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Intro Astronomy Class 5: Venus (continued) and Mars
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2014/03/06 10:49 CST
Continue exploring Venus and begin looking at Mars in this video of class 5 of Bruce Betts' Introduction to Planetary Science and Astronomy class.
Hypervelocity Cratering and Riding Out the Risk
Posted by ESA Mars Express Team on 2014/03/06 07:34 CST
Today's update from the Mars Express team contains the realisation that, for some of the risks associated with October's Siding Spring flyby, there may not be much the team can do.
Space is really, really big – except sometimes it isn’t
Posted by ESA Mars Express Team on 2014/03/04 11:19 CST
Here's the next installment in the continuing story of how the Mars Express team is preparing for Comet Siding Spring flyby, 19 October 2014. This week: introducing the spacecraft's subsystems and structure – and wondering how we can absorb impacts.
Comet Siding Spring Mars encounter: Why orienting Mars Express is the heart of the challenge
Posted by ESA Mars Express Team on 2014/02/28 12:25 CST
Today's post continues where we started last week with an update from the Mars Express Flight Control Team at ESOC on their preparations for the 19 October Comet Siding Springs flyby. Today: defining the challenge!
Mars Express team readies for Siding Spring
Posted by ESA Mars Express Team on 2014/02/26 01:31 CST | 3 comments
On Sunday, 19 October 2014, at around 18:30 UTC, comet C/2013 A1 – known widely as 'Siding Spring' after the Australian observatory where it was discovered in January 2013 – will make a close fly-by of Mars.
Posted by Bill Dunford on 2014/02/10 08:04 CST | 1 comments
Exploring a set of newly named hills on Mars reveals tantalizing clues to the planet's story.
Posted by Bill Dunford on 2014/01/20 12:03 CST | 3 comments
The latest postcards from Mars Express feature cloudy skies.
What's up in planetary missions in 2014
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/12/31 01:15 CST | 4 comments
With the New Year upon us, what can we look forward to in 2014? For me, the main event of 2014 is that ESA's Rosetta mission finally -- finally! -- catches up to the comet it has been chasing for a decade. We will lose LADEE, gain two Mars orbiters, and launch Hayabusa 2. The year begins with an amazing 24 spacecraft exploring or cruising toward various planetary destinations.
Posted by Bill Dunford on 2013/12/09 10:58 CST | 3 comments
Two grand canyons fill with fog, one on Earth and one on Mars.
Mars' chemical history: Phyllosian, Theiikian, Siderikian, oh my
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/12/05 01:08 CST | 4 comments
I'm returning to the deep dive into the literature that began with articles about lunar basins and then explored the geologic time scales of Earth, Moon, and Mars. Now it's time to catch up to the last decade of Mars research and learn what "phyllosian", "theiikian", and "siderikian" eras are.
Posted by Bill Dunford on 2013/11/20 05:24 CST | 2 comments
The polar plains, charted in unprecedented detail.
Noachian, Hesperian, and Amazonian, oh my! --Mars' Geologic Time Scale
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/10/25 04:32 CDT | 3 comments
The Martian Geologic Time Scale is a lot more complicated than the Moon's.
Google+ Hangout with ESA about Europe's Mars exploration
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/10/04 09:00 CDT
The European Space Agency invited me to join Mars Express project scientist Olivier Witasse, and spacecraft oeprations manager Michel Denis for a Hangout on Europe's recent and future exploration of Mars and Phobos.
Super cool Phobos and Deimos animations from Mars Express
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/10/03 02:17 CDT
I've been delving in to the Mars Express image archive this week, checking out its images of Phobos, and found a couple of really cool time-series of images to assemble into animations.
Riding Along With Mars Express
Posted by Bill Dunford on 2013/09/16 06:03 CDT | 1 comments
Take a spin around the Red Planet with the trusty orbiter.
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!
Posted by Bill Dunford on 2013/08/12 08:03 CDT | 8 comments
New images from Mars.
Enormously detailed photo of Kasei Valles from Mars Express
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/06/19 02:36 CDT | 7 comments
ESA celebrated the tenth anniversary of Mars Express' launch with a several-day science meeting during which they issued lots of press releases and numerous spectacular photos. My favorite of them all is this enormous image of Kasei Valles on Mars.
Exploring Ten Years' Worth of Mars Express Data
Posted by Bill Dunford on 2013/06/13 01:09 CDT | 3 comments
Mars Express has been in flight for a decade, more than enough time to send home some amazing finds.
The Shores of the Kraken Sea: Great Place Names in the Solar System
Posted by Bill Dunford on 2013/05/28 08:59 CDT | 9 comments
Nothing reflects the romance of deep space exploration more than the evocative names of places on the planets and moons.
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