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A new rover self-portrait and a new color image of Curiosity from orbit
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/02/04 05:40 CST | 7 comments
Curiosity is inching her way through her first use of the drill on a Martian rock. She paused in the proceedings to capture a second Martian "selfie."
Curiosity update, sol 171: Placing the drill
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/29 11:11 CST | 1 comments
They're getting closer and closer to drilling. Curiosity now seems to be positioned in the spot where they plan to be when they execute that long-awaited first drill.
Planetary Society Hangout: Jan 17th, 2013 - Drilling on Mars with Joel Hurowitz
Thursday, Jan 17th, at noon PST/2000 UT
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/01/17 02:00 CST | 3 comments
Join Emily Lakdawalla and Joel Hurowitz of the MSL Curiosity sample acquisition team to talk about the upcoming "first drill" by the martian rover.
Pretty picture: new HiRISE view of Curiosity, sol 145
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/16 04:58 CST | 2 comments
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured a new view of Curiosity on Mars on January 2 (sol 145). Curiosity was in the same location as the one from which it shot the sol 137 panorama I posted earlier. You can see the rover's tracks leading all the way back to the landing site!
Curiosity update, sol 157: Glenelg isn't just a test site anymore; it's a scientific "candy store"
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/15 05:30 CST | 5 comments
The Curiosity mission held a press briefing this morning for the first time since the American Geophysical Union meeting, and it was jam-packed with science. The biggest piece of news is this: it was worth it, scientifically, to go to Glenelg first, before heading to the mountain.
The Chang'e 3 lunar lander and rover, expected to launch late this year
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/09 03:46 CST | 8 comments
All of the information I could track down on China's planned Chang'e 3 lunar lander and rover, including videos and a brand-new artist's concept of the rover rolling across the Moon.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Zeroes In on Clay Minerals and We Look Back on 2012
Sols 3149 - 3178
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2013/01/08 07:16 CST | 4 comments
Despite the lull of the holidays, the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission recorded one of the expedition's best months ever in December as Opportunity and her team confirmed the location of the smectite clay minerals on Matijevic Hill, effectively grabbing the scientific brass ring they came hoping to find at Endeavour Crater.
Looking ahead to spacecraft activities in 2013
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/04 01:09 CST | 3 comments
2013 is going to be a busy year in space exploration. Two missions launch to the Moon (LADEE and Chang'E 3), and another two to Mars (MAVEN and India's mission). Curiosity should drive to the Mountain, and Opportunity to the next site on Endeavour's rim. Cassini will be seeing rings and Titan. Others should continue routine operations, except maybe MESSENGER, whose fate after March is not yet decided.
Updates on ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission: five instruments to be delivered in March
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/04 11:27 CST | 2 comments
Several news articles appeared in Indian media today about the upcoming launch of ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission. Five instruments have been selected, and their delivery is expected in March.
Dawn Journal: faraway viewing through the mind's eye
Posted by Marc Rayman on 2013/01/02 04:38 CST
As Dawn treks onward to Ceres, its path will cross within a few degrees of the moon as seen from Earth on Jan. 21-22.
New crew arrives at station for holidays
Posted by Jason Davis on 2012/12/21 11:26 CST
The ISS is back to a six-person crew following the arrival of NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield and Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut Roman Romanenko.
Planetary Radio Live Celebrates Curiosity/Truly Haute Cuisine!
Listen to or watch the webcast recorded Saturday, December 15th, and enjoy a neat little French animation.
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/12/20 04:06 CST
Listen to or watch the webcast recorded Saturday, December 15th with MSL Project Manager Richard Cook and Project Scientist John Grotzinger. Bonus: enjoy a neat little French animation.
Watch Planetary Radio LIVE on Saturday!
Saturday's webcast is all about Curiosity on Mars
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/12/15 11:10 CST | 1 comments
Watch the live show at 2pm Pacific on Saturday, December 15 to see Bill Nye, Emily Lakdawalla and the leaders of the Mars Science Laboratory rover mission.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/12/13 05:34 CST | 2 comments
The twin GRAIL spacecraft are nearly out of fuel, and are being directed to a controlled impact near the north pole on the near side of the Moon on December 17. Before the end, though, they did some cool things, including flying within 2000 meters of mountaintops, and catching video of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in flight.
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.
Sol 3151-3153 - December 5-7, 2012
Posted by Larry Crumpler on 2012/12/07 10:27 CST
An attempt to bump left and get a small bright vein into the instrument deployment device (IDD) work volume failed to get the target in the work plane.
Curiosity update, sol 117: Progress report from AGU
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/12/05 07:58 CST | 4 comments
Monday was the big Curiosity day at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. A morning press briefing was followed by an afternoon science session. I traveled to San Francisco briefly just to attend those two events. Here's my notes on the first science reports from the mission.
Planetary Society Weekly Hangout: present and future rovers
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/12/05 06:56 CST | 3 comments
The Planetary Society has a new weekly Google+ Hangout time slot, Thursdays at noon PT / 1800 UT. This week, Casey Dreier and I talked about the Curiosity kerfuffle and NASA's future rover plans. Here's the archived recording.
Dawn journal: hydrazine haste makes waste
Posted by Marc Rayman on 2012/12/05 11:02 CST | 1 comments
By saving fuel, Dawn will arrive at Ceres in 2015 with about half of the 45.6-kilogram (101-pound) hydrazine supply it had when it rocketed away from Cape Canaveral.
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