Blog Archive

Posted by Alan Stern on 2012/08/21 04:29 CDT | 2 comments

A start-up company creating products that will fund space exploration, research, and education.

Fun for all ages: creating and mapping a volcano

Posted by Mike Malaska on 2012/08/18 11:26 CDT

Here’s a fun, cheap, and only slightly messy demonstration activity for kids of all ages, even 46-year-old kids: creating and mapping an ancient volcano.

Curiosity photo face by Emily Lakdawalla

Video: This is not the droid you're looking for

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/08/02 10:26 CDT

Just to break the tension in advance of Curiosity's landing, a little humor from UnmannedSpaceflight.com's Astro0.

Celebrate Curiosity with a “Party on Mars!” Saturday night!

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/07/30 08:16 CDT | 1 comments

Join me and Bill Nye to blow off some steam on Saturday night as we anticipate Curiosity’s landing! In the spirit of such nerdtacular gatherings as W00tstock and LeetUp, we’re having a big party at the Paseo Colorado here in Pasadena to celebrate Curiosity!

Every Planet in the Galaxy!

Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/06/20 10:24 CDT | 2 comments

Okay, just the ones we know about. xkcd does it again.

Build your own papercraft Curiosity rover

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/06/08 02:01 CDT | 1 comments

Glen Nagle pointed me to two awesome papercraft models of the Curiosity rover that you can download and -- assuming you have a LOT of patience and a steady hand -- assemble.

USA Science & Engineering Festival Crowd Shot

Celestron Video From USA Science & Engineering Festival

Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/06/06 06:26 CDT | 1 comments

Telescope maker Celestron joined the Planetary Society at April's big festival in Washington. Their new video about the experience features our Emily Lakdawalla.

Hijinks and Shenanigans at Caltech Ditch Day

Posted by Bruce Betts on 2012/05/24 06:47 CDT | 1 comments

Hijinks and Shenanigans at Caltech Ditch Day: I return to the Caltech campus on the annual ditch day to check out some of the fun.

Making eclipse magic

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/05/16 09:55 CDT | 2 comments

How to enjoy a solar eclipse with your kids, making shadow magic with a pinhole viewer.

Rovers in the desert

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/05/14 03:02 CDT | 5 comments

I took a field trip to watch scientists and engineers play in the sand with Mars rover models, and got a bonus tour of some evidence for the "Snowball Earth" hypothesis.

In which I sit in a Soyuz capsule with a Real Live Astronaut

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/05/09 01:46 CDT | 2 comments

Emily Lakdawalla is ready to launch to space with Shuttle astronaut Mike Massimino, who guest-starred (as an astronaut, of course) on the fifth season finale of the CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory.

Cartoon: Voyager's ongoing adventures

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/04/23 11:36 CDT | 2 comments

I'm not sure what to make of this Youtube cartoon about Voyager, except to say that it's simultaneously heart-wrenching, funny, and adorable.

Nichelle Nichols and the Nerd-in-chief

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/04/03 11:02 CDT

I got this wonderful photo from Nichols' Twitter after Mike Okuda retweeted it.

A theme song for IKAROS

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/03/11 10:10 CDT

JAXA's solar sail mission IKAROS is still hibernating, and there's no way of knowing if the spacecraft will reawaken or not. They try to raise contact with the spacecraft once a month, with the last attempt being made on March 10; we can only wait to see if they'll succeed. What better time to release a theme song for the mission? IKAROS has always been even more full of personality even than other JAXA missions (which is saying a lot).

LeetUp Reconnaissance Report

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/03/06 02:08 CST

A recap of the "carnival of nerdly delights" that is LeetUp.

This is how far human radio broadcasts have reached into the galaxy

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/02/24 05:26 CST | 1 comments

There is an ever-expanding bubble announcing Humanity's presence to anyone listening in the Milky Way.

The Scale of the Universe, by Cary and Michael Huang

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/02/16 10:14 CST

Cary and Michael Huang present a basic "powers of ten" visualization starting at human scale from which you can scrub downward smaller than quarks or upward to the scale of the entire universe.

Put New Horizons on a stamp

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/02/09 12:26 CST

A week ago, the New Horizons team announced an effort to gather signatures in support of a petition to the U.S. Postal Service to commemorate the historic flyby of Pluto on a stamp.�