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Diverging Reports Breakdown:
Venus might not be as dead as we thought
The discovery stems from the study of large, circular structures, called coronae, found on the planet’s surface. Unlike Earth, which has tectonic plates that constantly shift and recycle crustal sections, Venus doesn’t have these plates. Read full article
NASA’s Magellan Mission Reveals Possible Tectonic Activity on Venus
Vast, quasi-circular features on Venus’ surface may reveal that the planet has ongoing tectonics. Hundreds of coronae are known to exist on Venus. Researchers found evidence of this tectonic activity within data from NASA’s Magellan mission, which orbited Venus in the 1990s. Of the 75 coronae studied, 52 appear to have buoyant material beneath them that is likely to have been driving tectony. The researchers believe these same processes may have occurred early in Earth’s history. They hope their findings will help explain how coronae formed and provide a unique window into Earth’s past. The research was based on data gathered more than 30 years ago by NASA’s Magellan missions, launched in 1989 and 1989. The study details newly discovered signs of activity at or beneath the surface shaping many of Venus’ coronae, features that may also provide aunique window into the planet’s past, the researchers say. The findings are published in the journal Science Advances. The team behind the study will lead the VERITAS gravity experiment when the mission launches no earlier than 2031. The mission will provide high-resolution gravity data on the planet for the first time since Magellan in 1989. It is expected to launch in 2031 and will orbit the planet in 2024 and 2025, with a stop-over at Venus in 2028 and 2029. It will also send a probe to the red planet in the 2030s and 2040s, and a Mars rover in the 2050s, to study the surface of the planet. The Mars rover is scheduled to make its closest approach to the Earth in 2023. The Venus rover will make its first landing in 2026, and its first Venus flyby will take place in 2027. Read full article
NASA Studies Reveal Hidden Secrets About Interiors of Moon, Vesta
Researchers developed a new gravity model of the Moon that includes tiny variations in the celestial body’s gravity during its elliptical orbit around Earth. In a second study, published in the journal Nature Astronomy on April 23, the researchers focused on Vesta, an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The team used NASA supercomputers to build a detailed map of how gravity varies across each body. From that, they could better understand what the Moon and Vesta are made of and how planetary bodies across the solar system formed. It is thought that volcanic activity on the lunar near side (the side facing Earth) helped create a landscape dominated by vast plains called mare, which are formed by molten rock that cooled and solidified billions of years ago. The most likely explanation is that the near side has a warm region, indicating the presence of radioactive elements, which is evidence for volcanic activity that shaped the Moon. The study offers the strongest evidence yet that this is likely to be the case, according to Ryan Park, supervisor of the Solar System Group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. He said: “Our technique doesn’t need data from the surface; we just need to track the motion of the spacecraft very precisely to get a global view of what’S inside.’’ “We found that the Moon’s near side is flexing more than the far side.” “When we first analyzed the data, we were so surprised by the result we didn’t believe it,” said Park. “So we ran another analysis to verify the findings. In all, this is a decade of work of work that we’ve been doing for the last decade. We’re very proud of our work. “ “ Read full article
NASA Analysis Shows Unexpected Amount of Sea Level Rise in 2024
A NASA-led analysis found a higher-than-expected rate of sea level rise in 2024, which was also the hottest year on record. The increase was due to an unusual amount of ocean warming, combined with meltwater from land-based ice such as glaciers. In total, global sea level has gone up by 4 inches (10 centimeters) since 1993. The expansion of water as it warms, or thermal expansion, was responsible for the majority of the higher- than- expected rate of rise in 1924. Since the satellite record of ocean height. began in 1993, the rate of annual sea level. rise has more than doubled. The current ocean-observing satellite in that series, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, launched in 2020 and is one of an identical pair of spacecraft. that will carry this sea level dataset into its fourth decade. It will continue to measure sea surface height down to a few centimeters for about 90% of the world’s oceans. In most places, heat from the surface moves very slowly through these layers down into the deep ocean. But extremely windy areas of the ocean can agitate the layers enough to result in vertical mixing. Very large currents, like those found in the Southern Ocean, can tilt ocean layers, allowing surface waters to more easily slip down deep. The massive movement of water during El Niño — in which a large pool of warm water normally located in the western Pacific Ocean sloshes over to the central and eastern Pacific — can also result inVertical movement of heat within the ocean. It is not known how long it will take for sea level to rise to the levels seen today. Read full article
How Do We Know the Earth Isn’t Flat? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 53
The Greeks and the Egyptians knew the Earth was round, allowing them to go across one ocean and come back home the other way. In the late 50s and 60s, we were able to see for ourselves that our beautiful home is a gorgeous round object known as a sphere. Today we use the roundness of Earth, the spherical Earth, to use methods in space geodesy to figure out where we are, where we’re going. And we should embrace that as we understand why our planet isn’t flat. We have a big round Sun and a beautiful round Earth and a round Mars. And as we get ready to go back to the Moon with women and men and explore other worlds, theroundness of our solar system and our universe is a special thing. Read full article
NASA Turns Off 2 Voyager Science Instruments to Extend Mission
Voyagers 1 and 2 rely on a radioisotope power system that generates electricity from the heat of decaying plutonium. Both lose about 4 watts of power each year. Voyager 1 reached the edge of the heliosphere and the beginning of interstellar space in 2012; Voyager 2 reached the boundary in 2018. With two instruments turned off the Voyagers should have enough power to operate another instrument for about a year before the team needs to shut off another instrument on both spacecraft. The Voyager 2 will continue to operate its magnetometer and plasma wave field and will be shut off next year but will be able to operate through the remainder of the 2025 year. The moves are part of an ongoing effort to manage the gradually diminishing power supply of the twin probes.“The Voyager spacecraft have far surpassed their original mission to study the outer planets,” said Patrick Koehn, Voyager program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Every bit of additional data we have gathered since then is not only valuable bonus science for heliophysics, but also a testament to the exemplary engineering that has gone into the Voyager,’’ he said. ‘We want to keep it that way as long as possible.’ ‘If we don’t turn off an instrument on each Voyager now, they would probably have only a few more months of power before we would need to declare end of mission,’ said Suzanne Dodd, Voyager project manager at JPL. � ‘Voyager 1’s plasma science instrument had been turned off years ago because of degraded performance.” ‘The Voyager 2’S low-energy charged particle instrument measures the various ions, electrons, and cosmic rays originating from our solar system and galaxy. ’‘The Voyagers have been deep space rock stars since launch, and we Want to keep It that way As long as Possible’ – Suzanne Dodd. �. Read full article
How Long Does it Take to Get to the Moon… Mars… Jupiter? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 51
During the Apollo program, when NASA sent humans to the Moon, those missions took several days to reach the Moon. To get to Mars takes between seven and ten months, and to Jupiter takes between five and six years. NASA’s Galileo mission, the first mission to Jupiter, took just a little over six years to reach Jupiter. The fastest of these was Apollo 8, which took just under three days to go from Earth orbit to orbit around the Moon in Apollo 8. The best way to get to Jupiter is to do some flybys of Earth and or Venus to help shape the spacecraft’s trajectory and change the spacecraft’’ speed without using fuel. The quickest way to reach Mars is to fly a relatively direct route, which can take up to seven and a half months. The most direct route is the Mars-to-Jupiter route. Read full article
NASA Juno Mission Spots Most Powerful Volcanic Activity on Io to Date
Scientists with NASA’s Juno mission have discovered a volcanic hot spot in the southern hemisphere of Jupiter’s moon Io. The hot spot is not only larger than Earth’s Lake Superior, but it also belches out eruptions six times the total energy of all the world’s power plants. This is the most powerful volcanic event ever recorded on the most volcanic world in our solar system — so that’s really saying something. The discovery of this massive feature comes courtesy of Juno’s Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument, contributed by the Italian Space Agency. The data supports this most intense volcanic eruption everrecorded on Io, the team estimates. The previous record was held by Loki Patera, a lava of about 7,700 square miles (20,000 square kilometers) The new hot spot measured well above 80 trillion watts, while these most recent images are collected on Dec. 27, 2024. And while these new images are from the most recent flybys of Io, these new data are also visible from the previous images of the moon from December 2023 and February 2024. The latest flyby brought the spacecraft within about 46,200 miles (74,400 kilometers) of themoon, with the infrared instrument trained on Io’s southern hemisphere. The new data also supports the most intense eruptions ever recorded by the JIRAM science team, which estimates the feature spans as much as 40,000 sq miles (100 kilometers) This is also the most visible feature also captured by the JunoCam camera on the mission’S JunoCam, which also captured the latest images of Io from December 27, 2016 to Dec. 28, 2016. The images were taken by JunoCam from a distance of about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) from the moon. Read full article
Global Perspectives Summary:
Global media portray this story through varied cultural, economic, and political filters. While some focus on geopolitical ramifications, others highlight local impacts and human stories. Some nations frame the story around diplomatic tensions and international relations, while others examine domestic implications, public sentiment, or humanitarian concerns. This diversity of coverage reflects how national perspectives, media freedom, and journalistic priorities influence what the public learns about global events.
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Sources:
- Venus might not be as dead as we thought
- NASA’s Magellan Mission Reveals Possible Tectonic Activity on Venus
- NASA Studies Reveal Hidden Secrets About Interiors of Moon, Vesta
- NASA Analysis Shows Unexpected Amount of Sea Level Rise in 2024
- How Do We Know the Earth Isn’t Flat? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 53
- NASA Turns Off 2 Voyager Science Instruments to Extend Mission
- How Long Does it Take to Get to the Moon… Mars… Jupiter? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 51
- NASA Juno Mission Spots Most Powerful Volcanic Activity on Io to Date
Source: https://phys.org/news/2025-05-magellan-mission-reveals-tectonic-venus.html