Four-and-a-half billion years ago, a massive world—possibly as big as the moon or even Mars—orbited our sun before crashing ...

Scientists have long been intrigued by the surfaces of terrestrial bodies other than Earth that reveal deep similarities beneath their superficially differing volcanic and tectonic histories. A team ...

This letter report reviews the science goals of the current Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) project as well as NASA’s plan for acquiring the necessary precursor knowledge to successfully meet those ...

A new SwRI-led paper highlights the scientific progress made in understanding the evolution of terrestrial planets, including the effects of late large impacts on pre-existing modes of tectonics. For ...

How, from the incandescent gas surrounding a young star, do the first solid materials at the origin of planets emerge? This transition, from gas to solid, called "condensation," constitutes one ...

Picture a planet hurtling through interstellar space with no star to warm it, flung from its birthplace by a gravitational ...

Four of the solar system's terrestrial planets, including Earth and a long-lost world, likely started life waltzing around the sun to a fixed rhythm, according to a new study. The findings also ...

Preface / Larry W. Esposito, Ellen R. Stofan, and Thomas E. Cravens -- Exploring Venus : major scientific issues and directions / Larry W. Esposito, Ellen R. Stofan, and Thomas E. Cravens -- ...