Blog Archive
Calling (Really Serious) Asteroid Hunters
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2012/11/19 10:06 CST | 9 comments
I am happy to announce a new call for proposals for The Planetary Society’s Gene Shoemaker Near Earth Object (NEO) grant program, which is celebrating its 15th Anniversary. Proposals are due Feb. 4, 2013.
PlanetVac: Sucking Up Planetary Regolith
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2012/10/30 02:27 CDT | 3 comments
Learn about the Planetary Society’s newest project: PlanetVac, with Honeybee Robotics, aims to prototype and test in a huge vacuum chamber a new way to sample planetary surfaces that could be used for sample return or for in situ instruments.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/24 01:14 CDT | 7 comments
Continuing my writeup of notes from last week's Division for Planetary Sciences meeting: presentations on the risks of future asteroid impacts. How much risk do we face, and what are the appropriate actions to take in the face of that risk?
Shoemaker NEO Winner Finds Close Fly By Asteroid
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2012/10/02 05:54 CDT
Gary Hug used his Shoemaker NEO grant provided camera to find 2012 SY49 which flew by Earth at about two lunar distances last week. The tens of meters wide asteroid is a low-probability possible Earth impactor in the future.
Saving the World: Established 1997
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2012/09/21 01:00 CDT | 2 comments
The Planetary Society Shoemaker NEO grants celebrate their 15th anniversary of helping to find and track near Earth asteroids. Here's a quick review of the program, and updates on our four multiple-grant winners.
Zapping Rocks with Lasers to Save the World
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2012/06/25 05:59 CDT | 8 comments
The Planetary Society Laser Bees project in Scotland is studying in the lab a potential new technique for deflecting dangerous asteroids: laser ablation.











