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| Carthage Linea on Dione |
| Nov 24, 2005 - This photograph of a fractured and crater-scarred Dione was taken by Cassini on October 11, 2005, when the spacecraft was only 19,600 kilometers (12,200 miles) away from the moon. Most of the craters in this image have bright walls and dark deposits of material on their floors. Rock slides on the surface of Dione can reveal cleaner ice, while the darker materials accumulate in lower areas. (Full Story) |
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| Hayabusa descending on Itokawa before landing. Image credit: JAXA Click to enlarge |
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| Hayabusa Landed on Itokawa Successfully |
| Nov 24, 2005 - Officials from the Japanese space agency (JAXA) announced yesterday that Hayabusa successfully touched down on asteroid Itokawa last weekend, bounced at least once, and spent 39 minutes "resting" on the surface. It then launched back up into space again. Unfortunately, it failed to drop equipment that would allow it to collect samples from the asteroid's surface. Hayabusa will head back to the potato-shaped asteroid on Friday and attempt another landing. (Full Story) |
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| Eternally Lit Lunar Peaks |
Nov 24, 2005 - Since the Moon only has a slight tilt, some of its mountains are bathed in eternal sunlight, and would make ideal places to put solar panels to power a future moon base. The European Space Agency's SMART-1 spacecraft is currently mapping the Moon, and one its missions is to identify some of these peaks of eternal light. These peaks could also provide a very stable environment, always approximately 20-degrees below zero Celsius. There are probably also craters in the region which are in eternal shadow, and could contain water ice.
(Full Story) |
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