Lou Friedman

Bruce Murray (1931-2013)

Posted by Louis D. Friedman and Charlene Anderson on 2013/08/29 11:32 CDT | 52 comments

One of the most remarkable minds of 20th century exploration was stilled this morning, August 29, 2013, when Bruce C. Murray died of Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 81. The Planetary Society owes its existence to Bruce.

Vermin of the Sky

Posted by Louis D. Friedman on 2013/02/19 12:05 CST | 3 comments

Executive Director Emeritus Louis Friedman writes about Asteroid programs of The Planetary Society.

Crazy Far

Posted by Louis D. Friedman on 2013/01/14 02:37 CST | 13 comments

Louis Friedman discusses what he expects to be the future of space exploration. According to him, it won't be in manned missions, but in remote, virtual exploration available to anybody.

Manned Missions to Mars Aren't Just Sci-Fi

Posted by Louis D. Friedman on 2012/08/24 06:09 CDT | 9 comments

Space exploration is not just valuable to scientists; it is also popular with the public who pays taxes. And why not? The exploration of Mars is not only a search for signs of alien life. It is an exploration of the human future.

A Martian Has Died

Posted by Louis D. Friedman on 2012/06/06 03:30 CDT | 3 comments

The last words Ray said to me were, “Yes, I will shout HURRAH!” I was visiting him at his home and had spent a hour or so talking with him about our favorite subject, Mars, as well as reading to him a couple of his own poems. Yesterday he passed away at the age of 91.

Phobos-Grunt Failure Report Released

Posted by Louis D. Friedman on 2012/02/06 05:24 CST

It appears that Phobos-Grunt was doomed before it launched on November 9, 2011. Cheap parts, design shortcomings, and lack of pre-flight testing ensured that the spacecraft would never fulfill its goals.

Official Phobos-Grunt Failure Report Released

Posted by Louis D. Friedman on 2012/01/31 05:32 CST

Official Phobos-Grunt Failure Report Released

Congratulations to Russia on the launch of Spektr-R (RadioAstron)

Posted by Louis D. Friedman on 2011/07/18 02:08 CDT

Congratulations to Russia on the launch of Spektr-R (RadioAstron)

Testing Sail Deployment

Posted by Louis D. Friedman on 2011/03/06 11:00 CST | 1 comments

The first full scale deployment of the Planetary Society's LightSail-1 solar sail was conducted on March 4, 2011 at Stellar Exploration in San Luis Obispo, California.

My day with Hawking and Aldrin

Posted by Louis D. Friedman on 2011/02/02 12:12 CST

I was very fortunate to be able to meet with Stephen Hawking and Buzz Aldrin over lunch at Hawking's temporary home in Pasadena this week. We got together to discuss views on the future of human space exploration.