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Archive

Archived posts are listed in reverse chronological order.


  • Apr. 17, 2008 | 19:59 PDT | Apr. 18 02:59 UTC
    Preliminary thermal modeling accounts for some (but not all) of the Pioneer Anomaly
    NOTE: An extended version of this update is now posted here. By now, Planetary Society members should be very familiar with the Pioneer Anomaly: it's a very tiny but definitely detectable acceleration felt by the two Pioneer spacecraft as they... More»
  • Apr. 17, 2008 | 19:45 PDT | Apr. 18 02:45 UTC
    Carnival of Space #50
    Another Thursday, another new host for the Carnival of Space, over at KySat Online. (What's KySat Online? It's an organization that "trains and supports students in the dynamics of spacecraft design, payload development, launch and the operation... More»
  • Apr. 16, 2008 | 15:59 PDT | 22:59 UTC
    A bit of fun with Mars Express images of Phobos
    First of all, before I start, I want to apologize for the recent issues with our website; I know it's occasionally been down periodically over the last week or so. Our hosts are upgrading some hardware, and each time a new piece is put in place... More»
  • Apr. 15, 2008 | 15:24 PDT | 22:24 UTC
    At last: Some bits of Kaguya video online in reasonable detail
    I have frequently bemoaned the stingy data release policy of JAXA and the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), who have chosen not to show off the full capability of the high-definition camera aboard the Kaguya lunar orbiter; they've been releasing... More»
  • Apr. 15, 2008 | 09:24 PDT | 16:24 UTC
    Cassini's mission extension has (finally!) been formally approved
    It's not really news, but it's news: the letter from NASA has finally arrived at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, informing them that NASA will pay the bills to keep Cassini running for another two years. The bill is $80 million per year for the next... More»
  • Apr. 14, 2008 | 13:51 PDT | 20:51 UTC
    Shadows cast from Victoria's capes and bays
    This is from the "just plain cool" department. Among the many tasks assigned to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter imaging team is to create "digital elevation models," otherwise known as DEMs, for current and future landing sites on Mars. DEMs are,... More»
  • Apr. 11, 2008 | 13:26 PDT | 20:26 UTC
    Beautiful new Earthrise and Earthset movies from Kaguya
    JAXA and NHK have just released a new pair of videos from the high-definition television camera aboard Kaguya, of an Earthrise and Earthset with a near-full Earth. I grabbed individual frames from the movies to make the animations below, but you... More»
  • Apr. 10, 2008 | 17:01 PDT | Apr. 11 00:01 UTC
    Phoenix Targets Green Valley
    NASA issued a press release just now stating that Phoenix has accomplished the rocket firing that targets it for a specific landing zone on Mars, known informally to the team as "Green Valley." All previous maneuvers targeted it to Mars more... More»
  • Apr. 10, 2008 | 15:27 PDT | 22:27 UTC
    It's so crazy it just might work: Send Cassini between the rings and the planet
    Although the first mission extension for Cassini hasn't officially been approved yet by NASA Headquarters (which strikes me as being kind of silly, since the primary mission comes to a close in less than two months!!), the mission is already trying... More»
  • Apr. 9, 2008 | 16:17 PDT | 23:17 UTC
    Beautiful Phobos photos
    Today I got sidetracked from other projects by some amazing photos of Phobos released by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE team. The images were captured in three filters, so they produced beautifully colored views of this moon. For reasons I... More»