Planetary science

Planetary science

The scientific study of planets including Earth, moons, and planetary systems of the Solar System in particular and the processes that form them.

Industry: Astronomy

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Planetary science

Clementine

Astronomy; Planetary science

A global mapping mission to the Moon launched in 1994 by the U. S. Department of Defense, with science support from NASA.

The geologic history of Earth's Moon has been divided into five broad time periods, or systems. From oldest to youngest, these are pre-Nectarian, Nectarian, Imbrian, Eratosthenian, and Copernican. ...

Ceres

Astronomy; Planetary science

The largest of the known asteroids; a dwarf planet. Also called 1 Ceres because it was the first asteroid to be discovered (by Piazzi in 1801).

chassignites

Astronomy; Planetary science

One of three types of meteorites from Mars (the SNC meteorites). Chassignites are dunites, a rock composed almost entirely of the mineral olivine. The signature stone, Chassigny, fell in France in ...

Yarkovsky effect

Astronomy; Planetary science

An explanation for the shift in an asteroid's orbit around the Sun due to a thermal thrust caused by the body's uneven heating by sunlight. The illuminated side of an asteroid absorbs the sunlight ...

Widmanstätten pattern

Astronomy; Planetary science

A pattern found in iron meteorites due to a change in crystal structure of iron-nickel metal grains during cooling. This structural change produces a pattern of crystallographically oriented kamacite ...

Viking

Astronomy; Planetary science

U. S. Mission to Mars, composed of two spacecraft, launched in 1975. Viking 1 and Viking 2 both consisted of an orbiter and a lander. Primary mission objectives were to obtain high resolution images ...