Blog Archive
Phobos LIFE gets a ride on Endeavour as Shuttle LIFE!
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/03/25 03:52 CDT
The Planetary Society is contributing this thing called the Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment (LIFE) to Russia's Phobos sample return mission -- it's basically a sealed puck with dormant microbes inside that'll fly to Mars and back in the return capsule, and biologists will take a look to see what damage the little bugs suffered during their space journey.
Posted by Louis D. Friedman on 2011/03/06 11:00 CST | 1 comments
The first full scale deployment of the Planetary Society's LightSail-1 solar sail was conducted on March 4, 2011 at Stellar Exploration in San Luis Obispo, California.
LightSail-1 on NASA Short List for Upcoming Launch
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2011/02/09 11:00 CST
NASA announced that the Planetary Society’s LightSail-1 solar sail mission is on their short list for upcoming launch opportunities. The missions selected are Cubesats destined for piggyback launches as part of NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative.
LightSail Update: The International Solar Sailing Symposium
Posted by Louis D. Friedman on 2010/10/01 12:00 CDT
Mars Climate Sounder Watches Mars Weather to Prepare for Curiosity Landing
Posted by David Kass on 2010/09/29 12:00 CDT
Two weeks ago Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Climate Sounder (MCS) started a four-week campaign to support entry, descent, and landing phase for the next Mars rover, Mars Science Laboratory (or "Curiosity").
Tracing the Big Picture of Mars' Atmosphere
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2010/08/26 12:00 CDT
One of the instruments on a 2016 mission to orbit Mars will provide daily maps of global, pole-to-pole, vertical distributions of the temperature, dust, water vapor and ice clouds in the Martian atmosphere.
LightSail team learns from IKAROS successes
Posted by Louis D. Friedman on 2010/07/26 12:00 CDT
Observing the Martian Atmosphere for Two Mars Years
Posted by David Kass on 2010/07/13 12:00 CDT
June 29, 2010 was the second Martian anniversary of the start of Mars Climate Sounder (MCS) observations at Mars.
LightSail-1 Passes Critical Design Review
Posted by Louis D. Friedman on 2010/06/25 12:00 CDT | 1 comments
Planetary Society Researcher Max Rocca Discovers Largest Impact Crater in South America
Posted by Amir Alexander on 2010/02/13 12:00 CST
It was January of 2004 when the elegant curve of the Vichada first caught the attention of geologist Max Rocca of Buenos Aires. Could the course of the river have been shaped by the circular outlines of an impact crater? Rocca decided to find out.
FINDS Exo-Earths Starts Up: Testing the Prototype
Posted by Debra Fischer on 2009/10/30 12:00 CDT | 2 comments
The prototype that Julien constructed in the lab was taken to Lick Observatory, and we had our first-light run with the fiber in July.
Phobos Grunt including Phobos LIFE Delayed Until 2011
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2009/09/21 12:00 CDT
Astropulse: A Fresh Look at the Skies in Search of E.T.
Posted by Amir Alexander on 2009/08/27 12:00 CDT
Grant Winners at the Planetary Defense Conference
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2009/05/05 12:00 CDT











