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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Wheels on Cape York!
Opportunity's wheels are on a whole new different kind of rock: she has arrived at the rim of Endeavour crater, on Cape York.
Vesta, a revelation
I have to admit it: three months ago I did not understand why space science is important. This is a pretty bold statement coming from a practicing aerospace engineer, but recent events have corrected this lack of understanding, and I am not embarrassed to correct myself in this blog. But let us not get ahead of the story.
NASA thinks Earth is a planet, too
Although much of the publicity NASA receives focuses on planetary exploration, Earth observing satellites like Aqua keep tabs on our home planet's weather and climate.
Spirit Point and Odyssey crater in sight, and new rock under Opportunity's wheels
Opportunity is at her goal. In this 3D anaglyph, taken on sol 2678 (yesterday, August 6, 2011), Opportunity's wheels are resting on strange lumpy bedrock.
Junocam will get us great global shots down onto Jupiter's poles
Juno is a mission that will peer deeply into Jupiter's interior, and didn't really need to take a visible-light camera along in order to accomplish its scientific goals. But I think nobody could bear sending a spacecraft to Jupiter without getting pictures from up close. So they added Junocam.
Juno is on the way to Jupiter!
It almost looked like it wasn't going to happen today, but it did! At 16:25 UTC, a huge Atlas V 551 lifted off with the Juno spacecraft and sent it on its way to Jupiter.
Fun for the whole family: Watch an enormous rocket blast a spacecraft to Jupiter!
Do you have kids at home for the summer? Treat them to a spectacular fireworks show by tuning in tomorrow morning to watch Juno blast off to Jupiter!
Pretty picture: five moons for Cassini
Explaining how to combine the red, green and blue images from a recent Cassini image session containing five of Saturn's moons: Janus, Pandora, Enceladus, Mimas and Rhea.
August Means Summer Recess for Congress But Let's Keep Up the Pressure for Space
Is this the time to forget about political action? No! It's time to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboards) and write to your local newspaper proclaiming your support for space exploration.
On speculation in today's Dawn press briefing
When a spacecraft has visited a new body for the first time, the usual answer to any scientific question is
What I see in the first high-res Dawn images of Vesta
I had to wait until the kids were in bed and the husband fed last night before I finally had time to sit down and really look at the Dawn images of Vesta. And I still hardly knew where to begin. This brand new world is just so different than others I've seen.
Fabulous Dawn Vesta images and rotation movie!!
Now that Dawn's close enough to Vesta, we're seeing absolutely spectacular detail and tremendous diversity across Vesta's surface. As usual it'll probably take me a while to bring together all the new information, so as a stopgap I'm going to post an awesome image and a rotation movie.
Jupiter's southern belt is coming back
In a story that I've been following for quite a while, Jupiter's southern equatorial belt, having faded to white in 2009, is now well on its way back to its former red glory.
Mountains rising for Opportunity
The views from Opportunity of Endeavour's near and distant rim peaks are getting ever more vertical as Opportunity approaches Cape York.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Closes in on Endeavour as Team Bids Farewell to Spirit
Opportunity seemed to sail with the wind behind her back toward the western rim of Endeavour Crater this month as the Mars Exploration Rover team shifted gears in preparation for a whole new adventure, taking time out only to bid a final farewell both privately and publicly to Spirit.
What's up in the solar system in August 2011
August is supposed to be a lazy summer vacation month, but there's quite a lot going on in the solar system.
Phobos-Grunt and Yinghuo-1 have completed thermal vacuum testing
The Russian Phobos sample return mission, Phobos-Grunt, has passed a key milestone in its preparation for launch: it successfully completed its thermal vacuum testing in June.
A different face of Vesta (oh, *there's* the craters!)
Here's the latest image release from Dawn at Vesta, taken from an altitude about twice as high as that of their first mapping orbit.
What's up in human spaceflight: a Dragon approaches
Private spaceflight company SpaceX has secured tentative approval with NASA to combine its next test flight with an actual ISS docking.
Origins 2011 conference, part 2
In this, my second blog on Origins 2011 in Montpellier, France, a conference dedicated to the interdisciplinary research on the origins of life, I aim to provide my impression of the second half of the conference.