Articles

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

Pretty Picture: ISS in the X-band

This is from the

Greetings From Space Up in Sunny San Diego!

Well, the weather may not have lived up to the title, but spirits were not dampened one bit at the first SpaceUp

Back from LPSC

Just a quick note to all that I've collected both children from the family I left them with and we've all now arrived home from the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.

Gorilla seen in Nasa Snap from Mars? Umm....no.

Yes, I'm totally not kidding, that is the headline in the Sun:

Ganymede in color from Galileo's E6 flyby

LPSC, Day 2: Impacts onto icy moons

There has been big news from Moon and Mars here at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, but I can't find the time to wrap that stuff up into a properly illustrated blog post; while I'm still on site at the conference I'll be tossing the easier-to-digest bits into the blog.

LPSC, Day 1: Spirit and Phoenix

Where to begin with the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC)?

Programming Note: The Pluto Files

This is just a brief note to advertise this evening's edition of NOVA on public television here in the U.S. The show is

What's your favorite planet?

Before you answer, check out these images!

LPSC: Why Ganymede and Callisto are so different

The first talk I attended at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston was my one icy satellite talk for the day.

Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Spirit Parks for Winter, Opportunity Tastes Chocolate Hills

As winter put the freeze on in the southern hemisphere of the Red Planet, the Mars Exploration Rovers slowed down a bit, but continued throughout February to demonstrate the mettle that made them famous: Spirit successfully drove backwards, parked in place for the season, then continued working, as Opportunity roved through rock debris on a cruise around the rim of Concepcin Crater.

In Houston

Despite the best efforts of many different kinds of gremlins, I have managed to arrive in Houston to attend the 41st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, at least the first 2.5 days of it.

Dawn Journal: Forever Farther From Earth Than the Sun

Pushing ever farther into space, deeper into the asteroid belt, Dawn is continuing to progress smoothly on its solar system journey.

Welcome news on DSN upgrades

I've written before about a serious problem looming for planetary exploration: the aging infrastructure of NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN).

What's up in the solar system in March 2010

I am getting an early start on this month's

Cassini at Enceladus: Baghdad's Glowing Canyon

The Cassini mission released a pile of images today from the super-close flyby of Enceladus that happened on November 21.

Pretty picture: Mini-RF exposes lunar geology

There are all kinds of neat things to see in this recently released image from the Mini-RF synthetic aperture radar instrument aboard Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.