(17 December 2015) A sophisticated laser-based mapping instrument has arrived at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver for integration onto NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft.

(17 December 2015) NASA scientists have released new findings about the moon’s tenuous exosphere – the thin layer of gas surrounding the moon that’s one 25-trillionth the density of Earth’s atmosphere.

(14 December 2015) Recent orbital and rover missions to Mars have turned up ample evidence of clays and other hydrated minerals formed when rocks are altered by the presence of water.

(11 December 2015) On Oct. 1, 2014, NASA mission operations lost communication with one of the two spacecraft of the Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, mission, just as the spacecraft was about to orbit around the other side of the sun.

(10 December 2015) The mysterious dwarf planet Ceres is starting to spill its secrets, and Brown geologist Carle Pieters is helping to unravel them.

(9 December 2015) The European Space Agency (ESA) and Airbus Defence and Space have signed a €350M contract to develop and build ESA’s JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) spacecraft.

(9 December 2015) The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully inserted the Venus Climate Orbiter Akatsuki into the orbit circling around Venus.

(8 December 2015) The final approach to an asteroid has been practised for ESA’s proposed Asteroid Impact Mission using a real spacecraft camera mounted on a robot arm.

(8 December 2015) Moon Express has received official verification today of their launch contract from XPRIZE as part of the $30M Google Lunar XPRIZE, a global competition for privately funded teams to land an unmanned spacecraft on the surface of the moon by December 31, 2017.

(4 December 2015) On Dec. 4, the bread loaf-sized Miniature X-Ray Solar Spectrometer, or MinXSS, CubeSat is scheduled to rocket to space alongside thousands of pounds of supplies and science experiments destined for the International Space Station.