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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
The Antarctic search for meteorites: return to civilization
The team returns to civilization, having completed their Antarctic mission.
Treasures from Mars' ancient history
In which I discover Earl Slipher's Mars: The Photographic Story.
The Antarctic search for meteorites: snow ends the season
The team wraps up their collection activites.
365 Days of Astronomy Podcast: Five Years of Living Vicariously on Mars
Next in The Planetary Society's 365 Days of Astronomy doubleheader is Planetary Society President Jim Bell, whose show, airing today, is on
What are the rovers up to? January 2009
Spirit's been getting some nice views of the spot it spent all of 2008 in,
What do we know about Uranus' moons? Part 1
I got an urge to dive in to the Voyager image archives and see what exactly we have here on Earth to base our understanding of the Uranian moons on.
Mars Methane Movie
NASA has put together a nice movie of Dr. Mike Mumma summarizing his discovery of methane on Mars.
The Antarctic search for meteorites: tantalizingly close to the 500-meteorite mark
The season total is at 489, tantalizingly close to the 500 meteorite barrier.
Some events for the 5th anniversary of Spirit and Opportunity's landing on Mars
Tonight at the Boston Court Performing Arts Center in Pasadena, Jim Bell and Bill Nye will be celebrating the 5th anniversary of the landing of the rovers; Jim will be showing lots of pretty 3D pictures.
The Antarctic search for meteorites: bad days make for more blog fodder
Writer's block strikes the expedition, as the group continues to collect meteorites.
On the pronunciation of "Uranus"
On the pronunciation of
The Antarctic search for meteorites: 237 meteorites await the long drive to Houston
Fifty-five meteorites are collected by the team in a single day.
The Santorini panorama
A tip of the hat to Ryan over at Martian Chronicles for posting this lovely version of the Santorini panorama, which Opportunity captured just before Mars dipped too close to the Sun in late November of last year.
Spirit moved!
Hallelujah! For the first time in almost an Earth year, amateur mars mapper Eduardo Tesheiner is able to scratch a tiny little line on his map of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's peregrinations across Gusev Crater.
I am totally hooked on Scott Maxwell's new Mars Exploration Rover blog
Scott Maxwell is one of those many guys (and gals) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who rarely gets his name in the news but who is absolutely indispensable to the success of a space mission. I don't know what his official title is, but whatever it is, it's not as good as the colloquial name given to his position: Rover Driver.
The Antarctic search for meteorites: not for the impatient
The team makes progress while facing extreme weather conditions.
Five Years of Spirit on Mars
On January 3, 2004, the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit landed on Mars, and I was with the science team at JPL when it happened! I can't believe it's been five years since the successful landing.
A Moon Among Stars
A very pretty picture of a moon among stars. Happy 2009, everyone!
The Antarctic search for meteorites: put-in at last; week of productive searches
A week of productive searching near the Davis Nunataks.
The Antarctic search for meteorites: more waiting; runway's ready; ralph goes home
As the team waits, the runway is finished, and Ralph makes an exit.