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LPSC 2013: Future Planetary Exploration
Posted by Van Kane on 2013/03/26 12:20 CDT | 2 comments
Last week, planetary scientists gathered for the 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Only a tiny fraction of the presentations at LPSC dealt with future missions. Even so, this is still one of the best sources for insights into details of missions under development. In this post, I’ll cover some of the abstracts for the presentations that give a flavor of the breadth of the proposals.
Instruments for the JUICE Jovian Mission
Posted by Van Kane on 2013/03/07 12:20 CST | 6 comments
The European Space Agency (ESA) announced the list of instruments selected for its JUICE mission to explore the Jovian system for three years starting in the 2030 following a 2022 launch.
Checking in with the Future of Mars Exploration at NASA
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/02/27 02:17 CST | 4 comments
Reporting from NASA's Mars Exploration Program working group on the latest updates in scientific exploration of the red planet.
Brother, Can You Spare $1B for a Planetary Space Telescope?
Posted by Van Kane on 2013/02/20 12:29 CST | 2 comments
Imagine you had a Hubble-class telescope and could use in any way you wanted to explore planets. What would you do with it?
A New Statement on NASA's 2020 Rover Mission
A collaborative effort with various scientific organizations to emphasize a balanced program of exploration
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/01/29 06:15 CST | 3 comments
The Planetary Society remains committed to a balanced program of solar system exploration, with Mars, outer planets, and small missions all playing an important part.
Human spaceflight update: the modules edition
Posted by Jason Davis on 2013/01/16 10:41 CST | 2 comments
NASA made Wednesday a big day for human spaceflight following the official announcements of two new partnerships with Bigelow Aerospace and the European Space Agency.
Posted by Louis D. Friedman on 2013/01/14 02:37 CST | 13 comments
Louis Friedman discusses what he expects to be the future of space exploration. According to him, it won't be in manned missions, but in remote, virtual exploration available to anybody.
New Details on the 2020 Mars Rover
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/01/10 10:23 CST | 7 comments
The 2020 Rover will achieve its cost-savings by using $200 million of existing hardware left over from the Curiosity mission, said the Director of the Planetary Science division within NASA.
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2012/12/13 12:15 CST | 3 comments
Join us for our weekly hangout and catch up on GRAIL, Curiosity, and the future Mars rover.
Rovers are awesome, but where's the science?
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/12/05 03:55 CST | 17 comments
Now that Casey has explained the budget implications of yesterday's 2020 rover announcement, and The Planetary Society has issued a formal statement, I thought it was time for me to talk briefly about science.
The 2020 Rover in Context
It's not as a big of a change as you might think
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2012/12/05 02:24 CST | 4 comments
The 2020 rover announced today is entirely consistent with NASA's reduced commitment to planetary exploration due to its 2013 budget.
Orion service module, Ariane development highlight new ESA budget
Posted by Jason Davis on 2012/11/26 06:00 CST | 1 comments
Representatives from the ESA approved a 10 billion euro budget for 2013-2017 during their Ministerial Council last week in Naples, Italy.
Save Our Science: November Update
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2012/11/15 01:05 CST | 5 comments
We've sent over sixteen thousand of emails to the president, but we need more.
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2012/11/13 01:48 CST
We're fighting for the restoration of NASA's planetary sciences budget to return to its 2012 level. What does that get us? New financial analysis from our sources in the scientific community provides us a glimpse.
International Astronautical Congress 2012 Recap
Posted by Bill Nye on 2012/10/09 11:42 CDT | 4 comments
Again this year I represented The Planetary Society at the International Astronautical Congress. This year, we met in Naples, Italy. This meeting brings together space scientists, rocket people, and spacecraft engineers from all over the world.
Mars Program Update from MEPAG
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2012/10/05 06:30 CDT | 1 comments
Bruce Betts reports on the status of the current and future Mars program and on acronyms from a meeting of NASA's MEPAG (Mars Exploration Analysis Program Analysis Group).
NASA's New Direction For Mars (Maybe)
Results from the MPPG
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2012/09/26 01:58 CDT
The future of the Mars Exploration Program exists as multiple mission plans straining to exist in the brutal new cost cap from the FY13 budget, pushed far into the future.
A New Direction for Mars? CAPS Meeting 2012 Coverage
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2012/09/24 10:44 CDT | 9 comments
The Mars Program Planning Group presents its new plan for Mars exploration in lieu of recent cuts to its budget on Tuesday, Sept 25th. We also get updates on the Europa Mission study at CAPS 2012 in Irvine, CA.
Manned Missions to Mars Aren't Just Sci-Fi
Posted by Louis D. Friedman on 2012/08/24 06:09 CDT | 9 comments
Space exploration is not just valuable to scientists; it is also popular with the public who pays taxes. And why not? The exploration of Mars is not only a search for signs of alien life. It is an exploration of the human future.
A Bittersweet Day for Planetary Exploration
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2012/08/20 06:17 CDT | 7 comments
A new Mars mission was announced today, which is cause for celebration. But two other exciting missions where not selected, why? Money, or lack thereof. All we need is a little bit more, and we could be exploring the solar system, not just Mars.
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