Solar System

Jupiter is a difficult world to explore. It lies hundreds of millions of miles from Earth, possesses an enormous magnetic field and is surrounded by intense radiation belts that can damage spacecraft electronics. Yet missions …

Mars has attracted more sustained spacecraft exploration than any planet beyond Earth. Since the first successful flyby in 1965, orbiters, landers, rovers and even a helicopter have transformed the Red Planet from a distant world …

Mercury is a surprisingly difficult planet to explore. Although it is much closer to Earth than the outer planets, a spacecraft traveling toward Mercury falls deep into the Sun’s gravitational well and gains enormous speed. …

Venus is one of the most difficult worlds in the solar system to explore. Beneath its clouds, surface temperatures are hot enough to melt lead, atmospheric pressure is about 90 times greater than Earth’s at …