Blog Archive

Dawn artist's concept orbiting asteroid Vesta

Dawn Journal: Rising from a happily long LAMO

Posted by Marc Rayman on 2012/05/03 03:39 CDT | 3 comments

Marc Rayman's monthly check-in with the Dawn mission describes the achievements of the spacecraft in its Low-Altitude Mapping Orbit (including near-global high-resolution imaging!) and explains what's next.

For use as thumbnail for 3D anaglyph posts

3D view of an unnamed lunar crater

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/05/03 03:18 CDT

Grab your red-blue 3D glasses and dive in to this small but spectacular unnamed lunar crater as seen in a Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter photo.

Examining India's new RISAT 1 Earth observation satellite

Posted by Jason Davis on 2012/05/02 12:03 CDT | 1 comments

Last week, India launched RISAT 1, a new Earth-observing satellite. How does its synthetic aperture radar compare to that of Envisat, which has fallen silent?

Orange Titan in front of yellow Saturn, August 1, 2007

Titan, Dead or Alive? A Debate

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/05/02 10:32 CDT

A lively discussion and debate between planetary polymaths Ralph Lorenz and Jeffrey Moore about Titan, hosted by the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, moderated by David Grinspoon.

Some redesign notes & big thanks for your patience

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/05/01 03:03 CDT | 4 comments

An update primarily to reassure readers that yes, we will have A. J. S. Rayl's MER updates back; the May 1 one will be a bit delayed but is coming soon.

What's up in the solar system in May 2012

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/05/01 10:16 CDT

Welcome to my monthly roundup of the activities of our intrepid robotic emissaries across the solar system! I count 16 spacecraft that are actively performing 13 scientific missions at Mercury, Venus, the Moon, Mars, Vesta, Saturn, and at the edge of the heliosphere. This month's highlight: Cassini's about to fly close past Enceladus and Dione.