Blog Archive

Artist's concept of Chang'e 3 rover on the Moon

The Chang'e 3 lunar lander and rover, expected to launch late this year

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/09 03:46 CST | 8 comments

All of the information I could track down on China's planned Chang'e 3 lunar lander and rover, including videos and a brand-new artist's concept of the rover rolling across the Moon.

Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Zeroes In on Clay Minerals and We Look Back on 2012

Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2013/01/08 07:16 CST | 4 comments

Despite the lull of the holidays, the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission recorded one of the expedition's best months ever in December as Opportunity and her team confirmed the location of the smectite clay minerals on Matijevic Hill, effectively grabbing the scientific brass ring they came hoping to find at Endeavour Crater.

Fomalhaut b, an eccentric directly-imaged exoplanet

Report from AAS: Exoplanets (and exo-asteroids, and exo-comets) everywhere

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/08 06:52 CST | 7 comments

This year's American Astronomical Society meeting featured tons and tons of news on exoplanets. They're everywhere! And not just planets, but also asteroids, comets, and more....

"Space Fans" Hangout Wednesday Jan 9 1500 PT / 2300 UT: me & Mike Brown on Planets, Pluto (not the same), Asteroids, Near Earth Objects, Life the Universe and Everything

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/08 04:22 CST | 1 comments

Join me, Mike "Plutokiller" Brown, Mario Livio, Jason Kalirai, and others in a Space Fan Hangout broadcast from the American Astronomical Society meeting happening this week in Long Beach, California.

Curiosity's soil scoop, ready for action (sol 51)

Curiosity's Scoop Campaign, a Summary

Posted by Stephen Kuhn on 2013/01/08 09:30 CST | 4 comments

Stephen Kuhn is the CHIMRA and the scoop systems lead on the Curiosity rover. He explains what the team was doing at Rocknest, and why it took so long!