|
|
The Planetary Society Blog
Archive
Archived posts are listed in reverse chronological order.
Oct. 5, 2009 | 14:53 PDT | 21:53 UTC
2008 TC3: One year later (a 365 Days of Astronomy podcast)
Tomorrow it'll be one year exactly since the first time ever an astronomer on Earth discovered an object that had a 100% certainty of hitting the planet. Fortunately, the object named 8TA9D69, then renamed 2008 TC3, turned out to be small enough... More»
Oct. 5, 2009 | 11:30 PDT | 18:30 UTC
Another possible piece of evidence for a Rhea ring
One of the more exciting discoveries made by Cassini at Saturn is the possible presence of a ring around one of its moons, Rhea. Evidence for a ring around Rhea comes from the Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI); Cassini saw symmetric drops in... More»
Oct. 5, 2009 | 11:13 PDT | 18:13 UTC
Massive MESSENGER Mercury Mosaic
Just in time for MESSENGER's third flyby comes a mosaic from the second flyby! This absolutely enormous mosaic of Mercury's globe represents 66 individual narrow-angle camera frames on Mercury captured by MESSENGER as it departed from its second... More»
Oct. 2, 2009 | 09:49 PDT | 16:49 UTC
MESSENGER gets two planets for the price of one
Here's a pretty shot of Mercury taken by MESSENGER on approach. I've posted such approach images already, though, making this one relatively non-newsworthy...but wait, what's that tiny little speck in the lower left corner of the photo?Credit: NASA... More»
Oct. 1, 2009 | 21:58 PDT | Oct. 2 04:58 UTC
It would appear that Opportunity has stumbled upon another meteorite
A nice place to stop for the weekend:Click to enlarge >Shelter IslandCombined Pancam and Navcam view of the meteorite Shelter Island on sol 2,022. Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell / mosaic by Astro0 I wonder if this came from the same original body as... More»
Oct. 1, 2009 | 07:04 PDT | 14:04 UTC
What's up in the solar system in October 2009
Phew! With the MESSENGER flyby over, I can focus now on what's ahead for October. The biggest thing to look forward to, without a doubt, is the planned smash of LCROSS into the Moon, a week from Friday, in the wee hours of the morning (my time) on... More»
Sep. 30, 2009 | 14:40 PDT | 21:40 UTC
Another lunar lander photographed: Surveyor 1!
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter camera team has managed to capture a view of Surveyor 1, the first American spacecraft to soft-land on another world. Cool!Click to enlarge >Surveyor 1 found!Surveyor 1 was the first US spacecraft to land on another... More»
Sep. 30, 2009 | 11:05 PDT | 18:05 UTC
Third Time's No Charm: MESSENGER's Third Gravity Assist Successful, But "Safe Mode" Interrupts Science
I just posted a news story on the MESSENGER flyby based upon a press release just issued by the mission. More later!Click to enlarge >Area of Mercury newly seen during MESSENGER's 3rd flybyThe red line outlines the five percent of Mercury's surface... More»
Sep. 30, 2009 | 07:14 PDT | 14:14 UTC
MESSENGER went into safe mode before closest approach
I learned via Twitter this morning (from one of six master teachers who have been Tweeting to kids throughout the encounter) that MESSENGER went into safe mode just before closest approach -- I'm assuming at the time that that unexplained signal... More»
Sep. 29, 2009 | 20:49 PDT | Sep. 30 03:49 UTC
Opportunity on the move
While I've been focused on lunar water and MESSENGER and LCROSS the rest of our unmanned robotic missions have carried on business as usual, and right now business as usual for the Opportunity rover is driving, driving, driving. It departed the... More»
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
[ what is this? ]