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Scientists: Register to be a Lunar and Planetary Science Conference Microblogger!
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/30 01:20 CST
Hey planetary scientists! Many of you know that the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) is a great meeting in a venue that is perfect except for one thing: Internet access is positively lousy. So I'm really excited that a solution that I advocated to conference organizers is being adopted.
Curiosity update, sol 171: Placing the drill
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/29 11:11 CST | 1 comments
They're getting closer and closer to drilling. Curiosity now seems to be positioned in the spot where they plan to be when they execute that long-awaited first drill.
A New Statement on NASA's 2020 Rover Mission
A collaborative effort with various scientific organizations to emphasize a balanced program of exploration
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/01/29 06:15 CST | 3 comments
The Planetary Society remains committed to a balanced program of solar system exploration, with Mars, outer planets, and small missions all playing an important part.
Up Is the New Up
The European Space Agency's Budget Gets an Increase
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/01/28 12:34 CST | 1 comments
The European Space Agency will enjoy a 6.5% increase in funding this year, reports SpaceNews.
Posted by Bill Dunford on 2013/01/28 10:00 CST | 5 comments
Just like on Earth, clouds and storms often ripple through the Martian atmosphere. You can even check the daily weather report.
Kuiper Belt Objects Submitted to Minor Planet Center
Posted by Alex Parker on 2013/01/25 03:30 CST | 2 comments
Recently, several of the Kuiper Belt Objects our team has discovered while searching for New Horizons post-Pluto flyby candidates have been submitted to the Minor Planet Center (the organization responsible for designating minor bodies in the solar system) and their orbital information is now in the public domain.
Advocacy Update: The Society Traveled to Washington
We continue the push to restore funding for Planetary Science at NASA
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/01/25 02:16 CST | 3 comments
The Planetary Society makes another visit to Capitol Hill to advocate for Planetary Science funding at NASA.
"Sand" means something different to me than it does to you, probably
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/24 01:28 CST | 2 comments
I had one of those "A-ha" moments last week where I suddenly realized that I had run afoul of a common problem in science communication: when the words I'm using mean something different to me than they do to almost everyone I'm talking to. The confusing word of the week: "sand."
Planetary Society Hangout: Jan 24th, 2013 - Hunting Asteroids with Gary Hug
Thursday at noon PST/3pm EST/20:00 UT
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/01/24 12:00 CST
Gary Hug is an asteroid hunter. He scans the skies every night looking for new near-Earth objects and refining orbital measurements for existing ones. Join Casey Dreier and Dr. Bruce Betts as they interview Gary Hug about his work and his recent discovery of a new NEO on January 7th.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/24 10:21 CST | 3 comments
Zach Weiner's new collection of geekily awkwardly smart web comics will include a story I contributed!
Posted by Ganna (Anya) Portyankina on 2013/01/23 11:51 CST | 2 comments
The Mars I study is really active; the surface constantly changes. We have collected a lot of image data about changing seasonal features near the south pole. There is so much that we can't analyze all of it on our own. We need your help, through a new Zooniverse project named PlanetFour.
Voyager 1 revisited: Io and Europa transiting Jupiter
Posted by Björn Jónsson on 2013/01/22 06:04 CST
What is the highest resolution global Jupiter mosaic that includes a satellite transit that can be assembled from Voyager images? Satellite transits are especially beautiful when the resolution is high enough for some details to be visible on the satellites so I decided to check this. And I was remarkably lucky.
Stars, and stars, and stars: pretty pictures from the European Southern Observatory
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/21 03:39 CST | 4 comments
My solar system chauvinism is well-established, but I am as much a sucker for beautiful astrophotos as the rest of you. Once in a while I get a media advisory from the European Southern Observatory about a new pretty picture posted on their website, and then I inevitably lose an hour following links to one stunner after another.
More Chang'E 2 Toutatis flyby images
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/20 09:52 CST | 6 comments
Last week at a meeting of NASA's Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG), Han Li of the Chinese Academy of Sciences gave a lengthy presentation on Chang'E 2. Her presentation included a new sequence of photos from the December 13 Toutatis flyby.
The Planetary Report, volume 32, number 4: The Year in Pictures
Posted by Donna Stevens on 2013/01/18 05:03 CST
For those of you Planetary Society members who like your copy of The Planetary Report served up in pixels, the December Solstice 2012 issue is ready and waiting for you.
Planetary Society Hangout: Jan 17th, 2013 - Drilling on Mars with Joel Hurowitz
Thursday, Jan 17th, at noon PST/2000 UT
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/01/17 02:00 CST | 3 comments
Join Emily Lakdawalla and Joel Hurowitz of the MSL Curiosity sample acquisition team to talk about the upcoming "first drill" by the martian rover.
Human spaceflight update: the modules edition
Posted by Jason Davis on 2013/01/16 10:41 CST | 2 comments
NASA made Wednesday a big day for human spaceflight following the official announcements of two new partnerships with Bigelow Aerospace and the European Space Agency.
Pretty picture: new HiRISE view of Curiosity, sol 145
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/16 04:58 CST | 2 comments
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured a new view of Curiosity on Mars on January 2 (sol 145). Curiosity was in the same location as the one from which it shot the sol 137 panorama I posted earlier. You can see the rover's tracks leading all the way back to the landing site!
Curiosity update, sol 157: Glenelg isn't just a test site anymore; it's a scientific "candy store"
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/15 05:30 CST | 5 comments
The Curiosity mission held a press briefing this morning for the first time since the American Geophysical Union meeting, and it was jam-packed with science. The biggest piece of news is this: it was worth it, scientifically, to go to Glenelg first, before heading to the mountain.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/14 06:31 CST | 4 comments
Video views shot by two doomed spacecraft take us flying across the Moon.
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