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NASA Backs Off From Additional Planetary Cuts in 2013
Operating plan provides $1.271 billion
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/09/01 03:44 CDT | 5 comments
The final operating plan for the space agency provided $75 million more to planetary exploration than initially proposed.
SpaceNews Highlights the Planetary Society's Advocacy Work
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/08/30 06:17 CDT | 2 comments
The Planetary Society is "making a difference" in the space industry, according to SpaceNews, the world's leading newspaper covering the space business.
Finally, an FY13 NASA Planetary Budget, Just 11 Months Late
Posted by Van Kane on 2013/08/30 05:32 CDT | 10 comments
The final news for NASA's Planetary Science program is better than had been proposed, but still a substantial cut over the previous year. There may be serious future consequences as a result of the smaller program.
Dawn journal: Distant interplanetary adventurer
Posted by Marc Rayman on 2013/08/30 04:28 CDT | 1 comments
Traveling confidently and alone, Dawn continues to make its way through the silent depths of the main asteroid belt. The interplanetary adventurer is on its long journey to the uncharted dwarf planet Ceres, by far the largest of all asteroids.
Bruce Murray: Personal Reflections of a Former Student
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2013/08/29 01:44 CDT | 2 comments
I am saddened by the loss of my professor and mentor, Bruce Murray. I celebrate him here by sharing some personal memories and reflections. There is much to respect, and also much to amuse as we reflect on the life of this great man.
Posted by Louis D. FriedmanCharlene Anderson on 2013/08/29 11:32 CDT | 52 comments
One of the most remarkable minds of 20th century exploration was stilled this morning, August 29, 2013, when Bruce C. Murray died of Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 81. The Planetary Society owes its existence to Bruce.
Results of ten Venus years of cloud tracking by Venus Express
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/08/29 10:55 CDT | 4 comments
What Venus Express' Visual Monitoring Camera images of Venus have taught us about the motions of Venus' atmosphere.
Chang'e 3 proceeding toward December 1 launch
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/08/28 11:02 CDT | 2 comments
News agencies are reporting that China's soft lunar lander and rover, Chang'e 3, has passed its final critical reviews and is now proceeding toward launch.
China Goes to the Moon and Beyond?
A Conversation with Space Journalist Leonard David
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2013/08/27 01:06 CDT
Planetary Radio guest Leonard David has been writing about space exploration for more than five decades. He has collected analysis from around the world about China's big plans for space exploration.
Posted by Bill Dunford on 2013/08/26 04:37 CDT | 4 comments
A deep lunar crater exposes some of the Moon's secrets.
Posted by Sarah Hörst on 2013/08/26 03:14 CDT | 11 comments
By now I hope that everyone has seen some of the spectacular images of the Saturn system (and especially Titan!) from the Cassini-Huygens mission. However, the measurements that often make my heart race are taken by instruments that reveal Titan in ways that our eyes cannot see.
New Horizons: Late in Cruise, and a Binary Ahoy
Posted by Alan Stern on 2013/08/24 09:16 CDT | 2 comments
New Horizons has just completed a summer of intensive activities and entered hibernation on Aug. 20. The routine parts of the activities included thorough checkouts of all our backup systems (result: they work fine!) and of all our scientific instruments (they work fine too!).
Updates on Curiosity from Ken Herkenhoff: Embarking for Mount Sharp (sols 326-372)
Posted by Ken Herkenhoff on 2013/08/23 12:07 CDT | 1 comments
United States Geological Survey scientist Ken Herkenhoff posts regular updates on the Curiosity science team's plans for the rover on Mars.
Small Could be Beautiful - Planetary SmallSats
Posted by Van Kane on 2013/08/23 11:05 CDT | 4 comments
A new breed of small planetary spacecraft may allow for more frequent flights to the planets for highly focused missions.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/08/22 07:02 CDT | 3 comments
LADEE's launch window opens two weeks from today, on September 6. The brief little mission aims to study the lunar atmosphere and dust environment before future soft landings disturb its currently pristine state.
Photo gallery: MAVEN being prepped for launch
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/08/21 04:56 CDT | 2 comments
Watching MAVEN go through its final launch preparations via the photo gallery at the Kennedy Media Archive.
Producing global views of Vesta from archival data
Posted by Björn Jónsson on 2013/08/21 12:18 CDT | 3 comments
Björn Jónsson produces beautiful color and 3D global mosaics of Vesta from Dawn's archival data.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/08/20 07:37 CDT | 4 comments
Those sneaky scientists on Curiosity managed to catch a Phobos transit of the Sun with one set of cameras, and to watch its shadow darkening the surface with another. COOL!
Caution: Spacecraft Under Construction
Visiting JPL's high bay clean room with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2013/08/20 10:39 CDT | 1 comments
Join Emily Lakdawalla and Mat Kaplan inside JPL's High Bay 1, where two Earth-revealing missions are being readied for launch.
Posted by Bill Dunford on 2013/08/20 01:27 CDT | 7 comments
Beautiful maps of a mysterious place.
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