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Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
A couple of helpful visualizations of LCROSS impact
The visualization studio at Goddard Space Flight Center has just posted some handy simulations of what we can expect the LCROSS impact to look like.
LROC nabs image of the Apollo 14 S-IVB impact site
As a reminder that we've been crashing stuff into the Moon for decades, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) team released today a photo of the crater made by the spent upper stage of the Saturn rocket that lofted the Apollo 14 mission to the Moon.
LCROSS Centaur separation and braking burn successful
LCROSS and its Centaur upper stage have separated successfully, and the LCROSS shepherd spacecraft has braked in order to follow behind the Centaur when both impact the Moon tomorrow.
LCROSS impact preview
Way early tomorrow morning, LCROSS and its Centaur upper stage will crash into the lunar south pole.
Apophis is less scary than it used to be
Based on analyses of previously unstudied telescopic data, NASA scientists have released new predictions for the path of the 300-meter-diameter asteroid Apophis.
A podcast, a space carnival, and a New Horizons Planetary Radio Q and A
A podcast, a space carnival, and a New Horizons Planetary Radio Q and A
App review: Moon Globe and Mars Globe: Five stars!!
App review: Moon Globe and Mars Globe: Five stars!!
DPS: The amazing wound-up C ring, by Josh Colwell
DPS: The amazing wound-up C ring, by Josh Colwell
MESSENGER is fine
The caption to today's image release from the MESSENGER team concerns their long-term campaign to study Mercury's brightness through a range of phase angles.
The September-October 2009 issue of The Planetary Report is out
The September-October 2009 issue of The Planetary Report is out
Mars Science Laboratory Instruments: MARDI
Next up in my series of posts about the instruments on MSL is the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI).
Changes in Titan's southern lakes
Today's science press release out of the Division of Planetary Sciences meeting concerns changes in lakes near Titan's south pole observed during Cassini's mission. In brief, repeat Cassini RADAR observations of the same spots during different Titan flybys turned up places where there appeared to be dark lakes in earlier images and dry lakes in later images.
Prizes for Steve Squyres, Toby Owen, Kelly Beatty, and Sarah Stewart-Mukhopadhyay
Prizes for Steve Squyres, Toby Owen, Kelly Beatty, and Sarah Stewart-Mukhopadhyay
Massive MESSENGER Mercury Mosaic
Massive MESSENGER Mercury Mosaic
Another possible piece of evidence for a Rhea ring
Another possible piece of evidence for a Rhea ring
2008 TC3: One year later (a 365 Days of Astronomy podcast)
2008 TC3: One year later (a 365 Days of Astronomy podcast)
It would appear that Opportunity has stumbled upon another meteorite
I wonder if this came from the same original body as Block Island, or if Meridiani is the kind of slowly deflating landscape that accumulates meteorites at its surface, like the ANSMET meteorite hunting spots in Antarctica?
MESSENGER gets two planets for the price of one
Here's a pretty shot of Mercury taken by MESSENGER on approach...but wait, what's that tiny little speck in the lower left corner of the photo?
What's up in the solar system in October 2009
What's up in the solar system in October 2009
Third Time's No Charm: MESSENGER's Third Gravity Assist Successful, But "Safe Mode" Interrupts Science
Third Time's No Charm: MESSENGER's Third Gravity Assist Successful, But "Safe Mode" Interrupts Science



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