LPL Spotlight Stories

The far side of the moon, with distant Earth in the background, is visible in this photo taken by the moon-orbiting module of the Chang'e 5-T1 mission.

Tracking an Errant Space Rocket to a Mysterious Crater on the Moon

A new study shows how a team at the University of Arizona's Space4 Center tracked down a contested piece of space junk that crashed onto the moon and provides an explanation for why it left not one but two craters.

OSIRIS-APEX pursues asteroid Apophis during its exceptionally close flyby of Earth on April 13, 2029.

OSIRIS-REx Flies on as OSIRIS-APEX to Explore a Second Asteroid

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission learned much about the potentially hazardous asteroid Bennu and its risk to Earth. Now, the mission will change hands and target a different kind of potentially hazardous asteroid, Apophis.

UArizona Space4 Center lab manager Neil Pearson, aerospace and mechanical engineering graduate student Tanner Campbell and Vishnu Reddy, professor at the UArizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and director of the Space4 Center, observe the separation of the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule from the spacecraft from Kihei, Hawaii, on Sept. 24.

Tracking the Bennu Sample Capsule's Separation from OSIRIS-REx

Data collected ahead of the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule's plunge into Earth's atmosphere will help test algorithms used to pinpoint asteroids that could impact Earth.

This image shows Ganges Chasma, a deep canyon on the eastern end of Valles Marineris, the largest canyon system not just on Mars, but in the entire solar system.

Digital Terrain Models Zero in on Martian Surface

Realistic, to-scale renditions of otherworldly landscapes, created by a team at the university's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, help lay the groundwork for ongoing and future Mars exploration campaigns.

An artistic representation of a meteorite impacting the moon surface. NASA

UArizona Researchers Probe How a Piece of the Moon Became a Near-Earth Asteroid

An interesting pathway could have led the moon fragment to reach Earth's orbital space.

Asteroid Bennu is seen here ejecting particles from its surface on Jan. 19, 2019

UArizona Launches Arizona Astrobiology Center to Unlock the Mysteries of Life in the Universe

The center will bring together students and faculty from across campus and disciplines to unravel the enigma of life's beginnings and our place in the cosmos.

First Look at Bennu Sample Reveals Carbon and Water

NASA's University of Arizona-led OSIRIS-REx mission has returned a sample that scientists will study for decades to learn more about the formation of the solar system.

Spacecraft now know as OSIRIS-APEX departing earth

Tucson-born Asteroid Mission Keeps Flying

The moment the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft released the capsule filled with rocks and dust from asteroid Bennu, Daniella DellaGiustina, assistant professor at Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, assumed command of the robotic probe.

Dante Lauretta (right), UArizona Regents Professor and OSIRIS-REx principal investigator, collects science data with NASA Astromaterials Curator Francis McCubbin and NASA Sample Return Capsule Science Lead Scott Sandford

A Gift from Space: UArizona-led OSIRIS-REx Mission Delivers Largest-ever Asteroid Sample to Earth

The delivery from the asteroid Bennu, seven years after the spacecraft launched, marks the end of the space-voyaging phase of the mission. Scientists will now study the rocks and dust to better understand the origins of life on Earth.

OSIRIS-REx's Successful Sample Delivery Marks the Start of Extended OSIRIS-APEX Mission

After dropping off its historic sample from asteroid Bennu, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is headed to its next target: another potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroid, called Apophis.