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Observations made during the New Horizons flyby provide a detailed snapshot of the current state of Pluto's atmosphere. Whereas the lower atmosphere (at altitudes of less than 200 kilometers) is consistent with ground-based stellar occultations, the upper atmosphere is much colder and more compact than indicated by pre-encounter models. Molecular nitrogen (N2) dominates the atmosphere (at altitudes of less than 1800 kilometers or so), whereas methane (CH4), acetylene (C2H2), ethylene (C2H4), and ethane (C2H6) are abundant minor species and likely feed the production of an extensive haze that encompasses Pluto. The cold upper atmosphere shuts off the anticipated enhanced-Jeans, hydrodynamic-like escape of Pluto's atmosphere to space. It is unclear whether the current state of Pluto's atmosphere is representative of its average state--over seasonal or geologic time scales., (Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.)

The Pluto system was recently explored by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, making closest approach on 14 July 2015. Pluto's surface displays diverse landforms, terrain ages, albedos, colors, and composition gradients. Evidence is found for a water-ice crust, geologically young surface units, surface ice convection, wind streaks, volatile transport, and glacial flow. Pluto's atmosphere is highly extended, with trace hydrocarbons, a global haze layer, and a surface pressure near 10 microbars. Pluto's diverse surface geology and long-term activity raise fundamental questions about how small planets remain active many billions of years after formation. Pluto's large moon Charon displays tectonics and evidence for a heterogeneous crustal composition; its north pole displays puzzling dark terrain. Small satellites Hydra and Nix have higher albedos than expected., (Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.)

The atmosphere and ionosphere of Venus have been studied in the past by spacecraft with remote sensing or in situ techniques. These early missions, however, have left us with questions about, for example, the atmospheric structure in the transition region from the upper troposphere to the lower mesosphere (50-90 km) and the remarkably variable structure of the ionosphere. Observations become increasingly difficult within and below the global cloud deck (<50 km altitude), where strong absorption greatly limits the available investigative spectrum to a few infrared windows and the radio range. Here we report radio-sounding results from the first Venus Express Radio Science (VeRa) occultation season. We determine the fine structure in temperatures at upper cloud-deck altitudes, detect a distinct day-night temperature difference in the southern middle atmosphere, and track day-to-day changes in Venus' ionosphere.

One of Titan's most intriguing attributes is its copious but featureless atmosphere. The Voyager 1 fly-by and occultation in 1980 provided the first radial survey of Titan's atmospheric pressure and temperature and evidence for the presence of strong zonal winds. It was realized that the motion of an atmospheric probe could be used to study the winds, which led to the inclusion of the Doppler Wind Experiment on the Huygens probe. Here we report a high resolution vertical profile of Titan's winds, with an estimated accuracy of better than 1 m s(-1). The zonal winds were prograde during most of the atmospheric descent, providing in situ confirmation of superrotation on Titan. A layer with surprisingly slow wind, where the velocity decreased to near zero, was detected at altitudes between 60 and 100 km. Generally weak winds (approximately 1 m s(-1)) were seen in the lowest 5 km of descent.

The daytime martian ionosphere has been observed as a two-layer structure with electron densities that peak at altitudes between about 110 and 130 kilometers. The Mars Express Orbiter Radio Science Experiment on the European Mars Express spacecraft observed, in 10 out of 120 electron density profiles, a third ionospheric layer at altitude ranges of 65 to 110 kilometers, where electron densities, on average, peaked at 0.8 x 10(10) per cubic meter. Such a layer has been predicted to be permanent and continuous. Its origin has been attributed to ablation of meteors and charge exchange of magnesium and iron. Our observations imply that this layer is present sporadically and locally.

Topography and gravity measured by the Mars Global Surveyor have enabled determination of the global crust and upper mantle structure of Mars. The planet displays two distinct crustal zones that do not correlate globally with the geologic dichotomy: a region of crust that thins progressively from south to north and encompasses much of the southern highlands and Tharsis province and a region of approximately uniform crustal thickness that includes the northern lowlands and Arabia Terra. The strength of the lithosphere beneath the ancient southern highlands suggests that the northern hemisphere was a locus of high heat flow early in martian history. The thickness of the elastic lithosphere increases with time of loading in the northern plains and Tharsis. The northern lowlands contain structures interpreted as large buried channels that are consistent with northward transport of water and sediment to the lowlands before the end of northern hemisphere resurfacing.

Observations of the gravity field of Mars reveal a planet that has responded differently in its northern and southern hemispheres to major impacts and volcanic processes. The rough, elevated southern hemisphere has a relatively featureless gravitational signature indicating a state of near-isostatic compensation, whereas the smooth, low northern plains display a wider range of gravitational anomalies that indicates a thinner but stronger surface layer than in the south. The northern hemisphere shows evidence for buried impact basins, although none large enough to explain the hemispheric elevation difference. The gravitational potential signature of Tharsis is approximately axisymmetric and contains the Tharsis Montes but not the Olympus Mons or Alba Patera volcanoes. The gravity signature of Valles Marineris extends into Chryse and provides an estimate of material removed by early fluvial activity.

Magellan probes Venus' surface by 12.6-cm-wavelength vertical and oblique radar scattering and measures microwave thermal emission. Emissivity and root-meansquare slope maps between 330 degrees and 30 degrees E and 90 degrees N and 80 degrees S are dissimilar, although some local features are exceptions. Inferred surface emissivities typically are approximately 0.85, but vary from approximately 0.35 at Maxwell to approximately 0.95 northeast of Gula Mons and other locations. Lowest emissivities appear in topographically high areas; this relation suggests that a phase change or differences in chemical weathering occur at about 6055-kilometer radius. Initial results indicate that there are significant variations in the surface scattering function.

Titan's dense and cold nitrogen atmosphere contains a small amount of methane under conditions at least approaching those at which one or both constituents would condense. The possibility of methane and nitrogen rain clouds and global methane oceans has been discussed widely. From specific features of radio occultation and other Voyager results, however, it is concluded that nitrogen does not condense on Titan and that Titan has neither global methane oceans nor a global cloud of liquid methane droplets. Certain results indirectly support the conjecture that methane does not condense at any location. However, other considerations favor a methane ice haze high in the troposphere, and liquid and solid methane might exist on the surface and as low clouds at polar latitudes.

Preliminary reduction of Viking bistatic radar data gives root-mean-square surface slopes in the Hellas basin on Mars of about 4 degrees on horizontal scales averaged over 10 centimeters to 100 meters. This roughness decreases slightly with position along the ground track, south to north. The dielectric constant in this area appears to be approximately 3.1, greater than the martian average. These values are characteristic of lunar maria and are similar to those found near the Viking lander site in Chryse with the use of Earth-based radar.

The Voyager 2 encounter with the Neptune system included radio science investigations of the masses and densities of Neptune and Triton, the low-order gravitational harmonics of Neptune, the vertical structures of the atmospheres and ionospheres of Neptune and Triton, the composition of the atmosphere of Neptune, and characteristics of ring material. Demanding experimental requirements were met successfully, and study of the large store of collected data has begun. The initial search of the data revealed no detectable effects of ring material with optical depth tau [unknown] 0.01. Preliminary representative results include the following: 1.0243 x 10(26) and 2.141 x 10(22) kilograms for the masses of Neptune and Triton; 1640 and 2054 kilograms per cubic meter for their respective densities; 1355 +/- 7 kilometers, provisionally, for the radius of Triton; and J(2) = 3411 +/- 10(x 10(-6)) and J(4) = -26(+12)(-20)(x10(-6)) for Neptune's gravity field (J>(2) and J(4) are harmonic coefficients of the gravity field). The equatorial and polar radii of Neptune are 24,764 +/- 20 and 24,340 +/- 30 kllometers, respectively, at the 10(5)-pascal (1 bar) pressure level. Neptune's atmosphere was probed to a pressure level of about 5 x 10(5) pascals, and effects of a methane cloud region and probable ammonia absorption below the cloud are evident in the data. Results for the mixing ratios of helium and ammonia are still being investigated; the methane abundance below the clouds is at least 1 percent by volume. Derived temperature-pressure profiles to 1.2 x 10(5) pascals and 78 kelvins (K) show a lapse rate corresponding to "frozen" equilibrium of the para- and ortho-hydrogen states. Neptune's ionosphere exhibits an extended topside at a temperature of 950 +/- 160 K if H(+) is the dominant ion, and narrow ionization layers of the type previously seen at the other three giant planets. Triton has a dense ionosphere with a peak electron concentration of 46 x 10(9) per cubic meter at an altitude of 340 kilometers measured during occultation egress. Its topside plasma temperature is about 80 +/- 16 K if N(2)(+) is the principal ion. The tenuous neutral atmosphere of Triton produced distinct signatures in the occultation data; however, the accuracy of the measurements is limited by uncertainties in the frequency of the spacecraft reference oscillator. Preliminary values for the surface pressure of 1.6 +/- 0.3 pascals and an equivalent isothermal temperature of 48 +/- 5 K are suggested, on the assumption that molecular nitrogen dominates the atmosphere. The radio data may be showing the effects of a thermal inversion near the surface; this and other evidence imply that the Triton atmosphere is controlled by vapor-pressure equilibrium with surface ices, at a temperature of 38 K and a methane mixing ratio of about 10(-4).

Voyager 2 radio signals were observed essentially continuously during a grazing occultation of the spacecraft by the southern limb of Jupiter. Intensity data show a classic atmospheric occultation profile and the effects of turbulence and ionospheric focusing and defocusing. No reliable profile of the neutral atmosphere has yet been obtained, primarily because of a combination of large trajectory uncertainties and error multiplication effects associated with the grazing geometry of the Voyager 2 occultation. Analysis of the dispersive ionospheric refraction data yields preliminary profiles for the topside ionosphere at 66.7 degrees S (entry in the evening) and 50.1 degrees S (exit in the morning) that are reversed with respect to corresponding Voyager 1 profiles in terms of plasma concentration at a fixed altitude. Plasma scale heights and temperatures of 880 kilometers, 1200 K and 1040 kilometers, 1600 K were obtained for morning and evening conditions, respectively. Preliminary reduction of the pre-encounter occultation of Voyager 1 by the Io torus yields an average plasma density of about 1000 electrons per cubic centimeter.

Analysis of the Doppler tracking data near encounter yields a value for the ratio of the mass of the sun to that of Venus of 408,523.9 +/- 1.2, which is in good agreement with prior determinations based on data from Mariner 2 and Mariner 5. Preliminary analysis indicates that the magnitudes of the fractional differences in the principal moments of inertia of Venus are no larger than 10(-4), given that the effects of gravity-field harmonics higher than the second are negligible. Additional analysis is needed to determine the influence of the higher order harmonics on this bound. Four distinct temperature inversions exist at altitudes of 56, 58, 61, and 63 kilometers. The X-band signal was much more rapidly attenuated than the S-band signal and disappeared completely at 52-kilometer altitude. The nightside ionosphere consists of two layers having a peak density of 10(4) electrons per cubic centimeter at altitudes of 140 and 120 kilometers. The dayside ionosphere has a peak density of 3 X 10(5) electrons per cubic centimeter at an altitude of 145 kilometers. The electron number density observed at higher altitudes was ten times less than that observed by Mariner 5, and no strong evidence for a well-defined plasmapause was found.

Voyager 2 radio occultation measurements of the Uranian atmosphere were obtained between 2 and 7 degrees south latitude. Initial atmospheric temperature profiles extend from pressures of 10 to 900 millibars over a height range of about 100 kilometers. Comparison of radio and infrared results yields mole fractions near the tropopause of 0.85 and 0.15 +/- 0.05 for molecular hydrogen and helium, respectively, if no other components are present; for this composition the tropopause is at about 52 kelvins and 110 millibars. Distinctive features in the signal intensity measurements for pressures above 900 millibars strongly favor model atmospheres that include a cloud deck of methane ice. Modeling of the intensity measurements for the cloud region and below indicates that the cloud base is near 1,300 millibars and 81 kelvins and yields an initial methane mole fraction of about 0.02 for the deep atmosphere. Scintillations in signal intensity indicate small-scale stucture throughout the stratosphere and upper troposphere. As judged from data obtained during occultation ingress, the ionosphere consists of a multilayer structure that includes two distinct layers at 2,000 and 3,500 kilometers above the 100-millibar level and an extended topside that may reach altitudes of 10,000 kilometers or more. Occultation measurements of the nine previously known rings at wavelengths of 3.6 and 13 centimeters show characteristic values of optical depth between about 0.8 and 8; the maxim value occurs in the outer region of the in ring, near its periapsis. Forward-scattered signals from this ring have properties that differ from those of any of Saturn's rings, and they are inconsistent with a discrete scattering object or local (three-dimensional) assemblies of orbiting objects. These signals suggest a new kdnd of planetary ring feature characterized by highly ordered cylindrical substructures of radial scale on the order of meters and azimuthal scale of kilometers or more. From radio data alone the mass of the Uranian system is GM(sys) = 5,794,547- 60 cubic kilometers per square second; from a combination of radio and optical navigation data the mass of Uranus alone is GM(u) = 5,793,939+/- 60 cubic kilometers per square second. From all available Voyager data, induding imaging radii, the mean uncompressed density of the five major satellites is 1.40+/- 0.07 grams per cubic centimeter; this value is consistent with a solar mix of material and apparently rules out a cometary origin of the satellites.

Earth-based telescopic observations indicate that Saturn's rings are about 1 kilometer thick, while spacecraft measurements and theoretical considerations give an upper bound of about 100 meters. Analysis of a shielding effect present in radio occultation provides a sensitive new measure of the ring thickness. On the basis of this effect, Voyager 1 microwave measurements of near-forward scatter imply a thickness ranging from less than 10 meters in ring C to about 20 and 50 meters in the Cassini division and ring A, respectively. Monolayer models do not fit the observations in the latter two regions. The discrepancy between the Earth-based and spacecraft measurements may be due to warps in the ring plane or effects of tenuous material outside the primary ring system.

Voyager 1 radio occultation measurements of Titan's equatorial atmosphere successfully probed to the surface, which is provisionally placed at a radius of 2570 kilometers. Derived scale heights plus other experimental and theoretical results indicate that molecular nitrogen is the predominant atmospheric constituent. The surface pressure and temperature appear to be about 1.6 bars and 93 K, respectively. The main clouds are probably methane ice, although some condensation of nitrogen cannot be ruled out. Solar abundance arguments suggest and the measurements allow large quantities of surface methane near its triple-point temperature, so that the three phases of methane could play roles in the atmosphere and on the surface of Titan similar to those of water on Earth. Radio occultation measurements of Saturn's atmosphere near 75 degrees south latitude reached a maximum pressure of 1.4 bars, where the temperature is about 156 K. The minimum temperature is about 91 K near the 60-millibar pressure level. The measured part of the polar ionosphere of Saturn has a peak electron concentration of 2.3 x 10(4) per cubic centimeter at an altitude of 2500 kilometers above the 1-bar level in the atmosphere, and a plasma scale height at the top of the ionosphere of 560 kilometers. Attenuation of monochromatic radiation at a wavelength of 3.6 centimeters propagating obliquely through Saturn's rings is consistent with traditional values for the normal optical depth of the rings, but the near-forward scattering of this radiation by the rings indicates effective scattering particles with larger than expected diameters of 10, 8, and 2 meters in the A ring, the outer Cassini division, and the C ring, respectively. Preliminary analysis of the radio tracking data yields new values for the masses of Rhea and Titan of 4.4 +/- 0.3 x 10(-6) and 236.64 +/- 0.08 x 10(-6) times the mass of Saturn. Corresponding values for the mean densities of these objects are 1.33 +/- 0.10 and about 1.89 grams per cubic centimeter. The density of Rhea is consistent with a solar-composition mix of anhydrous rock and volatiles, while Titan is apparently enriched in silicates relative to the solar composition.

Analysis of the radio-tracking data from Mariner 10 yields 6,023,600 +/- 600 for the ratio of the mass of the sun to that of Mercury, in very good agreement with values determined earlier from radar data alone. Occultation measurements yielded values for the radius of Mercury of 2440 +/- 2 and 2438 +/- 2 kilometers at laditudes of 2 degrees N and 68 degrees N, respectively, again in close agreement with the average equatorial radius of 2439 +/- 1 kilometers determined from radar data. The mean density of 5.44 grams per cubic centimeter deduced for Mercury from Mariner 10 data thus virtually coincides with the prior determination. No evidence of either an ionosphere or an atmosphere was found, with the data yielding upper bounds on the electron density of about 1500 and 4000 electrons per cubic centimeter on the dayside and nightside, respectively, and an inferred upper bound on the surface pressure of 10(-8) millibar.

A preliminarv profile of the atmosphere of Jupiter in the South Equatorial Belt shows (i) the tropopause occurring at a pressure level of 100 millibars and temperature of about 113K, (ii) a higher warm inversion layer at about the 35-millibar level, and (iii) a lower-altitude constant lapse rate matching the adiabatic value of about 2 K per kilometer, with the temperatutre reaching 150 K at the 600-millibar level. Preliminary afternoon and predawn ionospheric profiles at 12 degrees south latitude and near the equator, respectively, have topside plasma scale heights of 590 kilometers changing to 960 kilometers above an altitucde of 3500 kilometers for the dayside, and about 960 kilomneters at all measured heights above the peak for the nightside. The higher value of scale height corresponds to a plasma temperature of 1100 K under the assumption of a plasma of protons and electrons in ambipolar diffusive equilibrium. The peak electron concentration in the upper ionosphere is approximately 2 x 10(5) per cubic centimeter for the dayside and about a factor of 10 less for the nightside. These peaks occur at altitudes of 1600 and 2300 kilometers, respectively. Continuing analyses are expected to extend and refine these results, and to be used to investigate other regions and phenomena.

Radar observations of Mars at centimeter wavelengths in May, June, and July 1976 provided estimates of surface roughness and reflectivity in three potential landing areas for Viking 1. Surface roughness is characterized by the distribution of surface landing slopes or tilts on lateral scales of the order of 1 to 10 meters; measurements of surface reflectivity are indicators of bulk surface density in the uppermost few centimeters. By these measures, the Viking 1 landing site at 47.5 degrees W, 22.4 degrees N is rougher than the martian average, although it may be near the martian average for elevations accessible to Viking, and is estimated to be near the Mars average in reflectivity. The AINW site at the center of Chryse Planitia, 43.5 degrees W, 23.4 degrees N, may be an area of anomalous radar characteristics, indicative of extreme, small-scale roughness, very low surface density, or a combination of these two characteristics, Low signal-to-noise ratio observations of the original Chryse site at 34 degrees W, 19.5 degrees N indicate that that area is at least twice as rough as the Mars average.

Classical edge diffraction patterns are formed at centimeter wavelengths by several features of Saturn's rings. These patterns were discovered in 3.6-and 13-centimeter radio signals from Voyager 1 during occultation by the rings. The observed shapes are in agreement with theoretical patterns computed for screens of perfectly abrupt edges having large but finite opacity. Comparison with models in which the opacity at the edge tapers to zero from a finite value sets a new bound of less than about 200 meters on the microwave edge thickness. Certain features of the data suggest a smaller upper bound of about 130 meters on the edge thickness.

The Voyager spacecraft observed a narrow, eccentric ringlet in the Maxwell gap (1.45 Saturn radii) in Saturn's rings. Intercomparison of the Voyager imaging, photopolarimeter, ultraviolet spectrometer, and radio science observations yields results not available from individual observations. The width of the ringlet varies from about 30 to about 100 kilometers, its edges are sharp on a radial scale < 1 kilometer, and its opacity exhibits a double peak near the center. The shape and width of the ringlet are consistent with a set of uniformly precessing, confocal ellipses with foci at Saturn's center of mass. The ringlet precesses as a unit at a rate consistent with the known dynamical oblateness of Saturn; the lack of differential precession across the ringlet yields a ringlet mass of about 5 x 10(18) grams. The ratio of surface mass density to particle cross-sectional area is about five times smaller than values obtained elsewhere in the Saturn ring system, indicating a relatively larger fraction of small particles. Also, comparison of the measured transmission of the ringlet at radio, visible, and ultraviolet wavelengths indicates that about half of the total extinction is due to particles smaller than 1 centimeter in radius, in contrast even with nearby regions of the C ring. However, the color and brightness of the ringlet material are not measurably different from those of nearby C ring particles. We find this ringlet is similar to several of the rings of Uranus.

Voyager 2 radio occultation measurements of Saturn's atmosphere probed to the 1.2-bar pressure level, where the temperature was 143 +/- 6 K and the lapse rate apparently equaled the dry adiabatic value of 0.85 K per kilometer. The tropopause at both mid-latitude occultation locations (36.5 degrees N and 31 degrees S) was at a pressure level of about 70 millibars and a temperature of approximately 82 K. The stratospheric structures were very similar with the temperature rising to about 140 K at the 1-millibar pressure level. The peak electron concentrations sensed were 1.7 x 10(4) and 0.64 x 10(4) per cubic centimeter in the predawn (31 degrees S) and late afternoon (36.5 degrees N) locations. The topside plasma scale heights were about 1000 kilometers for the late afternoon profile, and 260 kilometers for the lower portions and 1100 kilometers for the upper portions of the topside predawn ionosphere. Radio measurements of the masses of Tethys and Iapetus yield (7.55 +/- 0.90) x 10(20) and (18.8 +/- 1.2) x 10(20) kilograms respectively; the Tethys-Mimas resonance theory then provides a derived mass for Afimas of (0.455 +/- 0.054) x 10(20) kilograms. These values for Tethys and Mimas represent major increases from previously accepted ground-based values, and appear to reverse a suggested trend of increasing satellite density with orbital radius in the Saturnian system. Current results suggest the opposite trend, in which the intermediate-sized satellites of Saturn may represent several classes of objects that differ with respect to the relative amounts of water, ammonia, and methane ices incorporated at different temperatures during formation. The anomalously low density of lapetus might then be explained as resulting from a large hydrocarbon content, and its unusually dark surface markings as another manifestation of this same material.

Bistatic-radar scattering from medium- to long-wavelength (80 to 200 meters) ocean waves has been observed with the use of loran A (1.85 megahertz) transmissions and a receiver located 280 kilometers away. The received echoes have been converted into a time-delay, Doppler-frequency map in which the effects of anisotropies in the ocean-wave spectra are clearly shown. The distribution of the echoes in delay-Doppler space is consistent with Bragg scattering from trains of dispersed ocean waves.

Ten-meter radar observations of the sea have been used to study second-order interactions between waves in electromagnetic scattering from the sea. Techniques of coherent, pulsed radar provide echo frequency spectra from several range intervals. The echo spectra are resolved with an analysis window of a few millihertz. These spectra show a clear second-order echo continuum which appears as sidebands about the first-order Bragg scattering lines. Up to one-half of the total echo power has been observed in these sidebands. The principal characteristics of these sidebands vary with time, apparently in response to the sea state. The form of the echo spectra is consistent with the results of perturbation theory computations based on Rice's method.

Continuous-wave signals transmitted from Lunar Orbiter I have been received on Earth after they have been reflected from the surface of the moon. The frequency spectrum of the reflected signals is used to locate discrete, heterogeneous, scattering centers on the lunar surface. The scattering centers are probably distinguished from the surrounding terrain by a higher surface reflectivity. Continuous-wave bistatic radar could provide an important new method for the study and mapping of planetary surfaces.