Blogs
Blog Archive
Guest Post: Ray Sanders: Make an Impact with Yuri's Night 2012!
Posted by Ray Sanders on 2012/03/12 06:59 CDT
Yuri's Night events combine space-themed partying with education and outreach.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/03/11 10:10 CDT
JAXA's solar sail mission IKAROS is still hibernating, and there's no way of knowing if the spacecraft will reawaken or not. They try to raise contact with the spacecraft once a month, with the last attempt being made on March 10; we can only wait to see if they'll succeed. What better time to release a theme song for the mission? IKAROS has always been even more full of personality even than other JAXA missions (which is saying a lot).
Venus Express star trackers recovered
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/03/09 07:18 CST
Just a quick note because I didn't want to let the weekend go by without telling people that Venus Express' star trackers are back online.
Good news, bad news: GRAIL science underway, Venus Express suffers storm damage
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/03/08 06:54 CST
Two brief mission updates. First, the good news: NASA announced yesterday that the twin GRAIL spacecraft have begun the science phase of the mission, transmitting precisely timed signals to each other in order to map the Moon's gravity field. The bad news: according to ESA, since the recent solar storm passed Venus, both of Venus Express' star trackers are suddenly unable to detect stars.
"How Much Would You Pay for the Universe?"
Posted by Charlene Anderson on 2012/03/08 05:53 CST | 1 comments
"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." -- Antoine St. Exupery. Currently, NASA's Mars science exploration budget is being decimated, we are not going back to the Moon, and plans for astronauts to visit Mars are delayed until the 2030s -- on funding not yet allocated, overseen by a congress and president to be named later.
Pretty picture: A study in ringlight
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/03/08 02:27 CST
Clearly, this is Saturn, and its rings, and if you look closer you can see a tiny circle, on top of the rings, which is Mimas, and two stars in the background. It should look weird to you that while the rings are bright, Mimas is a black dot. What is happening here? Nearly everything in this picture is lit by light that has not arrived directly from the Sun.
Planetary Society Statement on Proposed Cuts to Planetary Science Budget
Posted by Charlene Anderson on 2012/03/07 02:40 CST
The Planetary Society is deeply troubled with the priorities reflected in NASA's FY13 budget. If implemented, it will portend grave consequences for our nation's ability to conduct deep-space science missions and could irreversibly erode unique aspects of the space industrial base needed for such missions.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/03/07 09:27 CST
Last night the Sun unleashed a large coronal mass ejection in our direction. Here is a compilation of images from SOHO's two LASCO cameras, plus a prediction from the new space weather prediction model that I learned about at the American Geophysical Union in December. The storm will arrive at Earth on March 8.
You Can Hear Neil Tyson Testify
Posted by Charlene Anderson on 2012/03/06 10:24 CST
Neil DeGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist extraordinaire and Planetary Society Board Member, will be testifying to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation tomorrow, March 7.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/03/06 02:08 CST
A recap of the "carnival of nerdly delights" that is LeetUp.
Online Astronomy Course Update
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2012/03/06 11:27 CST
All the archived lectures from my free Introduction to Astronomy and the Solar System course, as well as links to the syllabus and how to watch the lectures live, can be found online.
New "Snapshot From Space": Defending Our Planet
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/03/06 10:18 CST
A new installment of our "Snapshots" video series examines the threat posed by asteroids on collision courses with our home planet. Emily Lakdawalla explains why it's so important to find, understand and learn to deflect these potential civilization enders.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/03/05 04:15 CST
Each Magellan images of Venus seems to be a work of abstract art.
Guest Post: Tyler Nordgren: Mars Above, Mars Below
Posted by Tyler Nordgren on 2012/03/02 06:55 CST
With Mars at opposition once again, astronomers around the world will soon be looking up for our best telescopic views of the Red Planet. But next weekend, I and a group of scientists will be turning our gaze downward for views of that alien planet.
Pretty pictures: Voyager 2 at Jupiter
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/03/02 01:22 CST
Here are two perfect examples of Voyager 2's amazing untapped treasures.
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/03/01 02:58 CST
Have you heard it? "America's Space Station, Powered With NASA" is how they describe themselves. It immediately became my favorite online music source when it premiered late last year.
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