Articles

Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.

Door 22 in the 2010 advent calendar

Time to open the twenty-second door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system are these degraded craters?

Mimas wanders in to view

Cassini's busy downlinking photos from yesterday's close pass by Enceladus, including some neat shots of Dione and this one where Mimas skipped briefly in to the field of view.

Venus Climate Orbiter Akatsuki (PLANET-C)

Akatsuki update: more detail on first failure report

Ordinarily it's not my thing to do so many updates on a mission that failed to arrive in orbit, but I know that it's difficult for English-speaking readers to locate information on Asian missions so I'm keeping up the reporting on Akatsuki.

Door 20 in the 2010 advent calendar (special news update)

Time to open the twentieth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system is this diffuse blob and stripy sea?

Door 18 in the 2010 advent calendar

Time to open the eighteenth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system is this brush-stroked surface?

Updates on Hayabusa and Akatsuki: second chamber opened, possible engine nozzle breakage

The Hayabusa update is brief: having opened the first Hayabusa sample return chamber (compartment A) last month, JAXA has now opened compartment B, and they found nothing inside.

Door 17 in the 2010 advent calendar

Time to open the seventeenth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system are these strange promontories?

Door 15 in the 2010 advent calendar

Time to open the fifteenth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system is this cratered world?

Opportunity drives within 20 meters of Santa Maria, spots alligator's tail

Today Opportunity has driven to within 20 meters of Santa Maria crater, and the blocks around it are really, really cool-looking. This one is a dead ringer for the severed tail of an alligator.

Opportunity: "So close we can taste it" to Santa Maria

Opportunity is on a kilometers-long eastward road trip across Meridiani Planum toward the rim of a large ancient crater named Endeavour; it'll be many months yet before she gets there.

IKAROS flew past Venus on December 8

Just after Akatsuki missed entering orbit, another spacecraft, IKAROS, quietly passed by Venus.

Door 14 in the 2010 advent calendar

Until the New Year, I'll be opening a door each day onto a different landscape from somewhere in the solar system. Where in the solar system are these red freckles?

Door 13 in the 2010 advent calendar

Time to open the thirteenth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system are these parallel gouges?

Boulders and Ponds on 433 Eros

There is really cool geology being explored on large, oddly shaped asteroids. The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission reached 433 Eros in 2000, and one of the exciting results was the discovery of features called

Door 12 in the 2010 advent calendar

Time to open the twelfth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system is this trapezoidal mountain?

Door 11 in the 2010 advent calendar

Time to open the eleventh door in the advent calendar. Until the New Year, I'll be opening a door onto a different landscape from somewhere in the solar system. Where in the solar system are these sinuous ridges?

Akatsuki update: Failure to enter orbit due to insufficient fuel pressure

An English-language article in the December 11 Yomiuri Shimbun summarizes the news from the Akatsuki press briefing held at 11:00 December 10 JST (last night, my time). It's succinct and clear so I'm reposting it here.