The Planetary Society Weblog

May 4 - 8

Jim Bell

Jim Bell joined The Planetary Society's Board of Directors in 2005 and became President of the Board in 2008. A professor of astronomy at Cornell University, Bell is also the lead scientist for the Pancam color imaging systems on the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity and has written two books about his Mars work: Postcards from Mars and Mars 3-D: A Rover's Eye View of the Red Planet. He has also been actively or previously involved as a science team member of the NASA Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous, Mars Pathfinder, Mars Odyssey, Comet Nucleus Tour, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and Mars Science Laboratory missions. His research interests focus on the geology, chemistry, and mineralogy of planets, moons, asteroids, and comets. When not taking pictures on Mars, Jim enjoys woodworking, gardening, writing, and playing as much softball as possible in the short Upstate New York summers. His most recent book is a collection of images and essays about lunar exploration called "Moon 3-D: The Lunar Surface Comes to Life".

May 11 - 15

Mark Adler

As Chief Mission Concept Architect at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mark Adler is currently responsible for the conception, design, and cost estimation for proposed new space missions across the lab. In past lives at JPL, Mark was the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit Mission Manager from launch through the first extended mission, and he was the Lead Mission Engineer on Cassini-Huygens. Though his work seems like a hobby to Mark, he also enjoys flying small planes, amateur theatre, and writing about himself in third person.

May 18 - 22

Alan Stern

Alan Stern is an Associate Vice President at the Southwest Research Institute and a consultant to various universities and aerospace firms. In 2007 and 2008 he directed all of NASA's space and Earth science programs as a NASA Associate Administrator. He is a planetary scientist, NASA mission and science instrument PI, and has authored and edited a variety of books on space science and space exploration. His research interests include the origin and architecture of planetary systems, planetary atmospheres, and comets. By not sleeping very much, he also finds time to enjoy raising his three children, and to hike, vacation, and write.

May 25 - 29

Ken Edgett

Ken Edgett is a Senior Staff Scientist with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, California. He is the Principal Investigator of the Mars Science Laboratory Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and a Co-Investigator on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Color Imager/Context Camera (MARCI/CTX) team. He spent the years 1998–2006 targeting tens of thousands of images with the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera. Ken has been featured regularly on a Phoenix, AZ children’s science television show, Brainstorm. He has co-authored a children’s book, Touchdown Mars! (published in 2000), and his first science fiction short story appeared in Hadley Rille Books’ Return to Luna (2008). Edgett grew up in Rochester, New York; he misses the cheeseburgers at Schaller’s and frozen custard at Abbott’s but he doesn’t miss the weather.

June 1 - 5

David Seal

David Seal is Cassini's Mission Planner at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and has been involved with the Cassini mission to Saturn since 1992. Dave developed JPL's Solar System Simulator and has also worked on the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. Outside of JPL, Dave enjoys acting in Caltech theater, disc golf, and the science of soap bubbles. Dave foolishly believes the universe is closed.

June 8 - 12

John Spencer

John Spencer is a staff scientist at Southwest Research Institute's Department of Space Studies in Boulder, Colorado and is a member of the New Horizons and Cassini science teams. His research interests include the moons of the outer planets, particularly the Galilean satellites of Jupiter and the icy moons of Saturn. His favorite moons are the active ones, Io and Enceladus. When he's not staring at a computer screen, he enjoys Colorado with his wife Jane and their dog Maggie, and loves tooling around Boulder on his bicycle.

June 15 - 19

Timothy Reed

Timothy Reed is an optical engineer living in Boulder, Colorado. He worked for 20 years developing spaceflight imaging systems and was a major contributor to HiRISE, JWST, NICMOS, QuickBird, Space Shuttle microgravity payloads, and the Pancam mast on the Spirit and Opportunity rovers. He is currently working in the field of holographic optical data storage, and pursuing graduate studies in atmospheric science at the University of Colorado. Timothy has acted in classical theatre for several decades, won medals in luge competitions, and been the voice of a cartoon character.

June 22 - 26

"5thstar"

5thstar is a webmaster of a group of people who were the semi-final applicants in NASDA's 1995 astronaut selection. (The National Space Development Agency of Japan or NASDA was merged with two other space agencies to become the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency or JAXA in 2003.) Going through medical checks and interviews for an incredible week, those forty-some wannabes were tied with a unique bond of friendship. 5thstar reapplied in 1998, and became one of the eight finalists to experience an extensive psychological group survey in NASDA's isolation chamber for a week. The finalists were also interviewed by honorable astronauts at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. He maintains a private blog to advocate space exploration, where he posted English translations of media briefings by JAXA about MUSES-C, a.k.a. Hayabusa, when it touched down on asteroid Itokawa.

June 29 - July 3

Kelly Beatty

A veteran space reporter and Senior Contributing Editor of Sky & Telescope, Kelly Beatty enjoys writing for a wide spectrum of audiences, from children to professional astronomers. He’s also on the astronomy faculty at the Clay Center Observatory in suburban Boston. Although the skies above his home are aglow with light pollution, Kelly observes when he can through one of his six telescopes.

July 6 - 10

Anne Verbiscer

Anne Verbiscer is a Research Associate Professor at the University of Virginia. She studies the surfaces of icy bodies in the outer Solar System and has been involved with the Cassini mission to Saturn since 2007. Currently a visitor at Southwest Research Institute, she has been enjoying the past year living in the mountains above Boulder, Colorado.

July 13 - 17

Zibi Turtle

Zibi Turtle is a research scientist in the Planetary Exploration group at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab. She is an associate of Cassini's imaging team and member of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera team. Her research interests include impact cratering and planetary geology, e.g., lake formation on Titan, crater formation and modification, and mountain building on volcanic Io. When not sitting in front of a computer, she enjoys racing with the Baltimore Rowing Club, taiko, and playing with her nieces.

July 20 - 24

Sam Lawrence

Samuel Lawrence is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration. He is a Science Team Associate on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera instrument and is heavily involved in the ASU Apollo Digital Image Archive project. His professional research interests include the petrology and geochemistry of lunar samples and meteorites, lunar geology, the origin and evolution of the asteroids, and the location and processing of space resources. In what little free time he has when not doing lunar research, he is an avid PC gamer who lately has been enjoying Spore, Civilization IV, and Flight Simulator X.

July 27 - 31

Jani Radebaugh

Jani Radebaugh is an Assistant Professor of Geological Sciences at Brigham Young University. Although a planetary scientist, she specializes in the study of three moons: Titan, Io, and Earth's Moon.
She worked with the Galileo team as a graduate student, and is now a a Cassini RADAR Associate Team Member. Since Earth is also a planet, she has made it a personal goal to visit as many places as possible with planetary connections. Destinations covered thus far include Iceland, Antarctica, Hawaii, and her favorite, the U.S. desert west.

August 3

Bill Nye

Bill Nye spent several years working as an engineer until he combined his dual love of science and comedy to create his on-screen persona, "The Science Guy."  Nye’s mission for many years has been to turn on the public in general, and kids in particular, to the "way cool" wonders of science.  From 1992 to 1998, Nye was the writer, producer and talent for the Emmy award-winning Bill Nye the Science Guy TV series.  His latest TV program was Stuff Happens.

August

Emily Lakdawalla returns

Doug Ellison

Doug Ellison is a Multimedia Producer for a Medical E-Learning firm by day, but in his free time, he started a forum to share and compare techniques and ideas of rover image processing which turned into Unmannedspaceflight.com in early 2005.  He has given many lectures to schools, local astronomy societies, the British Astronomical Association, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory about the rovers and other Mars missions and how space enthusiasts use the data they produce, and he produces Rover Audio Updates with Jim Bell for The Planetary Society Website.  His favorite color is blue, but he doesn't like blue cheese.

Marc Rayman

Marc Rayman, Project Systems Engineer for the Dawn mission, contributes monthly Dawn Journals recording the progress of the spacecraft's trip to the largest denizens of the asteroid belt.

...And The Planetary Society Staff

Finally, you'll also be hearing from other folks at The Planetary Society with news and updates on our programs and projects, and commentaries on the latest events affecting planetary exploration.