New Horizons is equipped with a multilayered thermal insulation system to retain heat produced by its operating electronics, keeping its shape and remaining precisely aligned for gathering data through instruments, communicating with Earth or maneuvering through space. Small hydrazine thrusters reorient the spacecraft 100 times every second, while star trackers and an inertial measurement unit […]
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The probe’s instruments would investigate Saturn’s temperature field, clouds and composition as well as Titan’s thick haze using radar technology and sampling its rings system. Cassini revolutionized our understanding of Saturn. Her discoveries revolutionized how we perceive this system. Although her mission ended abruptly when she fell into Saturn’s atmosphere in 2017, but not before
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The Solar System is a vast network of celestial bodies composed of the Sun, eight planets with their respective moons (150 or so in all), hundreds of asteroids, comets and cometary objects; plus other objects ranging from giant gas planets to minute dust particles. Solar system first emerged 4.6 billion years ago from a cloud
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Planets, their moons, asteroids and comets in our solar system all orbit or rotate around the Sun in a circle, with some such as Mercury, Venus and Mars orbiting within its confines; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune orbit further out and are solid balls of rock and metal. Astronomers still have much to learn about
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Astronomers on a search for extraterrestrial life have located “Earth’s twin” outside our solar system – Proxima Centauri b – orbiting its nearest star. Scientists discovered the planet by tracking how its host star’s light reflects off of it; its host star lies only 11.2 days away, making this world potentially habitable. Proxima Centauri Proxima
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