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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 aborts liftoff due to abnormal engine reading
The launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule was aborted last night a half-second before liftoff, due to abnormally high pressure readings in engine number five.
SpaceX set to launch COTS 2 flight this Saturday
This Saturday, SpaceX will attempt to make history by launching the first commercial spacecraft to berth with the International Space Station.
Examining India's new RISAT 1 Earth observation satellite
Last week, India launched RISAT 1, a new Earth-observing satellite. How does its synthetic aperture radar compare to that of Envisat, which has fallen silent?
SpaceX Dragon flight to ISS draws near
SpaceX and NASA have completed a successful flight readiness review (FRR) for the Dragon's upcoming visit to the International Space Station.
NASA collects round three of CCDev proposals
NASA is soliciting a third round of proposals from private spaceflight companies looking to send astronauts to the International Space Station.
Of inclinations and azimuths
A classified U.S. military satellite recently launched into an orbital inclination of 123 degrees. What makes this trajectory so unique? Pondering the answer affords the opportunity to learn some deceptively tricky concepts about the nature of all spacecraft orbits.
Adventures in urban astrophotography
Just because you live in an urban area with skyglow doesn't mean you can't have fun with astrophotography. How to capture the planets, constellations and the ISS.
NuSTAR telescope to get close look at black holes, supernovae
The NuSTAR X-ray telescope will enable scientists to get a much-improved look at black holes and supernovae in both the Milky Way and other galaxies.
Solar flares from Skylab
Before automated space observatories like SDO could send pictures and videos of solar phenomenon in real-time, humans had to do it manually, as in the case of the groundbreaking Skylab space station missions, which featured the Apollo Telescope Mount.
The state of Earth observation, January 2012
As of November 2011, the Earth Observing Handbook counts 109 active missions to study the Earth as a planet, with 112 more approved and planned for the future. Jason Davis provides an overview of key current and upcoming earth-observing missions.
A recap of Comet Lovejoy
A timeline of one of the most memorable solar events in recent memory: the observations by six Sun-observing spacecraft of Comet Lovejoy making its perihelion passage.
Expedition 30, SpaceX and Stratolaunch
An update on upcoming missions to the International Space Station (ISS).
Sungrazing with Lovejoy's Comet
Observations of the newly sighted Kreutz sungrazer comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) from the ground and from SOHO (a joint NASA/ESA satellite) and STEREO (NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory).
Curiosity, from a 1935 perspective
With a new rover, Curiosity, on its way to Mars, Jason Davis takes a look at what we knew - or thought we knew - about the planet back in 1935.
SLS updates: tower crawl, engine burn and flight test
A few updates on the Space Launch System, NASA's next-generation deep exploration vehicle.
Checking in with NASA's Commercial Partners
Checking in with SpaceX's launch abort system progress, Boeing's CST-100 drop tests, and a recent Space, Science and Technology Committee meeting on Capitol Hill.
Have two spacecraft ever docked to two separate space stations on the same day?
The Chinese spacecraft Shenzhou 8 docks with space station Tiangong 1, on the same day a Progress resupply capsule arrives at the International Space Station.
The fish that sent us to the moon
The tale of NASA's Super Guppy aircraft, which ferried parts of America's space program to their launch pads.
Earth observing satellites record large Arctic ozone loss
Data from Earth observing satellites Aura and CALIPSO have shown record losses of seasonal ozone in the Arctic.
Decoding SpaceX's re-usable spacecraft concept
Breaking down the futuristic technologies for SpaceX's reusable Grasshopper spacecraft, as shown in a recent promotional video.