Blogs
Blog Archive
Brief update with good news on Kiera Wilmot
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/05/16 02:38 CDT | 3 comments
Two weeks ago I wrote about Kiera Wilmot, a teen girl who was expelled from her school and charged with two felonies for unsupervised messing around with a chemical reaction on school grounds. Yesterday the Orlando Sentinel reported that no charges are being filed against her, which removes the greatest threat to her future.
ISIS: Blasting a Crater on Asteroid Bennu
Posted by Van Kane on 2013/05/16 08:00 CDT | 2 comments
An exciting new option to enhance NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission has been proposed by Steve Chesley at JPL. The ISIS spacecraft would impact asteroid Bennu to expose its interior structure to OSIRIS-REx.
NASA Robs Planetary Science
Leaked document shows NASA funding other programs with planetary money
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/05/15 05:04 CDT | 5 comments
NASA's leaked operating plan suggests that the agency is raiding money restored to the planetary program this year by Congress.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/05/15 05:02 CDT | 6 comments
I've been out of town for a couple of days and am overwhelmed with work and an overflowing email box. So what do I do about that? I ignore what I'm supposed to be doing and play with Cassini raw image data, of course. Here is a "mutual event" of Mimas (the bigger moon) and Pandora (the outer shepherd of the F ring).
Posted by Sarah Hörst on 2013/05/15 11:55 CDT | 12 comments
A tale from the scientific trenches: laboratory work to simulate Titan's rich atmosphere.
Soyuz capsule carrying Hadfield and company lands safely in Kazakhstan
Posted by Jason Davis on 2013/05/14 11:15 CDT | 2 comments
A Soyuz capsule carrying Roman Romanenko, Chris Hadfield and Tom Marshburn landed safely in Kazhakstan after 146 days in space.
Dueling Desolations: Mercury vs. the Moon
Posted by Bill Dunford on 2013/05/13 01:02 CDT | 7 comments
They look so similar they can be hard to tell apart, but each hides its own mysteries.
Station suffers ammonia leak; Saturday spacewalk likely (rolling updates)
Posted by Jason Davis on 2013/05/10 01:25 CDT | 2 comments
Following an ammonia leak reported Thursday morning, NASA is planning a spacewalk to investigate a radiator on the P6 truss.
Planetary Society Hangout: A Day in the Life of the Opportunity Rover with Emily Dean
Thursday, May 9, at noon PDT/1900h UTC
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/05/09 02:20 CDT | 1 comments
Thursday, May 9th, at noon PDT/3pm EDT/1900h UTC, we are joined by Emily Dean, who works on the camera team for the Opportunity rover on Mars.
The Planetary Society Travels to Washington, D.C. Next Week
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/05/09 01:28 CDT | 2 comments
We're storming D.C. next week to raise awareness of continued cuts to NASA's Planetary Science Division.
Chang'e 3 undergoing thermal vacuum testing
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/05/09 10:48 CDT | 5 comments
China's lunar lander and rover are undergoing some of their last major tests and so are nearly ready for launch.
DSS 35: Watch the construction of the next big dish!
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/05/08 11:23 CDT
You can watch via webcam as the next Deep Space Network radio antenna -- DSS 35, in Tidbinbilla, Australia -- gets its dish.
Saving the Planet can be Exciting!
The Asteroid Emergency Response Tabletop Exercise at the Planetary Defense Conference
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2013/05/07 05:02 CDT
Planetary Radio for the week of May 6 visits the Planetary Defense Conference one last time to join a "tabletop" simulation of a killer asteroid threat.
Thoughts on Kiera Wilmot: Mentor curiosity to create future scientists
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/05/03 12:30 CDT | 32 comments
Please bear with me -- this blog entry has nothing to do with planets but a lot to do with society. For the last two days, my Twitter feed has been roiling with outrage about the story of Kiera Wilmot.
New Deep Impact Hartley 2 data set
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/05/03 09:59 CDT | 7 comments
Just messing around with a recently released processed version of the Deep Impact Hartley 2 data set.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/05/02 07:00 CDT | 2 comments
Note the special time! In this week's Planetary Society hangout at 5pm PDT / midnight UTC, I'll talk with MESSENGER deputy principal investigator Larry Nittler about what MESSENGER has accomplished in its prime and extended missions at Mercury, and what it stands to do if awarded a mission extension.
Pluto's seasons and what New Horizons may find when it passes by
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/05/02 03:42 CDT | 5 comments
New Horizons might see a Pluto with a northern polar cap, a southern polar cap, or both caps, according to work by Leslie Young.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Emerges from Solar Conjunction to Wrap-Up Work on Matijevic Hill
Sols 3266 - 3295
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2013/05/02 03:15 CDT | 1 comments
As the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) team waited out solar conjunction, Opportunity spent most of April atop the western rim of Endeavour Crater, conducting a chemical analysis of an ancient waterborne vein on Matijevic Hill. It was by the book until the last week of the month when the robot field geologist suffered an electronic "hiccup" known as a warm re-boot, and went into auto mode, a kind of safe mode when something doesn't go right.
Dawn journal: A low-orbit shortcut to Ceres
Posted by Marc Rayman on 2013/05/02 02:11 CDT
Marc Rayman's latest Dawn journal explains why Dawn is currently closer to the Sun than both Ceres and Vesta.
The White House Science Fair and an Earful for Bolden
Posted by Bill Nye on 2013/05/01 11:53 CDT | 9 comments
I meet the future of science in the United States, and I speak directly to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden about my concerns for Planetary Science funding.
Featured Images
Featured Video
Connect With Us
Facebook! Twitter! Google+ and more…
Continue the conversation with our online community!
