Blog Archive

2013 Planetary Defense Conference Tabletop Exercise - Rusty Schweikart Cathy Plesko

Saving the Planet can be Exciting!
The Asteroid Emergency Response Tabletop Exercise at the Planetary Defense Conference

Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2013/05/07 05:02 CDT

Planetary Radio for the week of May 6 visits the Planetary Defense Conference one last time to join a "tabletop" simulation of a killer asteroid threat.

Planetary Society Hangout: Naming Bennu, with Mike Puzio and Dante Lauretta

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/05/01 09:51 CDT | 2 comments

In this week's Hangout, Emily Lakdawalla hosted Mike Puzio and Dante Lauretta in a discussion about the naming of OSIRIS-REx' asteroid target.

We have a winner! The OSIRIS-REx asteroid's name is: Bennu!

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/05/01 09:37 CDT

We received more than 8000 entries from all over the world in the Name That Asteroid contest, and we can finally announce the winner. The asteroid formerly known as 1999 RQ36 is now formally named (101955) Bennu, for a heron associated with the Egyptian god Osiris.

New Contest: Name the Moons of Pluto!

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/02/11 11:41 CST | 15 comments

The discoverers of Pluto's fourth and fifth moons are inviting the public to vote on (and write in candidates for) their formal names. Voting closes in two weeks.

Name That Asteroid!

Posted by Bill Nye on 2012/09/04 11:39 CDT | 3 comments

OSIRIS-REx is will return a piece of the ancient asteroid 1999 RQ36, and it's up to you to come up with a name.

Announcing the winners of the "Are We There Yet?" contest

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/02/28 12:44 CST

I'm pleased to announce the winners of the Planetary Society's "Are We There Yet?" Stardust contest!

Stardust update: Almost to Tempel 1

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/02/10 11:06 CST

We're coming up on the final days of Stardust's approach to Tempel 1. The flyby takes place on February 15 at 04:56 UTC (February 14 at 20:56 PST).

Stardust Contest: "Are We There Yet?"

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/02/01 09:44 CST

There's a new Planetary Society contest: "Are We There Yet? -- Measuring Stardust's Cosmic Journey." How far do you think Stardust will have traveled to get to Tempel 1? Guess here and get a chance to win a cool T-shirt!

A lack of information for a Deep Impact update

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/08/24 08:00 CDT

I had very much hoped to be able to post an update about the Deep Impact mission this week, but it looks like my various sources are keeping very very quiet (or maybe they are just tired of me pestering them :)