Orbiter

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of the Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander, called Odysseus, on the Moon’s surface on Feb. 24, 2024, at 1:57 p.m. EST). Odysseus landed at 80.13 degrees south latitude, 1.44 degrees east longitude, at an elevation of 8,461 feet (2,579 meters). The image is 3,192 feet (973 meters) wide, and lunar north is up. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State UniversityOdysseus’ landing on the Moon represents a landmark achievement for NASA’s lunar exploration, capturing the first soft…

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of the JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) SLIM lander on the Moon’s surface on Jan. 24, 2024. SLIM landed at 13.3160 degrees south latitude, 25.2510 degrees east longitude, at an elevation of minus 2,992 feet (minus 912 meters). The image is 2,887 feet wide (880 meters), and lunar north is up. (LROC NAC frame M14607392143L). Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State UniversityJAXA’s SLIM lunar landing on January 19, 2024, captured by NASA’s LRO, establishes Japan as…

European Space Agency's Mars Express Orbiter has identified massive ice and ice water deposits beneath the surface of Mars. The Mars Express orbiter was also the first to confirmed the presence of ice on Mars in 2004…

A European probe has found massive ice deposits beneath the equator of Mars, a finding that could alter our fundamental understanding of the red planet’s climatic history.  The discovery was made by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter. This veteran spacecraft has circled the red planet for 20 years, revealing several secrets about its past and present climate. While it’s not the first time the probe has found ice deposits, this is by far the largest amount of water ice ever…

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 had surprise rendezvous and conducted a successful experiment. The LRO successfully pinpointed the location of the Vikram lander on the lunar surface through a laser experiment…

The ISRO said on Friday that an instrument on the Chandrayaan-3 lander has started serving as a location marker near the lunar south pole. Chandrayaan-3's Vikram module had touched down on the Moon on August 23, 2023. What this experiment could mean? According to the NASA, this successful experiment "opens the door to a new style of precisely locating targets on the Moon’s surface". The US space agency informed that tracking the location of Earth-orbiting…

NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter captured stunning images of Mars and its moon Phobos, providing a unique perspective of the planet’s curved landscape and atmosphere. This technical achievement enhances our understanding of Mars and aids future explorations. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter has provided new panoramic images of Mars and its moon Phobos, offering fresh insights into the Martian landscape and atmosphere. The Odyssey orbiter captured clouds and dust in the Red Planet’s skies, along with one of…

In a significant development, the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter which was already fixed around the moon established a two-way connection with the lander module of Chandrayaan-3 on Monday.“‘Welcome, buddy!' Chandrayaan-2 orbiter formally welcomed Chandrayaan-3 LM (lander module). Two-way communication between the two is established. MOX (Mission Operations Complex) has now more routes to reach the LM,” ISRO posted on X, formerly Twitter.Chandrayaan-3 Mission:‘Welcome, buddy!'Ch-2 orbiter formally welcomed Ch-3 LM.Two-way…

After the Earth was struck by two different coronal mass ejection (CME) clouds in successive days, many believed this was the end of the Sun's assault during the week at hand. But another event has shocked the astronomy community. On July 26, a farside flare eruption released an extremely powerful CME and it hit the European Space Agency (ESA) operated Solar Orbiter satellite. Luckily, the CME cloud delivered a glancing blow as it was moving in a different direction, but if it was Earth-directed it could have sparked a…

Launcher, an American aerospace company, faced a setback when its Orbiter spacecraft encountered a software anomaly and lost another vehicle right after a successful liftoff. The affected spacecraft -- Orbiter SN3 -- had been designed to carry smaller satellites, like cubesats, and position them in their orbits.Software anomaly causes uncontrollable rotation and power issuesOrbiter SN3 launched successfully on a SpaceX Falcon 9 on June 12 but soon started spinning uncontrollably after separating from its launch vehicle.…