Departing Venus

​On Dec. 18, 2018, a large "fireball" — the term used for exceptionally bright meteors that are visible over a wide area — exploded about 16 miles (26 kilometers) above the Bering Sea.

In January, Mars 2020 engineers and technicians took over JPL's cleanroom to put the mission's cruise, entry capsule, descent stage and rover through their paces.

Bennu has revealed itself to be more rugged than expected, challenging the mission team to alter its flight and sample collection plans, due to the rough terrain.

The farthest object ever explored is slowly revealing its secrets, as scientists piece together the puzzles of the Kuiper Belt object NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew past on New Year's Day, four billion miles from Earth.

NASA declared the record-setting rover's mission complete on Feb. 13, 2019, but the final image from the rover has just been processed.

Just as dust gathers in corners and along bookshelves in our homes, dust piles up in space too. But when the dust settles in the solar system, it’s often in rings.