Bill Dunford • December 31, 2014
Video: see some of the sights Cassini saw this year.
Larry Crumpler • December 30, 2014
Opportunity is continuing its drives along the rim of Endeavour toward Marathon Valley. Larry Crumpler tells us what to expect as the rover continues its journey.
Marc Rayman • December 29, 2014
As Dawn looks toward the new world of Ceres, Mission Director Marc Rayman looks back on Ceres' discovery.
Ellen Stofan • December 24, 2014
NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan discusses her recent trip to India to speak at the India-U.S. Technology Summit in Delhi and Miranda House a the University of Dehli on women in STEM careers.
Adam Block • December 23, 2014
Astrophotographer Adam Block shares four stunning images capturing the expansiveness of the universe.
Nicholas Heavens • December 16, 2014
With the announcement of Curiosity's detection of methane on Mars, Nicholas Heavens gives us a guide to the history of methane detection on Mars, a discussion of its scientific significance, and a few things to consider when hearing about and asking about the detection.
Kate Howells • December 12, 2014
The Planetary Society’s Global Volunteer Network has been busy these past few months!
Adam Block • December 12, 2014
Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block shares his haunting images of three different types of nebulae.
Mattias Malmer • December 12, 2014
Mattias Malmer shares his latest shape model of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, created using data from the Rosetta spacecraft.
Dante Lauretta • December 11, 2014
The YORP effect is a phenomenon that affects the rotation rate and pole orientation of an asteroid. YORP is an acronym that combines four scientist’s names: Yarkovsky, O’Keefe, Radzievskii, and Paddack.
Björn Jónsson • December 10, 2014
Amateur image processor Björn Jónsson brings us some new views of Uranus from reprocessed Voyager 2 data.
Jason Callahan • December 08, 2014
Jason Callahan takes a detailed look at the effects of Curiosity's cost overruns on NASA's budget.
Bill Dunford • December 08, 2014
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter just keeps delivering remarkable scenes from the Red Planet.
A.J.S. Rayl • December 03, 2014
Last month, the Earth's longest-lived and most traveled robot on another planet drove into a network of fractures the likes of which the scientists had never seen before on Mars and wound up working there through the end of the month – and then something not completely unexpected happened.
Van Kane • December 01, 2014
With the release of the official Announcement of Opportunity (AO) early in November, NASA has officially begun the competition to select its next low cost ($450M) Discovery program planetary mission. Because planetary scientists are free to propose missions to any destination in the solar system other than the sun and Earth, these competitions bring out the creativity in the planetary science program.
Marc Rayman • December 01, 2014
This month, Marc Rayman looks ahead to some upcoming activities for Dawn as it approaches the dwarf planet Ceres.
Ted Stryk • November 26, 2014
Ted Stryk showcases some of his processed versions of recent Hubble Space Telescope views of Mars.
Van Kane • November 26, 2014
The past few months have brought announcements for new missions from India and China as well as a wealth of creative ideas for future missions.
Dante Lauretta • November 25, 2014
The OSIRIS-REx project released Bennu’s Journey, a movie describing one possible history of our target asteroid – Bennu. The animation is among the most highly detailed productions created by Goddard’s Conceptual Image Laboratory.
Larry Crumpler • November 25, 2014
Larry Crumpler returns with an update on Opportunity's recent activities, and its road ahead.
Deepak Dhingra • November 21, 2014
Deepak Dhingra gives an exciting update from the recent Lunar Exploration and Analysis Group (LEAG) meeting at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (JHU-APL) in Baltimore.
Jason Callahan • November 14, 2014
On Monday, Jason Callahan published an article in The Space Review discussing the importance of aligning the goals of federally funded scientific communities with national priorities. This post highlights some of the main points of the article and suggests a possible role for The Planetary Society.
A.J.S. Rayl • November 04, 2014
As winds whirled and converged to the west of Endeavour Crater, Opportunity's power dropped dramatically in October, but the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) pressed on. By month's end, the robot field geologist had completed her assignments – including capturing the first close-in shot of a comet from the surface of the Red Planet – and was roving onward through the darkness, driving the mission into the 130th month of what started out more than 10-and-a-half years ago to be a 3-month tour.
Donna Stevens • November 04, 2014
The fall issue of The Planetary Report has mailed and is on its way to our members’ doors. Those of you who prefer an electronic file, or a preview of the printed copy, can pick it up online.
Marc Rayman • November 02, 2014
Marc Rayman gives the latest update on the Dawn mission, focusing this time on the performance of its ion propulsion system.
Dante Lauretta • October 31, 2014
On October 17-19, 2014, the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory on the University of Arizona campus hosted the second annual Art of Planetary Science exhibition. This exhibition featured works of art inspired by the solar system, alongside works by scientists created from their scientific data.
Bill Dunford • October 30, 2014
After a bad day on the launch pad, some perspective.
John M. Logsdon • October 28, 2014
Society Board Member John Logsdon describes how the decisions made by Richard Nixon in late 1969 and early 1970 effectively ended human exploration beyond Earth orbit for the indefinite future.
Claudia Mignone • October 27, 2014
What do “light” and “dark” mean for an object like Comet 67P/C-G? Here are some details on how Rosetta's NAVCAM images are taken and displayed to make a wide range of surface features possible.
Peter Mattisson • October 22, 2014
The European satellite Herschel acquired images of Comet Siding Spring before its death in 2013 — thanks to an observing proposal from an amateur astronomer!
Dante Lauretta • October 20, 2014
The University of Arizona (UA) hosted representatives of the Hayabusa2 asteroid sample return mission to explore opportunities for collaboration with the OSIRIS-REx team.
Larry Crumpler • October 15, 2014
Opportunity will become a comet flyby mission beginning in mid-October. The comet Siding Spring will zoom past Mars at a distance of about 135,000 km on October 19.
Karl Battams • October 06, 2014
We're now less than two weeks away from Comet Siding Spring buzzing ridiculously close to Mars, and the excitement is building - in both good and bad ways...
Bill Dunford • October 06, 2014
MESSENGER is revealing the first planet in sharp detail.
A.J.S. Rayl • October 04, 2014
While the winds of Martian spring blew through Meridiani Planum in September, Opportunity reformatted its Flash memory then continued exploring Wdowiak Ridge on the western rim of Endeavour Crater. Even though the Flash-related issues soon returned, the robot field geologist hardly seemed to notice as it sent home two spectacular panoramas, presented the scientists with a rocky Martian mystery, and delivered yet another September to remember for the mission. And that's not all.
Jason Callahan • October 04, 2014
The end of the Moon race raised the question: what, if anything, was next for NASA? The decisions made by President Nixon in the aftermath of Apollo still impact the space program today.
Karl Battams • October 03, 2014
How can we use MAVEN to learn about Comet Siding Spring, passing very close by Mars this month?
Srinivas Laxman • October 01, 2014
Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) began its science activities fully on Wednesday with all five science instruments being activated. And on Tuesday, an ISRO-NASA Mars working group was formed which will "seek to identify and implement scientific and technological goals that NASA and ISRO have in common regarding Mars exploration."
Marc Rayman • September 27, 2014
Marc Rayman gives us an update on the Dawn mission, heading to Ceres, on the 7th anniversary of its launch.
Larry Crumpler • September 26, 2014
After a stand-down of activities to reformat its flash memory, Opportunity has re-commenced the long climb up this high and steep segment of the Endeavour crater rim.
Dante Lauretta • September 24, 2014
The OSIRIS-REx Design Reference Asteroid (DRA) document is now available to the public. The DRA is a compilation of all that is known about the OSIRIS-REx mission target, asteroid (101955) Bennu.
Stuart Atkinson • September 23, 2014
Stuart Atkinson takes us on a stunning guided visual tour of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
Jason Callahan • September 23, 2014
NASA's immense reference collection got a makeover at its Washington, D.C. location recently. Jason Callahan gives you a glimpse behind the scenes as guests made their way into the new rooms while enjoying good conversation and, of course, Moon Pies.
Ted Stryk • September 23, 2014
The 45th Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium, usually focused on terrestrial studies, shifted this year to planetary science. Ted Stryk gives us an overview.
Bill Dunford • September 22, 2014
Some of Mars' most important secrets are hiding beneath the surface.
Srinivas Laxman • September 22, 2014
There was celebration in the Mars mission control room in Bangalore on Monday following the success of the crucial four-second test firing of the Mars Orbiter Mission’s (MOM) 440-Newton liquid apogee motor. MOM will now go ahead with the nominal plan for the Mars orbit insertion on September 24 at 07:30 IST (02:00 UT / September 23 19:00 PDT).
Nagin Cox • September 18, 2014
Nagin Cox, a systems engineer and manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory currently working on the mission operations team for Curiosity, tells us about a trip she took to Pakistan as an ambassador for science and technology.
ESA Mars Express Team • September 17, 2014
The Mars Express Flight Control Team at ESOC have been actively preparing for the flyby of comet C/2013 A1/Siding Spring on October 19. Initial estimates gave the possibility that Mars Express might be hit by 2 or 3 high-speed particles. Happily, additional observations by ground and space telescopes have shown the risk to be much lower – and perhaps even as low as zero. In today's blog post, the team explain how this (happy!) real-life, real-time development is affecting their preparations for fly-by.
Jason Callahan • September 11, 2014
The history of planetary exploration repeats itself starting with a resurgent program in the 90s and 2000s that launched a new fleet of planetary spacecraft. Like our first story, this great success rewarded by deep budget cuts.
Tony Farnham • September 09, 2014
Comet Siding Spring is going to make a very close approach to Mars in October. Any comet dust that reaches Mars has the potential to inflict significant damage on the spacecraft orbiting the planet. As it turns out, however, Mars and its orbiters are likely to see very few, if any, impacts. Why?
Jason Callahan • September 08, 2014
The first three decades of planetary exploration tell a story that sounds all-too-familiar to modern day space advocates. Growth, peak, and then collapse of hard-earned capability. This is the story of planetary science for the first half of its existence.
A.J.S. Rayl • September 03, 2014
After setting the new off-Earth rover distance record in July, Opportunity roved on in August, driving south along the eastern edge of Endeavour Crater's western rim to Wdowiak Ridge on its journey to the next big destination, Marathon Valley.
Marc Rayman • September 02, 2014
Marc Rayman updates us on the Dawn mission, its plans from high to low altitude mapping orbits at Ceres, and what the intrepid spacecraft will pursue next.
Karl Battams • August 29, 2014
Karl Battams highlights the historic discovery, by an Air Force satellite, of a sungrazing comet.
Jason Callahan • August 29, 2014
NASA has explored the solar system since the 1960s, but it has rarely been the top priority for the space agency. Jason Callahan breaks down how planetary science has been funded over the years within NASA's larger budget.
Amir Alexander • August 29, 2014
Amir Alexander reviews Alan Hirshfeld's newest book, "Starlight Detectives: How Astronomers, Inventors, and Eccentrics Discovered the Modern Universe."
Tanya Harrison • August 28, 2014
Tanya Harrison wraps up the final week of Mars sample return analogue mission operations at the Canadian Space Agency.
Jason Callahan • August 27, 2014
We all know NASA needs more money to achieve its goals. But competition for money is intense within the U.S. federal government, and two trends have made it harder for NASA to get what it needs.
Van Kane • August 26, 2014
Van Kane explains three factors that make exploring Europa hard—factors that can make a mission concept that seems like less actually be more.
Mark Lemmon • August 21, 2014
On October 19, the Mars rovers — like their orbiting cousins — will become comet flyby missions. Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) will pass within 140,000 km of Mars.
Amir Alexander • August 21, 2014
What’s new at Stardust@home, the groundbreaking program that asked volunteers to help find interstellar dust particles collected by the spacecraft Stardust.
Tanya Harrison • August 20, 2014
Tanya Harrison reports on Canada's efforts to simulate a Mars sample return mission here on Earth.
Bill Dunford • August 18, 2014
The latest snaphots from the "Mars Webcam" include something special.
Larry Crumpler • August 18, 2014
Opportunity just completed its first drives upslope on its long journey toward the crest of the highest rim segment of Endeavour crater, “Cape Tribulation.” Larry Crumpler gives us an update on what to expect next from the little rover that could.
David Crisp • August 15, 2014
Dr. David Crisp explains how NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2) works, and what its first light spectra tells his team about the spacecraft’s performance.
Jason Perry • August 12, 2014
Jason Perry brings us a report on recent ground-based observations that shed new light on the most powerful of Io’s volcanic eruptions.
Van Kane • August 08, 2014
Van Kane gives us a tour of the instruments selected for the Mars 2020 rover.
A.J.S. Rayl • August 08, 2014
It's official: Opportunity has traveled farther and lived longer than any other vehicle on another planet, driving to a place in history with an out-of-this-world distinction no one even imagined when the robot field geologist left Earth 11 years ago.
Karl Battams • August 07, 2014
On October 19, 2014, Comet Siding Spring is going to have an extremely close encounter with the planet Mars. The bottom line: it seems most likely that our Martian spacecraft will be absolutely fine.
Stuart Atkinson • August 06, 2014
Stuart Atkinson muses on the difference between the Europe of today and the Europe of a century ago in the context of Rosetta's momentous arrival at comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Daniel Fischer • August 06, 2014
Beaming scientists all around, spectacular images on large TV screens, and the best - or at least most exciting - yet to come: such was the extraordinary scene at the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, today as the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft reached its cometary destination.
Larry Crumpler • August 04, 2014
Larry Crumpler updates us on the Opportunity rover, which now holds the distance record for a rover on another planet and is about to climb up its highest crater rim segment yet.
Donna Stevens • August 04, 2014
Summer’s edition of The Planetary Report is on its way to your mailbox!
Marc Rayman • August 01, 2014
Dawn's Mission Director updates us on the status of the mission, and tells us what Dawn and Star Wars have in common.
Valerie Fox • July 30, 2014
Valerie Fox reports from the 8th International Conference on Mars on the habitability of the Red Planet.
Abigail Fraeman • July 29, 2014
One of the hot topics of the 8th International Conference on Mars was the nature of Mars' ancient past. Abigail Fraeman reports on our updated view of whether Mars was ever warm and wet.
Dante Lauretta • July 28, 2014
The asteroid community recently gathered in Helsinki, Finland for the 12th Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors Conference. As this meeting showed, one of the hottest topics in asteroid science is the study of asteroid families.
Adam Block • July 25, 2014
Astrophotographer Adam Block shares two recent images of star clusters, along with a pair of depth perception-defying galaxies.
Ted Stryk • July 24, 2014
Venera 9 and 10 landed on Venus in 1975 and sent back the first images of the planet's surface. Now, Ted Stryk brings new life to these images to show us what it would be like to stand on the Venusian surface.
Bill Dunford • July 21, 2014
A single day's observations take us from orbital overviews all the way down to ground truth.
Van Kane • July 19, 2014
Several announcements for proposed missions to Mars and on the planning for a NASA return to Europa that highlight the contrasts in planning missions for these two high priority destinations.
Stuart Atkinson • July 18, 2014
A European space enthusiast, children's author, and volunteer astronomy outreach worker asks for more images from Rosetta.
Alessondra Springmann • July 16, 2014
Talking to spacecraft is a normal occurrence at Arecibo Observatory, but sometimes the nuts and bolts are a little unconventional.
Mark Robinson • July 11, 2014
High resolution images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera detail the 1973 path of the Soviet rover Lunokhod 2.
Peter Rosén • July 08, 2014
In 1979, the Voyager 1 probe took a stunning series of images on its final approach to Jupiter. Thirty-five years later, almost to the day, a group of seven Swedish amateur astronomers set out to replicate this odyssey, but with images taken with their own ground-based telescopes.
Jaime Green • July 07, 2014
A team of Colombian researchers are arguing for a new refinement to the idea of the habitable zone that takes the presence of life itself into account.
A.J.S. Rayl • July 03, 2014
Opportunity got off to a bumpy start in June, but the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission pressed on, continuing the exploration of Murray Ridge at the western rim of Endeavour Crater.
Adam Block • July 02, 2014
Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block showcases some of his stunning images of what happens when galaxies get a little too close to each other.
Marc Rayman • July 01, 2014
Dawn's chief engineer and mission director Marc Rayman gives an overview of the plan for the penultimate orbital phase at Ceres, the “high altitude mapping orbit” (HAMO).
Larry Crumpler • June 30, 2014
Opportunity has left the winter haven and is still driving south along the rim of Endeavour crater, currently exploring an outcrop a few meters from crater rim.
Van Kane • June 17, 2014
The Senate and House have both agreed to increase NASA's budget to $17.9 billion, but they have very different ways of spending that money.
Dante Lauretta • June 12, 2014
This week the OSIRIS-REx team gathered at the Lockheed Martin facility in Denver to perform a “Design Reference Mission (DRM)” walkthrough. The DRM is basically the battle plan for OSIRIS-REx for accomplishing our goal of returning pristine samples from asteroid Bennu.
Van Kane • June 09, 2014
NASA’s Mars Exploration Analysis Group (MEPAG) recently reviewed plans by Europe, the Japanese, and NASA for future Mars exploration. The prognosis is for another exciting decade of Mars exploration.
Adam Block • June 06, 2014
Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block shares some of his recent work.
A.J.S. Rayl • June 05, 2014
At the western rim of Endeavour Crater, Opportunity spent the month of May exploring a new clayground along Murray Ridge and the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) mission trundled into the 125th month of what was originally to be a short, 3-month tour.
Dante Lauretta • June 05, 2014
The construction of OSIRIS-REx has begun! Seeing the core structure being assembled demonstrated that OSIRIS-REx is no longer just a set of drawings and PowerPoint charts, it is starting to become a real spacecraft.
Marc Rayman • June 03, 2014
This month Dawn's mission director Marc Rayman continues the preview of how Dawn will explore Ceres, this time in its survey orbit.
Samuel Lawrence • May 29, 2014
A few people think that when it comes to the Moon, because we’ve “been there, and done that,” there is nothing new left to discover. But that viewpoint could not be farther from the truth!
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