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New observations from a NASA spacecraft show that the huge asteroid Vesta is a battered protoplanet left over from the solar system's early days, with a unique mix of characteristics unknown from any other space rock. [More]

News updates all day from your Fast Company editors. As suspected, Planetary Resources has revealed an insight into its plans, which are due for a full reveal later today: The effort led by X-Prize's Peter Diamandis will aim to mine our solar system's asteroids for profit, and with the goal of improving life on Earth

Extrasolar planets are targets for SETI investigations The count of exoplanets, those outside the Solar System, now has reached the multi-hundreds, with mucho mas inevitably to be counted. [More]

Inevitably, year-end lists invite plenty of debate and criticism, and Scientific American 's is no exception. Certainly, we could have included the discovery of new worlds beyond our solar system, including Kepler 22 b, an exoplanet in the "Goldilocks" zone of habitability, as well as the first known Earth-size exoplanets .

What lies beneath such turbulent skies? (NASA/JPL) Gas giant planets are among the most beautiful and awe-inspiring worlds

By Eric Hand and Nature magazine Venus would seem to be a tempting destination for planetary probes: conveniently close, and an extreme laboratory for atmospheric processes familiar on Earth. So why won't NASA send a mission there

If you’ve ever wondered where the Earth came from, the answer, it seems, is blowin’ in the wind--the solar wind. Or so say scientists who, after examining solar wind samples collected by the Genesis spacecraft, conclude that the inner planets of our solar system formed a little differently than we’d thought. The work appears in the journal Science

The Voyager 1 spacecraft is poised to leave the solar system and reach interstellar space.

1. Reports of the demise of wireless payment NFC tech in the upcoming iPhone 5 may be exaggerated: A new rumor has surfaced , purporting to come from an entrepreneur working on a "secret" NFC project, that suggests Apple will indeed support the contact-free system in its new edition. This backs up moves by Apple in January to hire an NFC/RFID expert

By Adam Mann A showdown over the course of Solar System exploration has ended with a qualified victory for Mars. [More]