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Amazing Chang'e 3 descent video

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/12/15 12:57 CST | 8 comments

Watch and enjoy this full video of Chang'e 3's descent onto the lunar surface.

Color photo of Yutu rover and Chang'e lander, and more on the Chang'e 3 landing site

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/12/15 09:59 CST | 9 comments

Fresh off of Chinese state television are lovely pictures taken by Chang'e 3 lander and rover of each other!

Chang'e 3 rover Yutu rolls onto the lunar surface

Six wheels on soil for Yutu!

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/12/14 03:28 CST | 9 comments

Here it is! Animated gifs, composed of screen grabs from Chinese state television, of the Yutu rover rolling on to the lunar surface. This was a replay, but it was no less thrilling for that; the actual rollout happened at 20:40 UT (12:40 PT). Six wheels on soil! Woohoo!

Chang'e 3 has successfully landed on the Moon!

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/12/14 08:28 CST | 2 comments

Transmitting images all the way down, China's Chang'e 3 lander successfully arrived on the lunar surface at 13:11:18 -- half an hour before the scheduled landing time. Rover deploy is set for a few hours later.

Op-Ed: The new space race: It's not just the U.S. and Russia anymore
There are now many space programs, both national and private. And that's good for science.

Posted by Louis D. Friedman on 2013/12/13 12:05 CST | 7 comments

I once argued that the concept of a space race represented old thinking. The modern way forward in space would be through international cooperation and coordination. Today, I think my insistence that the space race was over was naive. There are now many space races.

Chang'e 3 landing tomorrow 13:40 UT, earlier than previously reported

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/12/13 11:20 CST | 1 comments

According to numerous Chinese news reports, Chang'e 3's landing on the Moon is now scheduled to begin at 21:40 Beijing time on December 14, which is 13:40 UT or 05:40 PT. That's about two hours earlier than previously stated.

Europa: No Longer a "Should," But a "Must"

Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/12/12 07:51 CST | 10 comments

We've waited long enough, Europa cries out for exploration and discovery. It's time to heed that cry.

A Tale of Two Posters: Sediment on Mars and Searching Jupiter's Rings

Posted by Mark Hilverda on 2013/12/12 07:39 CST

A close look at two international planetary science poster presentations from the 2013 AGU Fall Meeting featuring sediment experiments to better understand Martian geomorphology and Juno's plans for exploring Jupiter's ring system.

Watch this with your kids: Asteroid Fact versus Fiction

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/12/12 04:52 CST

A cute video from the OSIRIS-REx mission in the style of "AsapSCIENCE" uses a whiteboard and stop-motion animation to separate asteroid fact from fiction.

Artist's concept of a water vapor plume from Europa

The Plumes of Europa

Posted by Leigh Fletcher on 2013/12/12 12:01 CST | 12 comments

2013 has been a rather exciting year for Europa scientists. Today's exciting news: the Hubble Space Telescope discovery of water vapor plumes from the south pole of this icy moon.

My Cosmos review will be delayed this week

Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/12/11 08:44 CST

A variety of AGU matters and unexpected political work and coverage will delay the Cosmos reviews by a week.

Enceladus huffs and puffs: plumes vary with orbital longitude

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/12/11 07:22 CST | 2 comments

In which I finally get around to writing about a paper published last August: Enceladus' plumes sometimes spout more and sometimes spout less, depending on where Enceladus is in its orbit. This discovery was enabled by Cassini's longevity at Saturn, and we'll be able to follow up on it, as long as Cassini is allowed to complete its mission.

AGU 2013: Citizen Science in the Era of Big Data

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/12/11 03:12 CST | 1 comments

On Friday at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco, I'm co-chairing an oral session titled "ED51: Era of Citizen Science: Intersection of Outreach, Scientific Research and Big Data." It's about the myriad ways in which members of the public are making positive contributions to science.

Mars Orbiter Mission corrects its trajectory

Quick Chang'e 3 and Mars Orbiter Mission updates

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/12/11 11:01 CST | 6 comments

Yesterday Chang'e 3 lowered its orbit periapsis to a mere 15 kilometers, and Mars Orbiter Mission successfully performed a trajectory correction maneuver.

Top NASA Scientists Grapple with Budget Cuts
A struggle to keep new missions coming

Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/12/10 05:52 CST | 3 comments

Ellen Stofan, NASA's Chief Scientist, and John Grunsfeld, the head of the Science Mission Directorate and a Hubble repair astronaut, highlighted recent NASA science discoveries at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco.

Planetary Radio: Comet ISON, Rest in Pieces

Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2013/12/10 12:02 CST

Karl Battams of NASA's Comet ISON Observing Campaign is our guest on this week's show. He explains how ISON really did become the comet of the century for scientists.

A Protected Class of Programs at NASA?
What real political support looks like

Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/12/10 04:20 CST | 7 comments

The House Science Committee is considering giving a select few NASA programs special protected status against cancellation.

Curiosity results at AGU: Gale crater rocks are old, but have been exposed recently

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/12/09 08:31 CST | 4 comments

In a Martian first, the Curiosity science team has measured the age of a Martian rock, in two totally different ways. They presented the result at the 2013 meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

Planetary Science Funding and Number of Missions 2003 - 2019

The Sorry State of Planetary Science Funding In One Chart

Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/12/09 02:18 CST | 11 comments

If you want to know why Cassini might be terminated early, or why NASA pulled out of its joint Mars mission with Europe, or why the new ASRG power source was put on indefinite hold, this chart has your answer.