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Planetary Society Hangout: LaserBees, Asteroids, and Planet Vacuums
Thursday, Jun 13, noon PDT/1900 UTC
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/06/13 12:39 CDT | 1 comments
We check in with Dr. Bruce Betts, our Director of Projects, on the latest from our current programs funded by our members.
Planetary Defense Conference 2013 Part 3
Laser Bees
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2013/06/12 09:19 CDT | 3 comments
Part 3 of Bruce Betts' wrap up from the Planetary Defense Conference 2013 focuses on the Laser Bees (asteroid deflection method) project and Laser Bees researcher Alison Gibbings.
China launches three-person crew to visit Tiangong 1 space station
Posted by Jason Davis on 2013/06/11 03:38 CDT | 2 comments
China's Shenzhou 10 spacecraft is bound for space station Tiangong 1 following a successful liftoff from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Inner Mongolia.
Ten years since Spirit's launch
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/06/10 04:10 CDT | 1 comments
Ten years ago, Spirit launched on a Delta II rocket toward Mars, and I was there to see it.
Confirmed: NASA Defies the Will of Congress by Raiding Planetary Science Funding [updated]
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/06/10 03:40 CDT | 13 comments
Despite congressional rejection of massive cuts to Planetary Science this year, NASA has found a way to implement the cuts internally and use the money for other purposes.
Pretty pictures: Curiosity working late
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/06/07 11:47 CDT | 2 comments
Just some cool photos of Curiosity lighting up the Cumberland drill hole after sunset for a little nighttime science work.
Morpheus lander gets back off its feet
Posted by Jason Davis on 2013/06/07 01:58 CDT | 4 comments
NASA's Project Morpheus lander completed a 74-second flight yesterday, marking the second tethered test of the new vehicle.
ESA launches fourth cargo spacecraft to ISS
Posted by Jason Davis on 2013/06/06 11:57 CDT | 1 comments
An Ariane 5 rocket carrying the Automated Transfer Vehicle Albert Einstein lifted off from French Guiana Wednesday.
Launch is coming! LADEE arrives at Wallops
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/06/06 10:01 CDT | 5 comments
It's a big day for any space mission: the shipping of the spacecraft from its assembly facility to its launch facility. That happened for the next lunar mission, LADEE, on June 4, 2013.
POSTPONED: Planetary Society Hangout, Planetary Resources' Chris Lewicki
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/06/05 11:23 CDT
The Hangout has been postponed because of technical difficulties. Stay tuned for rescheduling information.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Departs Cape York, Breaks Apollo Record
Sols 3295 - 3325
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2013/06/05 09:22 CDT | 1 comments
It was a merry and mighty month of May for the Mars Exploration Rover mission: Opportunity finished a blockbuster study of Matijevic Hill finding the best evidence yet for an ancient, potentially habitable environment, and then embarked on its first real road trip in two years. The robot field geologist had barely gotten underway on its journey when it surpassed the Apollo 17 lunar rover distance record to become the most traveled NASA vehicle on another planetary body.
Download This One-Page Summary on the Threat to Planetary Science
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/06/05 07:11 CDT | 5 comments
When we visit Congress, this is what we leave them with. This one page summarizes the entire threat to continued planetary exploration at NASA in the proposed 2014 budget.
Curiosity update, sol 295: "Hitting the road" to Mount Sharp
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/06/05 04:54 CDT | 3 comments
There was a Curiosity telephone conference this morning to make an exciting announcement: they're (almost) done at Glenelg and are preparing for the drive south to Mount Sharp. Allow me an editorial comment: finally!
Posted by Jim Bell on 2013/06/03 03:53 CDT | 6 comments
I'm absolutely floored when I stop to think that our beautiful blue ocean is only one of perhaps a half dozen or more oceans on other worlds in our solar system, and only one of probably millions (or more) oceans on other Earth-like planets in our galaxy. Oceans abound!
Dawn journal: Thrusting to a new personal best
Posted by Marc Rayman on 2013/06/02 12:07 CDT | 2 comments
Planetary Resources' Crowdfunded Space Telescope
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/05/31 11:25 CDT | 2 comments
A fan-funded space telescope, usable by the public? It's an awesome idea, and it appears that a wide swath of the public agrees. Planetary Resources, headed by president and chief engineer Chris Lewicki, announced a Kickstarter project yesterday, with the goal of raising $1 million toward one of their ARKYD space telescopes.
Say "hi!" to asteroid -- actually, asteroids -- (285263) 1998 QE2
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/05/30 06:51 CDT | 8 comments
A large asteroid is passing reasonably close to Earth in a few hours, and astronomers at the great radio telescopes at Goldstone and Arecibo are zapping it. The latest discovery: QE2, like many asteroids, is a binary.
Implementing Missions Within Budget -- Good News
Posted by Van Kane on 2013/05/30 12:33 CDT | 1 comments
Last decade, cost overruns on a number of planetary missions stretched NASA's budget. Recent missions, though, have stayed within budget. However, the cost of fiscal discipline may have meant staying close to home.
Finding faces and animals on Mars
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/05/30 10:05 CDT | 7 comments
This week's "lizard" or "rat" on Mars is just the latest of a never-ending stream of so-called discoveries of animate and inanimate objects in images returned from the Red Planet. I challenge you readers to find more such objects in one Curiosity panorama.
Planetary Defense Conference 2013 Part 2
Shoemaker NEO Grants
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2013/05/29 05:25 CDT
Second part of a three part wrap up to April's Planetary Defense Conference: a report on Planetary Shoemaker NEO Grant related activities and people at the Planetary Defense Conference 2013
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