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The Space Computer and the Beautiful Worlds
Posted by Bill Dunford on 2013/06/30 11:31 CDT | 2 comments
An "Up Goer 5" tribute to the Cassini mission.
ARKYD Kickstarter Finale Webcast
Sunday, June 30, 2013 from 3-7pm PT
Posted by Bill Nye on 2013/06/28 07:58 CDT | 1 comments
Bill Nye will be at Seattle's Museum of Flight Sunday, June 30, 2013 from 3-7pm PT for the closing celebration webcast of the Arkyd 100 space-based telescope project.
IRIS safely in orbit, ready to eye sun's atmosphere
Posted by Jason Davis on 2013/06/28 06:01 CDT | 1 comments
IRIS, the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph spacecraft, was launched from Orbital Science Corporation's Stargazer carrier aircraft over the Pacific Ocean at 7:27 p.m PDT.
We Need Space-Based Detection of Threats, but NASA Shouldn't Pay for It
Reports from the AGU's Science Policy Conference
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/06/27 01:03 CDT | 5 comments
Early detection is a crucial step in preventing or mitigating threats from space, but it's not NASA's job.
Planetary Society Hangout: Arkyd Telescopes, Planetary Resources, Chris Lewicki
Thursday, Jun 27, noon PDT/1900 UTC
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2013/06/27 11:15 CDT | 2 comments
We talked to Chris Lewicki, President of Planetary Resources, about their upcoming Arkyd telescopes including one for the public, asteroid mining, and more. Hosted by Bruce Betts with Jennifer Vaughn.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/06/27 10:55 CDT | 9 comments
It had never occurred to me to think about geostationary satellites in Mars orbit before reading a new paper by Juan Silva and Pilar Romero. The paper shows that it takes a lot more work to maintain a stationary orbit at an arbitrary longitude at Mars than it does at Earth.
What would Earth's skies look like with Saturn's rings?
Posted by Jason Davis on 2013/06/26 12:59 CDT | 3 comments
Illustrator and author Ron Miller visualizes what we would see in our skies if Saturn’s majestic rings circled the Earth.
Posted by Bill Dunford on 2013/06/25 04:38 CDT | 6 comments
Meet some worlds that were nearly shattered, literally.
Russians start workweek with stroll outside ISS
Posted by Jason Davis on 2013/06/25 11:59 CDT | 1 comments
Cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Alexander Misurkin performed a six-and-a-half hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Monday.
How radar really works: The steps involved before getting an image
Posted by Alessondra Springmann on 2013/06/24 02:10 CDT | 3 comments
Arecibo Observatory is known for its 1000-foot diameter telescope and its appearances in Goldeneye and Contact. Aside from battling Bond villains and driving red diesel Jeeps around the telescope (grousing at the site director about the funding status of projects is optional), several hundred hours a year of telescope time at Arecibo go toward radar studies of asteroids.
Astrophotographer captures 'Heavenly Palace' transiting the Sun
Posted by Jason Davis on 2013/06/24 10:56 CDT | 1 comments
Astrophotographer Thierry Legault captured a striking image set of Chinese spacecraft Tiangong 1 and Shenzhou 10 transiting the Sun.
Programming Note: Off for 3 weeks, June 23 to July 14
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/06/23 12:09 CDT
Hi folks, just a note to let you all know I am off for a 3-week vacation.
Is Opportunity near Lunokhod's distance record? Not as close as we used to think!
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/06/21 06:47 CDT | 2 comments
A few weeks ago, a press release from the Opportunity mission celebrated Opportunity's surpassing of the previous NASA off-world driving record. That record was set in December 1972 by the Apollo 17 astronauts aboard their Lunar Roving Vehicle. They seem very close to Lunokhod 2's stated 37-kilometer driving record, but hold your horses -- we now know Lunokhod went longer than we thought.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/06/20 06:14 CDT | 6 comments
Just a quick post to announce that The Planetary Society's staff is expanding! I am so excited to be able to say that.
If we started today, how long would it take to get to Mars? With this budget, never.
Analysis of the House Science Committee Hearing on the 2013 NASA Authorization Bill
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/06/19 04:38 CDT | 6 comments
The House of Representatives held a hearing today to discuss their proposed NASA authorization bill, which would fund Planetary Science, cut Earth Science, forbid asteroid retrieval, and command NASA to pursue a path to Mars via the Moon.
Enormously detailed photo of Kasei Valles from Mars Express
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/06/19 02:36 CDT | 7 comments
ESA celebrated the tenth anniversary of Mars Express' launch with a several-day science meeting during which they issued lots of press releases and numerous spectacular photos. My favorite of them all is this enormous image of Kasei Valles on Mars.
Posted by Bill Dunford on 2013/06/19 01:33 CDT | 1 comments
From far away, or from so near you could almost touch it, the moon is beautiful.
Woohoo! The LEGO Curiosity rover is going to be a kit!
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/06/18 07:02 CDT | 2 comments
The awesome LEGO Curiosity rover designed by Stephen Pakbaz is going to go into production!
Goodnight, Herschel Space Observatory
Posted by Jason Davis on 2013/06/18 01:29 CDT | 6 comments
The European Space Agency’s Herschel Space Observatory received its final commands yesterday, having depleted the liquid helium required to make its infrared observations.
Favorite space images: "Many Worlds"
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/06/17 10:58 CDT | 1 comments
For this evening's Planetary Radio Live event, Mat Kaplan asked me to do a presentation of some favorite space images. I told him that picking favorite space images is like picking favorite children; it's not possible because they're all my favorite. To narrow things down, I decided to explore a theme: "Many Worlds."
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