Topic
Planetary science
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MIT celebrates 50th anniversary of historic moon landing
Symposium featuring former astronauts and other Apollo mission luminaries examines the program’s legacy.
March 15, 2019 -
Tectonics in the tropics trigger Earth’s ice ages, study finds
Major tectonic collisions near the equator have caused three ice ages in the last 540 million years.
March 14, 2019 -
Engineers program marine robots to take calculated risks
Algorithm could help autonomous underwater vehicles explore risky but scientifically-rewarding environments.
January 30, 2019 -
MIT’s REXIS and Bennu’s watery surface
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx sample-return spacecraft, carrying MIT instrument, arrived at asteroid in December; now begins the science to select a sampling location.
January 29, 2019 -
TESS discovers its third new planet, with longest orbit yet
Measurements indicate a dense, gaseous, “sub-Neptune” world, three times the size of Earth.
January 7, 2019 -
Tiny satellites could be “guide stars” for huge next-generation telescopes
Researchers design CubeSats with lasers to provide steady reference light for telescopes investigating distant planets.
January 4, 2019 -
3 Questions: MIT goes interstellar with Voyager 2
MIT Kavli's John Richardson describes MIT's role in the historic passing of the Voyager 2 craft past the heliopause and into the interstellar medium.
December 10, 2018 -
Mars 2020 landing site offers unique opportunities
EAPS professors Summons, Bosak, and Weiss provide insight on how the Jezero Crater can advance the study of Martian history and the search for ancient life.
November 28, 2018 -
E.T., we’re home
Existing laser technology could be fashioned into Earth’s “porch light” to attract alien astronomers, study finds.
November 4, 2018 -
Addressing the possibility of life on Mars
Mars expert John Grotzinger tells the story of exploration and the search for ancient life on the red planet at the annual Carlson Lecture.
October 31, 2018 -
Nuno Loureiro: Probing the world of plasmas
Physicist explores the behavior of the universe’s most abundant form of matter.
October 15, 2018 -
Software finds the best way to stick a Mars landing
Program users can tinker with landing and path planning scenarios to identify optimal landing sites for Mars rovers.
September 26, 2018 -
How Earth sheds heat into space
New insights into the role of water vapor may help researchers predict how the planet will respond to warming.
September 24, 2018 -
Professor Emeritus Bernard Burke, astrophysics pioneer, dies at 90
Former Astrophysics Division chair discovered radio noise from Jupiter and the first Einstein Ring, and developed tools to map the universe.
September 24, 2018 -
An extinction without warning
Study finds end-Permian extinction, which wiped out most of Earth’s species, was instantaneous in geological time.
September 18, 2018 -
Timothy Grove awarded AGU's Harry H. Hess Medal
American Geophysical Union honors EAPS professor's “outstanding achievements in research on the constitution and evolution of the Earth and other planets.”
September 10, 2018 -
Julien de Wit and TRAPPIST-1 science team receive NASA award
Assistant professor in EAPS and colleagues from the University of Liège were honored for groundbreaking planetary system discovery.
September 6, 2018 -
3Q: A bold mission to touch the sun
MIT’s John Belcher discusses the launch of the Parker Solar Probe, which will fly directly into the sun’s atmosphere.
August 13, 2018 -
X-ray data may be first evidence of a star devouring a planet
New data may explain star’s mysterious dimming.
July 18, 2018 -
Study finds climate determines shapes of river basins
Results may help identify ancient climates on Earth or other planets.
July 17, 2018