Solar Orbiter carries six imaging instruments, each of which studies a different aspect of the Sun, and completed its first close pass of the Sun in mid-June
The role of NASA's Office of Planetary Protection is to promote responsible exploration of the solar system by protecting both Earth and mission destinations from contamination
NASA engineers have attached its Mars rover to the top of the rocket that will send it toward the Red Planet as the US space agency now targets July 30 for its launch
Named 'AU Mic b', and orbiting, AU Microscopii or 'AU Mic', the planet is approximately the size of Neptune, and was discovered by NASA's TESS satellite
'Spaceship Neptune' is operated by the space startup Space Perspective that operates from facilities leased from NASA through Space Florida at the Kennedy Space Center