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Pretty panoramas: Curiosity's scenic views of distant hills
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/11 07:37 CDT | 3 comments
The landscapes that surround Curiosity are picture-postcard beautiful.
Astrophotos making the web - the good, the bad and the ugly ...
Posted by Daniel Fischer on 2012/10/10 04:18 CDT | 2 comments
Space blogger Daniel Fischer writes about the problem of composited astrophotos being distributed through social media channels by people unaware that they are artworks, not documentary photographs.
International Astronautical Congress 2012 Recap
Posted by Bill Nye on 2012/10/09 11:42 CDT | 4 comments
Again this year I represented The Planetary Society at the International Astronautical Congress. This year, we met in Naples, Italy. This meeting brings together space scientists, rocket people, and spacecraft engineers from all over the world.
Pretty picture: Late afternoon in Gale Crater
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/09 05:36 CDT | 3 comments
Curiosity shot a lovely panoramic view of the distant rim of Gale crater in the dramatic lighting of late afternoon on sol 49. Damien Bouic has colorized it, and it is beautiful.
Cosmoquest Astronomy Hour, Wednesday: What's up with Curiosity on Mars
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/09 03:45 CDT | 2 comments
It's becoming a biweekly thing -- join me, Fraser Cain, and now Casey Dreier for an update on Curiosity and a chance for you to get your Curiosity questions answered! The Google+ Hangout is on Wednesday, October 10, at 16:00 PDT / 23:00 UTC.
Citizen "Ice Hunters" help find a Neptune Trojan target for New Horizons
Posted by Alex Parker on 2012/10/09 12:15 CDT | 1 comments
2011 HM102 is an L5 Neptune Trojan, trailing Neptune by approximately 60 degrees. This object was discovered in the search for a New Horizons post-Pluto encounter object in the Kuiper Belt.
Exploring the XDF--The Hubble eXtreme Deep Field
Sometimes Radio Just Isn't Enough!
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/10/09 11:55 CDT | 1 comments
The newly-released eXtreme Deep Field takes us even further back into the history of our universe than the Ultra Deep Field or UDF.
Mangalyaan update: Testing of main engine underway
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/09 11:25 CDT | 1 comments
A report in the Times of India states that India's Mars mission's main engine is now being tested.
SpaceX's first paid cargo run off to bumpy start
Posted by Jason Davis on 2012/10/08 11:03 CDT | 7 comments
SpaceX successfully sent their first paid Dragon capsule towards the International Space Station Sunday night. But the bigger story happened on the way to orbit.
Happy Cassini PDS Release Day!
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/08 01:00 CDT | 2 comments
It's a quarterly feast day for me: the day that the Cassini mission delivers three months' worth of data to NASA's Planetary Data System. Here's a few images processed from the October 1, 2012 data release.
Mars Program Update from MEPAG
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2012/10/05 06:30 CDT | 1 comments
Bruce Betts reports on the status of the current and future Mars program and on acronyms from a meeting of NASA's MEPAG (Mars Exploration Analysis Program Analysis Group).
Deep Impact targets possible 2020 asteroid flyby
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/05 12:28 CDT | 3 comments
Yesterday, Deep Impact performed a trajectory correction maneuver, firing its thrusters to line up for a flyby seven years from now. Here's a preview of that encounter.
Curiosity Update, sol 57: Digging in at Rocknest
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/04 03:27 CDT | 2 comments
Engineers requested that Curiosity be driven to a "nice sandbox" to play in for the first soil sample, and it appears that a sand drift named Rocknest satisfies that requirement.
Curiosity catches sunspots along with Phobos and Deimos transits
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/03 07:15 CDT | 2 comments
Curiosity has been shooting photos of the Sun as Phobos and Deimos cross its face, and -- as far as I can tell -- captured sunspots as well.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Finds Thrill of Newberries on Matijevic Hill
Sols 3060 - 3088
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2012/10/03 01:58 CDT | 1 comments
On reconnaissance of Matijevic Hill, Opportunity has driven right into another Martian mystery, compete with new kinds of “berries," tiny white veins running through two distinctive outcrops of rock, and orbital data indicating that somewhere here clay minerals are hiding, all of which has put the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission back in the science spotlight and made for another September to remember at Meridiani Planum.
Shoemaker NEO Winner Finds Close Fly By Asteroid
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2012/10/02 05:54 CDT
Gary Hug used his Shoemaker NEO grant provided camera to find 2012 SY49 which flew by Earth at about two lunar distances last week. The tens of meters wide asteroid is a low-probability possible Earth impactor in the future.
Beautiful rocks ahead at Glenelg, but first, Curiosity must dig in the sand
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/01 05:31 CDT | 4 comments
A beautiful panoramic view of the varied rocks of Glenelg has been transmitted from Curiosity on Mars. But before going any further, it's time to run the first Martian sand through the soil sampling system.
Sturzstroms on Saturn’s Moon Iapetus
Posted by Kelsi Singer on 2012/10/01 04:31 CDT
Long-runout landslides (sturzstroms) are found across the Solar System. They have been observed primarily on Earth and Mars, but also on Venus, and Jupiter’s moons Io and Callisto. I have just published a paper about sturzstroms on Iapetus.
Your Place In Space: On the Road at Homestead National Monument
Posted by Andrea Carroll on 2012/09/28 07:58 CDT
Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye took the stage at Homestead National Monument of America in Beatrice, Nebraska to talk about sustainability and "your place in space".
Celebrate Planetary Radio's 10th Birthday!
A very special anniversary show is coming November 12, and you can join the fun.
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/09/28 06:09 CDT
Planetary Radio went on the air ten years ago. It's almost time to celebrate this anniversary with a special episode for the week of November 12, 2012. Learn more, including how you can join the party.
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