Thomas Edison, Eclipse Chaser!

The great inventor was just one of many men and women who made their way across the American West to view and document the total solar eclipse of 1878. Edison would test a new heat-detecting instrument. Vassar astronomer Maria Mitchell and her female colleagues demonstrated that women could conduct science under difficult conditions. Former NPR science reporter David Baron’s American Eclipse: A Nation’s Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World tells their stories. Emily Lakdawalla and Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye also report from the final frontier.

Related Links:

• American Eclipse
• Astronomer Maria Mitchell
• Curiosity update, sols 1675-1725: Traverse to Vera Rubin Ridge
• The Space News First Up Newsletter
• Chop Shop Planetary Society Store

This week's prizes are the brand new Chop Shop-designed Planetary Radio t-shirt and a 200-point iTelescope.net astronomy account.

This week's question:

What are the names of the two large Venusian highlands?

To submit your answer:

Complete the contest entry form at http://planetary.org/radiocontest or write to us at [email protected] no later than Wednesday, June 28th at 8am Pacific Time. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Last week's question:

What fuel do the Cassini spacecraft’s sixteen thrusters (not the main engines) use?

Answer:

The answer will be revealed next week.

Question from the week before:

What class or group of meteorites matches the average composition of samples returned from asteroid Itokawa by the Hayabusa mission?

Answer:

The class of meteorite that matches the average composition of samples returned from asteroid Itokawa by the Hayabusa spacecraft is Low Total Iron, Low Metal Ordinary Chondrite, or LL Chondrite.