Blogs
Blog Archive
Field Report From Mars: Sol 4333 - April 1, 2016
Posted by Larry Crumpler on 2016/04/26 07:32 CDT
Opportunity has climbed west and up Marathon Valley in one of the final campaigns before moving on and beginning the summer field activities to the south southward.
Quick Curiosity update, sol 1320: "Lubango," the 10th drill site on Mars
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2016/04/25 11:15 CDT | 1 comments
Curiosity has drilled into Mars for the 10th time at a site named Lubango, on sol 1320 (April 23, 2016). Lubango is in a bright-toned halo around a crack in the Stimson sandstone unit on the western edge of the Naukluft Plateau.
NASA Space Apps Challenge: Women hacking space image data
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2016/04/22 12:19 CDT | 2 comments
Today I'm participating in a program called the International @SpaceApps Women in Data Bootcamp. I'm presenting a brief talk highlighting the way that my personal discovery of NASA's image data archives shaped my path into public communication about science, and briefly showcasing three other women who do amazing work with public image data.
Planetary Society solar sails paved way for Alpha Centauri starshot
Posted by Jason Davis on 2016/04/22 06:01 CDT | 4 comments
A new initiative to send a fleet of tiny spacecraft to Alpha Centauri is connected to The Planetary Society through its founders and efforts to advance solar sailing technology.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2016/04/21 10:23 CDT | 1 comments
Enjoy this serene image of a moonset on another world, captured by Curiosity's Mastcam in April 2014 and processed here by Justin Cowart.
Engineering an Impact on the New Frontier
Posted by Bradley Williams on 2016/04/21 08:01 CDT
Bradley Williams, Systems Engineer for the camera suite on NASA's OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission, details the path that led him to his current position.
Atmospheric Waves Awareness: An Explainer
Posted by Anna Scott on 2016/04/20 10:30 CDT | 4 comments
There are two types of atmospheric waves that are critically important on Earth and other planets: gravity waves and planetary waves.
Synthesizing DSCOVR-like Images Using Atmospheric and Geophysical Data
Posted by Steve Albers on 2016/04/20 08:00 CDT | 3 comments
Why does our planet look the way it does from space? How does light interacting with land, clouds, water, snow, ice, gases, and various aerosols all come together? One way to learn the answer is to try and synthesize DSCOVR's view from various "building blocks" of geophysical and atmospheric data.
A new angle on Mars for Mars Odyssey
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2016/04/19 01:05 CDT | 4 comments
Mars Odyssey has been in space for 15 years. It flies in a special "sun-synchronous" orbit, crossing the equator at roughly the same local time every day. Over time, the Odyssey mission has changed what that local time of day is, and I just realized something cool about how those changes show up in the geometry of its images.
LightSail 2 engineers continue to test for success
Posted by Jason Davis on 2016/04/18 06:00 CDT | 3 comments
It's been a busy two months of system testing for The Planetary Society's LightSail 2 spacecraft. More trials are on the horizon, including a trip to a special magnetic cage at Utah State University's Space Dynamics Laboratory.
Spring Issue of The Planetary Report Has Arrived!
Posted by Donna Stevens on 2016/04/15 09:17 CDT
The Spring 2016 edition of The Planetary Report has just printed and will arrive at our mail house this week. Any member who wants a digital copy can download the issue through our website.
Favorite Astro Plots #4: Classifying Exoplanets
Posted by Jingjing Chen on 2016/04/15 08:04 CDT | 6 comments
Until just a few years ago, a plot of mass versus size of other worlds would have looked pretty sparse and uninformative. But thanks to the tireless efforts of exoplanet astronomers, we now know fairly precise masses and radii for hundreds of distant worlds.
LPSC 2016: The Moon Keeps on Giving
Posted by Ryan Clegg-Watkins on 2016/04/14 08:04 CDT | 1 comments
There was no shortage of interesting lunar science talks at last month’s Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Dr. Ryan Clegg-Watkins highlights some of the interesting results for us.
Does Presidential Intervention Undermine Consensus for NASA?
Being on the presidential agenda may induce opposition that could have been avoided
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2016/04/13 05:54 CDT | 14 comments
Presidents induce polarization on topics they choose to promote. So is the best way for a President to promote consensus in NASA to speak quietly?
Curiosity update, sols 1250-1310: Across the Naukluft Plateau
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2016/04/13 02:57 CDT | 8 comments
Curiosity has driven onward from Namib dune across a highstanding unit of rock called the Naukluft Plateau. Despite some frustrating sols lost to a short circuit in the RTG and DSN troubles, the rover has made progress, and performed lots of 3D imaging of weirdly wind-eroded rocks.
Full-circle ceremony sends last shuttle tank to sea
Posted by Jason Davis on 2016/04/13 11:20 CDT
The last unflown space shuttle fuel tank is underway to California, following a full-circle ceremony in view of hardware built for the shuttle's heavy lift successor, the Space Launch System.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2016/04/12 10:43 CDT | 1 comments
Today, the Rosetta OSIRIS team's Image of the Day is this highly unusual view of the comet with the Sun very nearly behind the spacecraft.
Defining the Missions for the Ocean Worlds
Posted by Van Kane on 2016/04/12 10:03 CDT | 2 comments
At a recent meeting of an advisory group for NASA, the Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science (CAPS), Jim Green, the head of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, and Barry Goldstein from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, provided updates on plans to explore our solar system's ocean worlds.
LPSC 2016: Differentiated meteorites provide a glimpse of the early solar system and planets
Posted by Helen Ashcroft on 2016/04/11 01:07 CDT | 2 comments
This year's Lunar and Planetary Science Conference included a session devoted to a group of rocks from space called differentiated meteorites, and their proposed parent bodies.
Last unflown space shuttle tank heads seaward for new mission
Posted by Jason Davis on 2016/04/11 04:03 CDT
The last unflown space shuttle external fuel tank was loaded onto a barge at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility Sunday in New Orleans. It will ship to the California Science Center in Los Angeles to be joined with space shuttle Endeavour.
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