Articles

Emily Lakdawalla

Engineers requested that Curiosity be driven to a

Emily Lakdawalla

Curiosity has been shooting photos of the Sun as Phobos and Deimos cross its face, and -- as far as I can tell -- captured sunspots as well.

A.J.S. Rayl

On reconnaissance of Matijevic Hill, Opportunity has driven right into another Martian mystery, compete with new kinds of “berries,

Bruce Betts

Gary Hug used his Shoemaker NEO grant provided camera to find 2012 SY49 which flew by Earth at about two lunar distances last week. The tens of meters wide asteroid is a low-probability possible Earth impactor in the future.

Emily Lakdawalla

A beautiful panoramic view of the varied rocks of Glenelg has been transmitted from Curiosity on Mars. But before going any further, it's time to run the first Martian sand through the soil sampling system.

Kelsi Singer

Long-runout landslides (sturzstroms) are found across the Solar System. They have been observed primarily on Earth and Mars, but also on Venus, and Jupiter’s moons Io and Callisto. I have just published a paper about sturzstroms on Iapetus.

Emily Lakdawalla

Curiosity has pulled up to the edge of Glenelg, its first destination within Gale crater.

Emily Lakdawalla

Welcome to my monthly survey of the activities of robots across the solar system! Tomorrow is the equinox at Mars; both Curiosity and Opportunity will be spending the month actively analyzing Martian rocks. It'll be a less active month for Cassini, as Saturn passes through solar conjunction late next month.

Andrea Carroll

Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye took the stage at Homestead National Monument of America in Beatrice, Nebraska to talk about sustainability and

Mat Kaplan

Planetary Radio went on the air ten years ago. It's almost time to celebrate this anniversary with a special episode for the week of November 12, 2012. Learn more, including how you can join the party.

Emily Lakdawalla

In August, India's prime minister announced the intent to build and launch a Mars orbiter in time for the November 2013 launch window, an insanely fast schedule. The structure of the spacecraft has now been delivered.

Marc Rayman

On the fifth anniversary of its launch, Dawn is on the way to Ceres.

Casey Dreier

The future of the Mars Exploration Program exists as multiple mission plans straining to exist in the brutal new cost cap from the FY13 budget, pushed far into the future.

Emily Lakdawalla

Curiosity has successfully photographed a crescent Phobos in a bright daylit Martian sky.

Emily Lakdawalla

I'm hosting this week's Cosmoquest Science Hour, and plan to take viewers on a virtual tour of those mountains on Curiosity's horizon, and show you where Curiosity is likely to go. Join me and Fraser Cain here at 1600 PDT / 2300 UTC Wednesday.

Bill Gray

A very interesting comet has recently been discovered -- interesting because it will nearly graze the Sun in August 2013 and then approach Earth closely the following December. Whether it will turn out to be a great comet is impossible to know.

Jason Davis

SpaceX is two weeks away from returning to the International Space Station. Following a successful demo flight in May, NASA is entrusting the private spaceflight company with a half-ton of mission-critical station cargo.

Jennifer Vaughn

It's been an eventful week: Curiosity drove to its first science target, Endeavour arrived in Los Angeles, and a leaking pipe shut down Planetary Society headquarters. We continue to work but not from within our headquarters. We expect to be back on Thursday morning, putting our workspaces back together and catching up on any work that got quarantined. Until then, you can find us online.

Bruce Betts

The Planetary Society Shoemaker NEO grants celebrate their 15th anniversary of helping to find and track near Earth asteroids. Here's a quick review of the program, and updates on our four multiple-grant winners.

Casey Dreier

In ten days, our members and supporters sent over 17,000 emails to staff members who create and influence NASA's planetary science budget. The public support is there. We're making difference but not letting up.