Blog Archive

China readies three taikonauts for station visit

Posted by Jason Davis on 2012/06/13 11:05 CDT | 1 comments

The stage is set for China’s space program to make history this weekend, as it prepares to send three taikonauts to visit Tiangong-1, the country’s first space station.

Successful launch for NuSTAR on a Pegasus XL

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/06/13 11:50 CDT

NuSTAR, the most sensitive X-ray telescope ever developed, launched successfully at 16:00 UT. This was a fun launch to watch, because the launch vehicle was a Pegasus XL air-launched rocket, dropped like a bomb from open bay doors of an L-1011 airplane.

Curiosity's shrinking landing ellipse

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/06/11 12:32 CDT | 6 comments

There was good news and bad news in this morning's press briefing about Curiosity rover's upcoming landing on Mars, just eight weeks from now. First, the good news: the landing ellipse has shrunk. The bad news: there's a contamination problem with the drill, and the Odyssey orbiter is in safe mode.

Mars Exploration Rover artist's concept Opportunity within Endurance Crater

Oppy close to the edge…

Posted by Stuart Atkinson on 2012/06/05 10:00 CDT

Since you last visited, Opportunity has continued to drive downhill – well, what passes for ‘downhill’ on Cape York! – and is now not far at all from the northern edge of the Cape. From where she is now she sees the Meridiani desert stretching away to the north and west, the eastern hills on her right, and the Cape itself behind her. And around her? lots and lots of Homestake-like gypsum veins.

Dawn artist's concept orbiting asteroid Vesta

Dawn Journal: Riding gravitational currents to HAMO2

Posted by Marc Rayman on 2012/06/05 03:30 CDT

Dawn is beginning its departure from Vesta, spiraling upward from its low-altitude mapping orbit to a higher one from which it will map north polar terrain not visible during the earlier mapping orbit.

Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Departs Winter Site for Field of Veins

Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2012/06/02 05:43 CDT

The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity strolled out of her winter haven this May to continue the expedition around Endeavour Crater, roving into yet another Martian spring.