle of the side of the planet that always faces its star. Even though the planet is black, the spot would glow like a black lump of charcoal. HD 149026b is thought to be tidally locked, just as our moon is to Earth, such that one side of the planet is perpetually baked under the heat of its sun. Astronomers think that HD 149026b is probably blazing hot on its sunlit side, and much cooler on its dark side. A similar phenomenon was observed previously by Spitzer for the planet Upsilon Andromedae b. In the case of both planets, heat is not being evenly distributed across their surfaces. This is the opposite of what happens on Jupiter, where temperature differences are minimal all around. HD 149026b is located 256 light-years away in the constellation Hercules. It is the smallest known transiting planet, with a size similar to Saturn's and a suspected dense core 70 to 90 times the mass of Earth. It speeds around its star every 2.9 days. |
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Blacker than Black (Widescre
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| Title |
Blacker than Black (Widescreen Version) |
| Description |
This artist's animation illustrates the hottest planet yet observed in the universe. The scorching ball of gas, a "hot Jupiter" called HD 149026b, is a sweltering 3,700 degrees Fahrenheit (2,040 degrees Celsius) -- about three times hotter than the rocky surface of Venus, the hottest planet in our solar system. The planet is so hot that astronomers believe it is absorbing almost all of the heat from its star, and reflecting very little to no light. Objects that reflect no sunlight are black. Consequently, HD 149026b might be the blackest known planet in the universe, in addition to the hottest. The temperature of this dark and balmy planet was taken with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. While the planet reflects no visible light, its heat causes it to radiate a little visible and a lot of infrared light. Spitzer, an infrared observatory, was able to measure this infrared light through a technique called secondary eclipse. HD 149026b is what is known as a transiting planet, which means that it crosses in front of and passes behind its star -- the secondary eclipse -- when viewed from Earth. By determining the drop in total infrared light that occurs when the planet disappears, astronomers can figure out how much infrared light is coming from the planet alone. The Spitzer observations of HD 149026b also suggest a hot spot in the middle of the side of the planet that always faces its star. Even though the planet is black, the spot would glow like a black lump of charcoal. HD 149026b is thought to be tidally locked, just as our moon is to Earth, such that one side of the planet is perpetually baked under the heat of its sun. Astronomers think that HD 149026b is probably blazing hot on its sunlit side, and much cooler on its dark side. A similar phenomenon was observed previously by Spitzer for the planet Upsilon Andromedae b. In the case of both planets, heat is not being evenly distributed across their surfaces. This is the opposite of what happens on Jupiter, where temperature differences are minimal all around. HD 149026b is located 256 light-years away in the constellation Hercules. It is the smallest known transiting planet, with a size similar to Saturn's and a suspected dense core 70 to 90 times the mass of Earth. It speeds around its star every 2.9 days. |
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Orbit of Sedna
| Title |
Orbit of Sedna |
| Description |
This animation shows the location of the newly discovered planet-like object, dubbed "Sedna," in relation to the rest of the Solar System. Starting at the inner Solar System, which includes the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars (all in yellow), the view pulls away through the asteroid belt and the orbits of the outer planets beyond (green). Pluto and the distant Kuiper Belt objects are seen next until finally Sedna comes into view. As the field widens the full orbit of Sedna can be seen along with its current location. Sedna is nearing its closest approach to the Sun, its 10,000-year orbit typically takes it to far greater distances. Moving past Sedna, what was previously thought to be the inner edge of the Oort cloud appears. The Oort cloud is a spherical distribution of cold, icy bodies lying at the limits of the Sun's gravitational pull. Sedna's presence suggests that this Oort cloud is much closer than scientists believed. |
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Blacker than Black
| Title |
Blacker than Black |
| Description |
This artist's concept illustrates the hottest planet yet observed in the universe. The scorching ball of gas, a "hot Jupiter" called HD 149026b, is a sweltering 3,700 degrees Fahrenheit (2,040 degrees Celsius) -- about 3 times hotter than the rocky surface of Venus, the hottest planet in our solar system. The planet is so hot that astronomers believe it is absorbing almost all of the heat from its star, and reflecting very little to no light. Objects that reflect no sunlight are black. Consequently, HD 149026b might be the blackest known planet in the universe, in addition to the hottest. The temperature of this dark and balmy planet was taken with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. While the planet reflects no visible light, its heat causes it to radiate a little visible and a lot of infrared light. Spitzer, an infrared observatory, was able to measure this infrared light through a technique called secondary eclipse. HD 149026b is what is known as a transiting planet, which means that it crosses in front of and passes behind its star -- the secondary eclipse -- when viewed from Earth. By determining the drop in total infrared light that occurs when the planet disappears, astronomers can figure out how much infrared light is coming from the planet alone. The Spitzer observations of HD 149026b also suggest a hot spot in the middle of the side of the planet that always faces its star. Even though the planet is black, the spot would glow like a black lump of charcoal. HD 149026b is thought to be tidally locked, just as our moon is to Earth, such that one side of the planet is perpetually baked under the heat of its sun. Astronomers think that HD 149026b is probably blazing hot on its sunlit side, and much cooler on its dark side. A similar phenomenon was observed previously by Spitzer for the planet Upsilon Andromedae b. In the case of both planets, heat is not being evenly distributed across their surfaces. This is the opposite of what happens on Jupiter, where temperature differences are minimal all around. HD 149026b is located 256 light-years away in the constellation Hercules. It is the smallest known transiting planet, with a size similar to Saturn's and a suspected dense core 70 to 90 times the mass of Earth. It speeds around its star every 2.9 days. |
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Sedna's Night Sky Location
| Title |
Sedna's Night Sky Location |
| Description |
This view shows where the newly discovered planet-like body, dubbed "Sedna," would lie in the evening skies at around 8:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on the date its discovery was announced (March 15, 2004). It was located in the constellation of Cetus and formed a triangle with Mars and Venus in the direction of the setting Sun. Sedna is so faint, however, that it can not be seen with the naked eye, or with telescopes typically used by amateur astronomers. |
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Saturn and Earth Ready for C
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| Description |
SOHO images show Saturn on the left moving toward the Sun |
| Full Description |
Saturn has a date to keep with Earth and the Sun. Since the Cassini spacecraft is orbiting Saturn, it's tagging along. Once a year Saturn and Earth find themselves almost directly opposite each other with the Sun in between, an event called conjunction. This year, conjunction will occur on Aug. 7. NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, known as SOHO (http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/), keeps close watch on the Sun. SOHO images show Saturn on the left moving toward the Sun, which is shielded from view but represented by a white circle in the image center. When Saturn emerges from conjunction, it will appear in SOHO images heading toward the right and away from Sun. As Earth and Saturn play peekaboo with each other, radio communications with Cassini get very noisy, so most of Cassini's science operations are temporarily suspended. "We'll still be in constant communication," says David Doody, Cassini flight operations lead, "and we'll see the quality degrading as it nears the Sun. The last high-rate science data playback, at 14,220 bits per second, will occur Aug. 4, after which Cassini switches to low-rate telemetry downlink, at 1896 bps." During conjunction, the mission switches gears. "Finally, a break," says Doody. "We know the spacecraft is safe, especially since it won't be doing lots of commanded science activities, instead just staring at Earth with its high gain antenna. We'll be carrying out radio science studies of the solar corona, using carrier signals coming down from Cassini to study the sun's extended, super-hot atmosphere. Meanwhile, the spacecraft team's radio communications engineers will watch how many out of 100 test commands sent each day are received aboard the spacecraft with the noisy Sun in the way.""We'll also be using this low-activity period to conduct an operational readiness test, realistic training using contrived problems, for many of the new members of the flight team," adds Doody. Cassini will resume returning high-rate science data on Aug. 10, when it is well past the Sun. Note for sky watchers: The first time that Saturn will be visible again to the unaided eye from here on Earth will be about two weeks after conjunction. On the morning of Aug. 20, Saturn will rise in the east an hour before the sun does. Early birds in the United States will be able to spot swift Mercury one degree above Saturn. The next morning, they can spot Mercury one degree to the lower left of the planet. On Aug. 26 and 27 Saturn pairs with much brighter Venus. To see the latest image from SOHO click here. |
| Date |
August 3, 2006 |
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August 2006: View of the Pla
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| Description |
August 2006: View of the Planets |
| Full Description |
Just before the eastern sky brightens with sunrise, three planets and the waning crescent moon join the starry twilight tapestry. Then, as the bright stars of Gemini and Orion fade with oncoming dawn, the planets rise and shine. About 45 minutes before sunrise on Aug. 20 to 22 the planets Venus, Mercury and Saturn dance on the ecliptic -- the plane of Earth's orbit and the imaginary line tracing it in the sky. The sun, moon and planets appear to move along this line. Venus, rising an hour and a half before sunrise, is the easiest to see in the morning sky. Two hundred forty-one million kilometers (150 million miles) distant, Venus is Earth-sized. Mercury, at a distance of 183 million kilometers (114 million miles), is the fastest and smallest of the inner planets and appears brighter than the more distant Saturn. Saturn, 1,517 million kilometers (943 million miles) distant, was at conjunction with the sun just two weeks ago and now rises nearly an hour before sunrise. On Aug. 26 and 27, Saturn pairs with much brighter Venus at dawn. What other planets can we see in late August? Mars sets 45 minutes after sunset by month's end but is lost from view in the twilight, while brilliant Jupiter remains prominent as the only planet visible for a few hours during the late August evenings. Credit: NASA/JPL |
| Date |
August 18, 2006 |
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| Description |
Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn. |
| Full Description |
There were two flybys of Venus in Cassini's primary trajectory, on April 26, 1998 and June 24, 1999. This image shows the spacecraft near the cloud-enshrouded Venus. By David Seal (only available electronically). |
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| Description |
Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn. |
| Full Description |
The flyby of Earth in Cassini's primary trajectory occured on August 18, 1999, just 55 days after the second Venus flyby. This image shows the spacecraft over the South Pacific. By David Seal (only available electronically). |
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Cosmic Conjunction
| title |
Cosmic Conjunction |
| description |
Five planets - Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn - gather over the ancient Stonehenge monument in England. *Image Copyright*: Philip Perkins |
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Pioneering Venus
| title |
Pioneering Venus |
| description |
An ultraviolet image of Venus' clouds as seen by the Pioneer Venus orbiter in 1979. Pioneer Venus used an orbiter and several small probes to study the planet from above and within the clouds. This image is from the orbiter. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Venera 2
| title |
Venera 2 |
| date |
11.12.1965 |
| description |
Although the 3MV-3 and 3MV-4 type spacecraft were originally intended for Mars exploration, the Soviets re-equipped three of the series, left over from the 1964 Mars launch windows, for Venus exploration in 1965. This particular vehicle was scheduled to fly past the sunlit side of Venus at no more than a 40,000-kilometer range and take photographs. During the outbound flight, communications with the spacecraft were poor. Immediately before closest approach in late February 1966, ground control commanded to switch on all the onboard scientific instrumentation. o The closest approach to the planet was at 02:52 UT on 27 February 1966 at about a 24,000-kilometer range. After its flyby, when the spacecraft was supposed to relay back the collected information, ground control was unable to regain contact. Controllers finally gave up all attempts at communication on 4 March. Venera 2 eventually entered heliocentric orbit. Later investigation indicated that improper functioning of 40 thermal radiator elements caused a sharp increase in gas temperatures in the spacecraft. As a result, elements of the receiving and decoding units failed, the solar panels overheated, and contact was lost. Ironically, the scientific instruments may have collected valuable data, but none of it was ever transmitted back to Earth."Editor's Note: This mission profile was originally published in *Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958-2000*, by Asif A. Siddiqi, NASA Monographs in Aerospace History No. 24" |
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Venera 11
| title |
Venera 11 |
| date |
09.09.1978 |
| description |
Venera 11 was one of two identical probes (the other being Venera 12) that followed up on the highly successful Soviet missions to Venus in 1975. Veneras 11 and 12 differed from their predecessors principally in the fact each carried a flyby bus/lander combination instead of the previous orbiter/lander combination. Engineers reverted to the flyby combination partly because of the weight limitations of the 1978 launch window, but also because flyby probes afforded better transmission time for landers. Several of the scientific instruments were also modified and new ones added. Venera 11 arrived at Venus after two course corrections on 16 September and 17 December 1978. On 23 December 1978, the lander separated from the flyby probe and entered the Venusian atmosphere two days later. The lander probe safely landed on Venus at 03:24 UT on 15 December 1978 and then relayed 95 minutes of data from the surface. Landing coordinates were 14° south latitude and 299° longitude. The point of cutoff was determined by the range of visibility of the flyby probe. A soil-drilling instrument collected soil for chemical and physical analysis, but soil analysis was unsuccessful because the soil was not properly deposited to an examination container for analysis (probably due to leaking air that disturbed the soil). The lander also failed to take color panoramas of the Venusian surface due to a failure of the lens covers of the camera system to open. While extensive atmospheric data was later released, the Soviets have published relatively little data from surface measurements. The flyby probe entered heliocentric orbit after flying past the planet at a range of 35,000 kilometers. |
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Venera 14 Lander
| title |
Venera 14 Lander |
| date |
11.04.1981 |
| description |
Venera 14 was identical to its twin, Venera 13. The spacecraft carried out three midcourse corrections on the way to Venus: on 14 November 1981, 23 November 1981, and 25 February 1982. Russian sources indicate that one of the corrections was incorrect (probably the first) and could have jeopardized the mission. The lander probe separated from its flyby parent on 3 March 1982 before the entry cycle began. The probe's main parachute opened at an altitude of 62 to 63 kilometers, thus activating the atmospheric instruments. The parachute was released at an altitude of 47 kilometers, and the 760-kilogram lander fell to the surface using only the atmosphere as a retarding medium. The probe made safe contact with the Venusian surface at 07:00:10 UT on 3 March 1982 and continued with 57 minutes of transmissions. Landing coordinates were 13.25° south latitude and 310° longitude, about 1,000 kilometers from the Venera 13 landing site. As with its twin, Venera 14 returned color photographs of its surroundings and examined a soil sample (about 1 cubic centimeter taken from a 30-millimeter-deep sample). Soil was deposited in a chamber sealed off from the outside environment and was then progressively transferred through a series of chambers by blowing air until the sample was deposited in its final chamber with a temperature of only 30°C. Here it was examined by the x-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Temperature and pressure outside were considerably higher than at the Venera 13 site: 470°C and 93.5 atmospheres, respectively. The flyby probe, meanwhile, passed Venus at a range of 36,000 kilometers and entered heliocentric orbit, continuing to provide data on solar x-ray flares. It performed one trajectory change on 14 November 1982. |
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Venera 15
| title |
Venera 15 |
| date |
06.02.1983 |
| description |
Venera 15 and Venera 16 were a pair of dedicated radar mappers designed to extend the studies begun by the American Pioneer Venus Orbiter in constructing a detailed map of the surface down to a resolution of about 1 to 2 kilometers. For these missions, Soviet engineers lengthened the central bus of the earlier Veneras (by 1 meter), installed much larger solar batteries, and attached a large side-looking radar antenna in place of the descent lander module on the earlier spacecraft. Venera 15 carried out two midcourse corrections (on 10 June 1983 and 1 October 1983) before successfully entering orbit around Venus at 03:05 UT on 10 October. Initial orbital parameters were 1,000 x 65,000 kilometers at 87° inclination -- that is, a near-polar orbit. The spacecraft's mapping operations began six days after entering orbit over the north pole. Because of the nature of the spacecraft's orbit, the two orbiters mapped only the area from 30° north latitude to the pole -- about 115 million square kilometers -- before the mission was completed on 10 July 1984. |
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Mariner 1
| title |
Mariner 1 |
| date |
01.22.1962 |
| description |
After approval by NASA Headquarters in September 1961, JPL prepared three spacecraft based on the design of the Ranger Block I series (therefore named Mariner R) to fly by Venus in late 1962. Each spacecraft carried a modest suite (9 kilograms) of scientific instrumentation but had no imaging capability. The spacecraft included 54,000 components and was designed to maintain contact with Earth for 2,500 hours -- an ambitious goal given that the (still unsuccessful) Ranger was designed for only 65 hours of contact. Mariner 1 would have flown by Venus at a range of 29,000 kilometers on 8 December 1962, but due to an incorrect trajectory during launch, range safety had to destroy the booster and its payload at T+290 seconds. |
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Venera 9
| title |
Venera 9 |
| date |
06.08.1975 |
| description |
Venera 9 was the first of a new generation of Soviet space probes ('4V') designed to explore Venus. Launched by the more powerful Proton launch booster, the new spacecraft were nearly five times heavier than their predecessors. Each spacecraft comprised both an orbiter and a lander. The 2,300-kilogram orbiters (at Venus orbit insertion) were designed to spend their missions photographing the planet in ultraviolet light and conducting other scientific investigations. The landers, of a completely new design, employed aerodynamic braking during Venusian atmospheric entry and contained a panoramic photometer to take images of the surface. Without any apparent problems and with two trajectory corrections (on 16 June and 15 October), Venera 9's lander separated from its parent on 20 October 1975, and two days later, it hit Venus's turbulent atmosphere at a speed of 10.7 kilometers per hour. After using a series of parachutes, the lander set down on the planet's day side at 05:13 UT on 22 October. Landing coordinates were 32° north latitude and 291° longitude at the base of a hill near Beta Regio. During its 53 minutes of transmissions from the surface, Venera 9 took and transmitted the very first picture of the Venusian surface from a height of 90 centimeters. These were, in fact, the very first photos received of the surface of another planet. The lander was supposed to transmit a full 360° panorama, but because one of the two covers on the camera failed to release, only a 180° panorama was received. Illumination was akin to that of a cloudy day on Earth. The image clearly showed flat rocks strewn around the lander. The Venera 9 orbiter meanwhile entered a 1,500 x 111,700-kilometer orbit around the planet at 34°10' inclination and acted as a communications relay for the lander. It became the first spacecraft to go into orbit around Venus. The Soviets announced on 22 March 1976 that the orbiter's primary mission, which included using French-made ultraviolet cameras to obtain photographs in 1,200- kilometer swaths, had been fulfilled. |
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Mariner 10 Diagram
| title |
Mariner 10 Diagram |
| date |
11.03.1973 |
| description |
On November 3, 1973, the Mariner Venus/Mercury 1973 spacecraft - also known as Mariner 10 - was launched from Kennedy Space Center. It was the first spacecraft designed to use gravity assist. Three months after launch it flew by Venus, changed speed and trajectory, then crossed Mercury's orbit in March 1974. This photo identifies various parts of the spacecraft and the science instruments, which were used to study the atmospheric, surface, and physical characteristics of Venus and Mercury. This was the sixth in the series of Mariner spacecraft that explored the inner planets beginning in 1962. *Image Credit*: Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
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Terrestrial Planet Interiors
| title |
Terrestrial Planet Interiors |
| description |
*Mercury* Mercury has an average density of 5430 kilograms per cubic meter, which is second only to Earth among all the planets. It is estimated that the planet Mercury, like Earth, has a ferrous core with a size equivalent to two-thirds to three-fourths that of the planet's overall radius. The core is believed to be composed of an iron-nickel alloy covered by a mantle and surface crust. *Venus* It is believed that the composition of the planet Venus is similar to that of Earth. The planet crust extends to around 10-30 kilometers below the surface, under which the mantle reaches to a depth of some 3000 kilometers. The planet core comprises a liquid iron-nickel alloy. Average planet density is 5240 kilograms per cubic meter. *Earth* The Earth comprises three separate layers: a crust, a mantle, and a core (in descending order from the surface). The crust thickness averages 30 kilometers for land masses and 5 kilometers for seabeds. The mantle extends from just below the crust to some 2900 kilometers deep. The core below the mantle begins at a depth of around 5100 kilometers, and comprises an outer core (liquid iron-nickel alloy) and inner core (solid iron-nickel alloy). The crust is composed mainly of granite in the case of land masses and basalt in the case of seabeds. The mantle is composed primarily of peridotite and high-pressure minerals. Average planet density is 5520 kilograms per cubic meter. *Mars* Mars is roughly one-half the diameter of Earth. Due to its small size, it is believed that the martian center has cooled. Geological structure is mainly rock and metal. The mantle below the crust comprises iron-oxide-rich silicate. The core is made up of an iron-nickel alloy and iron sulfide. Average planet density is 3930 kilograms per cubic meter. *Pluto* The structure of Pluto is not very well understood at present. Nevertheless, spectroscopic observation from Earth in the 1970s has revealed that the planet surface is covered with methane ice. Surface temperature is -230?C (-382?F), and the frozen methane exhibits a bright coloration. However, with the exception of the polar caps, the frozen methane surface is seen to change to a dark red when eclipsed by its moon Charon. Average planet density is 2060 kilograms per cubic meter. The low average density requires that the planet must be a mix of ice and rock. *Image Credit*: Lunar and Planetary Institute |
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Mariner 1 Launch
| title |
Mariner 1 Launch |
| date |
07.22.1962 |
| description |
An Atlas-Agena 5 carrying the Mariner 1 spacecraft lifts off from the Cape Kennedy Launch Complex on a mission to Venus. The rocket went off course and was blown up by a range safety officer about 5 minutes into flight. One month later, Mariner 2's launch was successful and it became the first spacecraft to fly past Venus in December 1962. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Planet Temperatures
| title |
Planet Temperatures |
| description |
In general, the surface temperature of the planets decreases with increasing distance from the Sun. Venus is an exception because its dense atmosphere acts as a greenhouse and heats the surface to above the melting point of lead (3280C). Mercury rotates slowly and has a thin atmosphere, and consequently, the nightside temperature can be more than 5000C lower than the dayside temperature shown on the diagram. Temperatures for the gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) are shown at a level in the atmosphere equal in pressure to sea level on Earth. Temperatures are in both Fahrenheit and Celsius, and the planets are not shown to scale. *Image Credit*: Lunar and Planetary Institute |
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Brahms Crater
| title |
Brahms Crater |
| date |
03.30.1974 |
| description |
Thirty years ago, NASA's Mariner 10 spacecraft made the first of three passes by Mercury, sending back intriguing images of the planet's battered terrain. NASA will launch the world's second probe to Mercury - named MESSENGER - this summer.This image of the crater was taken on the first flyby. Note the central peak. North is up. (Mariner 10, Atlas of Mercury, Fig. 3-2) This crater (98 km diameter) illustrates the narrow hummocky rim facies, radial ridges, and surrounding extensive field of secondary craters. The well-developed interior terraces and central peaks are typical for mercurian craters in this size range. Note that the smaller craters in the foreground (25-km diameter) also are terraced. This image(FDS 80)was taken during the spacecraft's first encounter with Mercury. The Mariner 10 mission, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, explored Venus in February 1974 on the way to three encounters with Mercury-in March and September 1974 and in March 1975. The spacecraft took more than 7,000 photos of Mercury, Venus, the Earth and the Moon. *Image Credi*: NASA |
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Venus Mobile Explorer
| title |
Venus Mobile Explorer |
| description |
This long-lived in-situ Flagship class mission would provide aerial mobility close to the surface (approximately 10 kilometers above the surface) using metallic bellows to tolerate the extreme environment of Venus, where the temperature reaches 460 degrees Celsius, and the pressure is up to 90 bars, and the super critical carbon dioxide atmosphere is highly corrosive. |
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Sag Caldera Sachs Patera
| title |
Sag Caldera Sachs Patera |
| date |
11.20.1996 |
| description |
This image of Sachs Patera on Venus is centered at 49 degrees north, 334 degrees east. Defined as a sag-caldera, Sachs is an elliptical depression 130 meters (81 feet) in depth, spanning 40 kilometers (25 miles) in width along its longest axis. The morphology implies that a chamber of molten material drained and collapsed, forming a depression surrounded by concentric scarps spaced 2-to-5 kilometers (1.2- to-3 miles) apart. The arc-shaped set of scarps, extending out to the north from the prominent ellipse, is evidence for a separate episode of withdrawal, the small lobe-shaped extension to the southwest may represent an additional event. Solidified lava flows 10-to-25 kilometers (6-to-16 miles) long, give the caldera its flower-like appearance. The flows are a lighter tone of gray in the radar data because the lava is blockier in texture and consequently returns more radar waves. Much of the lava, which was evacuated from the chamber, probably traveled to other locations underground, while some of it may have surfaced further south. This is unlike calderas on Earth, where a rim of lava builds up in the immediate vicinity of the caldera. |
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Terrestrial Planet Sizes
| title |
Terrestrial Planet Sizes |
| description |
The terrestrial planets are the four innermost planets in the solar system, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. They are called terrestrial because they have a compact, rocky surface like the Earth's. The planets Venus, Earth, and Mars have significant atmospheres, while Mercury has almost none. This diagram shows the approximate relative sizes of the terrestrial planets. Distances are not to scale. *Image Credit*: Lunar and Planetary Institute |
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Solar System Family Portrait
| title |
Solar System Family Portrait |
| description |
These six narrow-angle color images were made from the first ever 'portrait' of the solar system taken by Voyager 1, which was more than 4 billion miles from Earth and about 32 degrees above the ecliptic. The spacecraft acquired a total of 60 frames for a mosaic of the solar system which shows six of the planets. Mercury is too close to the sun to be seen. Mars was not detectable by the Voyager cameras due to scattered sunlight in the optics, and Pluto was not included in the mosaic because of its small size and distance from the sun. These blown-up images, left to right and top to bottom are Venus, Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. The background features in the images are artifacts resulting from the magnification. The images were taken through three color filters -- violet, blue and green -- and recombined to produce the color images. Jupiter and Saturn were resolved by the camera but Uranus and Neptune appear larger than they really are because of image smear due to spacecraft motion during the long (15 second) exposure times. Earth appears to be in a band of light because it coincidentally lies right in the center of the scattered light rays resulting from taking the image so close to the sun. Earth was a crescent only 0.12 pixels in size. Venus was 0.11 pixel in diameter. The planetary images were taken with the narrow-angle camera (1500 mm focal length). *Image Note*: This 'Portrait' contains 18 frames taken through the Narrow Angle camera using the Violet, Blue, and Green Filters. The label information describes only 3 of these frames. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Jupiter Flyby
| title |
Jupiter Flyby |
| description |
Although the main mission of the New Horizons spacecraft is to explore the Pluto system and the Kuiper Belt of icy objects, it will first fly by the solar system's largest planet, Jupiter, in 2007 - a little over a year after the planned launch date. In this artist's rendering, New Horizons is just past its closest approach to the planet. Near the Sun are Earth, Venus and Mercury. The dim crescent shape at the upper right of the Sun is Callisto, the outermost of Jupiter's four largest moons. Just left of Jupiter is Europa. *Image Credit*: Southwest Research Institute (Dan Durda)/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (Ken Moscati) |
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Venus Express
| title |
Venus Express |
| description |
An artist's impression of Europe's Venus Express orbiter at Venus. *Image Credit*: European Space Agency. Illustration by Medialab. |
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Mariner 1
| title |
Mariner 1 |
| date |
07.22.1962 |
| description |
This was to be the first Mariner mission. It was intended to perform a Venus flyby. The vehicle was destroyed by the Range Safety Officer 293 seconds after launch at 09:26:16 UT when it veered off course. The booster had performed satisfactorily until an unscheduled yaw-lift (northeast) maneuver was detected by the range safety officer. Faulty application of the guidance commands made steering impossible and were directing the spacecraft towards a crash, possibly in the North Atlantic shipping lanes or in an inhabited area. The destruct command was sent 6 seconds before separation, after which the launch vehicle could not have been destroyed. The radio transponder continued to transmit signals for 64 seconds after the destruct command had been sent. The failure was apparently caused by a combination of two factors. Improper operation of the Atlas airborne beacon equipment resulted in a loss of the rate signal from the vehicle for a prolonged period. The airborne beacon used for obtaining rate data was inoperative for four periods ranging from 1.5 to 61 seconds in duration. Additionally, the Mariner 1 Post Flight Review Board determined that the omission of a hyphen in coded computer instructions in the data-editing program allowed transmission of incorrect guidance signals to the spacecraft. During the periods the airborne beacon was inoperative the omission of the hyphen in the data-editing program caused the computer to incorrectly accept the sweep frequency of the ground receiver as it sought the vehicle beacon signal and combined this data with the tracking data sent to the remaining guidance computation. This caused the computer to swing automatically into a series of unnecessary course corrections with erroneous steering commands which finally threw the spacecraft off course. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Wheatley Crater, Venus
| title |
Wheatley Crater, Venus |
| description |
Magellan radar image of Wheatley crater on Venus. This 72 km diameter crater shows a radar bright ejecta pattern and a generally flat floor with some rough raised areas and faulting. The crater is located in Asteria Regio at 16.6N,267E. (Portion of Magellan C1-MIDR 15N266;1,framelets 21 and 22) *Image Credit*: NASA |
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The Surface of Venus from th
…
| title |
The Surface of Venus from the Venera 10 Lander |
| date |
10.25.1975 |
| description |
Venera 10 Lander image of the surface of Venus at about 16 N, 291 E. The Lander touched down at 5:17 UT on 25 October 1975 and returned this image during the 65 minutes of operation on the surface. The sun was near zenith during this time, the lighting was about what would be seen on Earth on an overcast summer day. The objects at the bottom of the image are parts of the spacecraft. The image shows flat slabs of rock, partly covered by fine-grained material, not unlike a volcanic area on Earth. The large slab in the foreground extends over 2 meters across. Automatic gain control and logarithmic quantization were used to handle the unknown dynamic range of illumination. The raw image was converted to optical density according to Russian calibration data, then to linear radiance for image processing. It was interpolated with windowed sinc filter to avoid post-aliasing (a "pixilated" appearance), and the modulation transfer function ("aperture") of the camera was corrected with a 1 + 0.2*frequency**2 emphasis. This was then written out as 8-bit gamma-corrected values, using the sRGB standard gamma of 2.2. The bottom image is a digitally in-painted version, using Bertalmio's isophote-flow algorithm. (Venera 10 Lander, processed surface image) (Image posted with permission, copyright 2003 Don P. Mitchell. All rights reserved.) *Image Credit*: NASA |
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The Desert Surface of Venus
| title |
The Desert Surface of Venus |
| date |
03.01.1982 |
| description |
Venera 13 Lander image of the surface of Venus at 7.5 S, 303. E, east of Phoebe Regio. Venera 13 survived on the surface for 2 hours, 7 minutes, long enough to obtain 14 images on 1 March, 1982. This color 170 degree panorama was produced using dark blue, green and red filters and has a resolution of 4 to 5 min. Part of the spacecraft is at the bottom of the image. Flat rock slabs and soil are visible. The true color is difficult to judge because the Venerian atmosphere filters out blue light. The surface composition is similar to terrestrial basalt. On the ground in foreground is a camera lens cover. (Venera 13 Lander, VG00261,262) *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Volcano Southeast of Phoebe
…
| title |
Volcano Southeast of Phoebe Regio,Venus with Emissivity Data |
| date |
11.11.1992 |
| description |
Magellan press release image showing radio-thermal emission (emissivity). Red represents high emissivity and blue low. The image is centered at 12.5S,261E, southeast of Phoebe Regio, Venus and is 587 km on a side. The unnamed volcano is about 2 km high and shows low emissivity at the summit, which could indicate the presence of pyrrohtite or pyrite, minerals which may not be stable at lower altitudes. (Magellan press release P-40698) *Image Credit*: NASA |
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