Articles

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

Door 3 in the 2010 advent calendar

Time to open the third 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 is this wispy terrain?

Door 2 in the 2010 advent calendar

Time to open the second 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. Can you guess where this crater-scarred surface lies?

Door 1 in the Planetary Society Blog 2010 advent calendar

December really has arrived, and that means that the year is racing to a close. Continuing last year's tradition, I'm counting the days to the New Year with an advent calendar, where each

Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Mission Looks Back in Honor to Apollo 12, and Drives Exploration Onward

The Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) forged on in November, their 83rd month of an expedition originally planned for three months: Spirit remained silent at Gusev Crater presumably still re-charging her batteries, as Opportunity roved through a field of craters pressing on toward Endeavour Crater, quietly claiming title along the way to being the first roving robot to drive 25 kilometers on Mars.

What's the significance of this unremarkable spot on the Moon?

This was a fun image released by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera science team. Take a look at it and see if you can figure out what the significance of the red arrow is.

A few Mars Express Phobos goodies

To celebrate Mars Express' recent mission extension to 2014, here are some cool pictures that it took of Mars' inner and larger moon Phobos.

Final set of Voyager Mission Status Bulletins: The Voyager 2 Neptune flyby and beyond

I'm surprised no one's emailed me demanding the last batch of Voyager mission status bulletins! Well, here they are.

ESA commits to extending 11 missions' space operations for 3 years

Europe is apparently of the mind that science and technology will help to carry them out of tough economic times, and has made three-year commitments to continue the in-space operations of 11 missions through 2014.

Two signs we're living in the 21st century: SpaceX and Stardust

Two brief but significant news items today made me stop and think about how far we've come in space travel.

Jupiter's outbreak is spreading

Jupiter, always a pretty sight in the sky, is now worth visiting every day; the

Deep Impact at Hartley 2: Two weeks after the flyby

Today the Deep Impact/EPOXI science team held a press briefing that followed up on their very successful flyby of two weeks ago, a status report on what they can say so far about the science that's coming out of the encounter.

A little more information on the Hayabusa samples from Itokawa

Since I posted an update Monday about JAXA confirming extraterrestrial samples in the Hayabusa sample return capsule, JAXA has posted an English-language version of their press release, which contains a bit more information.

365 Days of Astronomy Podcast: What's in a Science Meeting?

Today the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast aired my contribution, What's in a Science Meeting?, about what scientists do at big meetings like the Division of Planetary Sciences.

I can't wait for MAHLI to land on Mars

JPL has just released some test images from the camera that has just been installed on the end of the Curiosity rover's robotic arm.

JAXA announcement: Itokawa sample return successful!

It's official: in a press release today, JAXA announced that some 1,500 dust grains scraped from the interior of Hayabusa's clean-looking sample return capsule are not of terrestrial origin so must be from Itokawa.

Five amazing engineering camera videos from Chang'E 2

I couldn't believe these videos when I first saw them: five views from engineering cameras of important events in the Chang'E 2 spacecraft's journey to the Moon.

First pictures from Chang'E 2 released

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced the success of Chang'E-2 lunar mission on Monday. Yong-Chun Zheng, an associate professor at the National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, presents the mission's first released pictures.