Emily's Blog
Snapshots from Space
by Emily Lakdawalla
Follow the thrilling adventures of planetary missions, past and present, and see the stunningly beautiful photos that they return from space!
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Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/11/07 05:30 CST | 6 comments
This week's Cosmoquest Astronomy Hour Google+ Hangout at 1600 PDT / 2300 UTC on Wednesday will feature Pamela Conrad, the deputy principal investigator for Curiosity's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument. Tune in to learn more about how this experiment will change our view of Mars, and to ask your questions!
Watching the slow shift of seasons on Titan
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/11/06 02:45 CST | 1 comments
A sharp-eyed amateur noticed two images of Titan taken 20 months apart from nearly exactly the same perspective, and they illustrate how the shifting of Saturn's seasons has brought change to Titan's atmosphere.
Soliciting input for an idea on slides
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/11/05 07:09 CST | 19 comments
I'm directing a question at professional and amateur space scientists and educators: could I make slide sets that would help you educate the public about what's going on in planetary exploration?
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/11/02 08:03 CDT | 1 comments
Today I stumbled upon the Lunar and Planetary Institute's Lunar Sample Atlas, and was reminded of how much I love petrographic thin sections. They can make unassuming, cruddy looking rocks beautiful.
Huge self-portrait of Curiosity on Mars
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/11/01 07:27 CDT | 9 comments
Curiosity used MAHLI, the scientific camera at the end of the robotic arm, to shoot a huge color portrait of herself sitting on Mars, with Gale's central mountain in the background.
Getting up to speed with Curiosity as of sol 84, and two awesome mosaics
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/31 07:39 CDT | 6 comments
Curiosity has already spent more than three weeks at Rocknest, working through the very slow process of commissioning the sample handling systems. While parked, she's taken a couple of amazing photo mosaics.
Reviews of space-themed story books for children
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/29 11:20 CDT
In an annual tradition, I review eight children's story books with planetary and astronomy themes. Favorites include Pieces of Another World by Mara Rockliff and Solar System Forecast by Kelly Kizer Whitt.
Hurricane Sandy: Thanks for lives saved already
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/29 11:32 CDT
Today hurricane Sandy is a major threat to life and property across the west coast of the northern Atlantic ocean. I just want to give thanks in advance to all the people who have devoted their careers to making sure that Americans have sufficient warning of devastating, unstoppable weather events like this one.
DPS 2012: Double occultation by Pluto and Charon
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/26 03:12 CDT | 5 comments
A few talks at last week's Division for Planetary Sciences meeting discussed observations of a double occultation -- both Pluto and Charon passing in front of the same star.
DPS 2012: Who were you wearing?
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/24 04:32 CDT | 2 comments
Scientific conferences have become more fun since it suddenly became cool to be a geek. I thoroughly enjoy the "geek uniform" of witty T-shirt and jeans, and did my best to wardrobe myself in relevant geekwear each day of the meeting. This post is for all the people at DPS who asked where my clothes came from.
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