While the recent successful landing of the Perseverance rover furthers robotic exploration of Mars, some scientists are preparing for the next kind of mission to the Red Planet: human exploration. A recent study published in the scientific journal Astrobiology chronicles laboratory analyses of geologic samples collected during the AMADEE-18 mission, a human–robotic Mars expedition simulation in the Dhofar region in the Sultanate of Oman. + Read More

Image credit: NASA

For nearly two decades, exceptionally bright radar reflections from Saturn’s moon, Titan, have puzzled scientists. A new study, published in Nature Communications, has finally resolved the mystery. + Read More

Dr. Sean Marshall, an Observatory Scientist at AO, has been leading a biweekly tutorial session for fellow scientists, training them to use the sophisticated computer program called SHAPE to build computational models of asteroids. + Read More

Asteroids, though often simply considered “rocks in space,” are actually composed of an array of different materials. It is important to know what asteroids are made of in order to determine the structure and formation of asteroids, and to assess any risk that an individual asteroid would pose if on a collision course with Earth. + Read More