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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Begins Final Science Campaign in Marathon Valley
The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission entered its 150th month of surface exploration in June as Opportunity began checking off the last science investigations in Marathon Valley, and the crew on Earth looked ahead to the future past.
What's up in the solar system, July 2016 edition: Juno to enter orbit, NASA missions all extended
Highlights this month include the impending arrival of Juno at Jupiter, the approval of extended missions for all of NASA's solar system spacecraft, and public data releases from Rosetta, New Horizons, and Cassini.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Scuffs Up Signs of Past Water at Marathon Valley
Opportunity spent the first half of May digging into an outcrop, taking dozens of panoramic images from her site on the south wall of Marathon Valley at Endeavour Crater’s western rim, and basking in the Martian spring weather.
Field Report From Mars: Sol 4365 - May 5, 2016
Opportunity arrived at its current location on sol 4345 to begin investigation of an outcrop on the crest of a ridge near the west end of Marathon Valley.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Sleuths New Site for Smectites
Opportunity and the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) team pressed on through the Martian winter and spent April sleuthing for clay minerals at the mission’s new site on the southern wall of Marathon Valley.
Field Report From Mars: Sol 4333 - April 1, 2016
Opportunity has climbed west and up Marathon Valley in one of the final campaigns before moving on and beginning the summer field activities to the south southward.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Soldiers through Martian March Madness
As March Madness on Earth sent sports fans into their annual kinetic frenzy watching more than 60 American teams battle it out for college basketball’s grandest title, Opportunity was experiencing her own Martian brand of March Madness.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Scales Knudsen Ridge and Rocks On
As the Martian winter slowly begins to recede, Opportunity is working away on the steep slopes of Knudsen Ridge at the southern end of Marathon Valley, showing her mettle in some of the most challenging terrain of the rover’s 12+ years on the Red Planet.
Field Report From Mars: Sol 4284 - February 11, 2016
Opportunity is continuing to explore the outcrops Marathon Valley, on the west rim of Endeavour crater.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Turns 12! Embarks on Electric Slide
On January 24th, the veteran Mars Exploration Rover (MER) wrapped the last day of her 12th year of surface operations on Mars, marking an extraordinary, historic achievement for the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) mission.
Field Report From Mars: Sol 4270 - January 28, 2016
On January 23rd, Opportunity celebrated its 12th anniversary of landing on Mars.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Finishes Another Record Year, Approaches 12th Anniversary
Perched on the southern wall of Marathon Valley at Endeavour Crater, Opportunity braved temperatures descending well below -100° F in December to work the winter science campaign and home in on the remnants of ancient clays.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Reality Bites but Opportunity Climbs to "Treasure Trove"
Opportunity faced the challenges of winter as well as technological issues in November, but pressed on, hiking up hill and into a geological treasure trove that may well present the scientists with the evidence they need to solve the clay mineral mystery of Marathon Valley.
A Day in the Solar System: 28 October 2015
On October 28th, the Cassini spacecraft flew through the geyser plume of Saturn's moon Enceladus. But Cassini was not the only spacecraft operating in the solar system that day.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Hits Winter Slopes at Marathon Valley
Opportunity hit the slopes of her seventh winter haven on the south side of Marathon Valley in October as the mission entered the 130th month of what was initially slated to be a 90-day tour.
A Roundup of Dust Devil Research
Planetary scientist Ralph Lorenz briefs us on the current state of our knowledge on dust devils on Earth and Mars.
Why Return to the Columbia Hills?
Where should NASA’s next Mars rover, the Mars 2020 sample caching mission, land? One site under consideration is Spirit's old stomping ground, the Columbia Hills.
Zero Dollars for 2016: Two Stalwart Planetary Missions Face a Troubling Future
In its 2016 budget request, the White House inexplicably proposed to end two active, scientifically productive planetary missions: the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Rocks on Ancient Water During Walkabout
Opportunity continued her walkabout around Marathon Valley in September and sent home more evidence of significant water alteration and, perhaps, an ancient environment inviting enough for the emergence of life.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Digs Marathon Valley Walkabout
Opportunity drove farther into Marathon Valley in August, dug into what appears to be a water-altered rock, and took a lot of picture postcards in what is turning out to be a distinctively different site from any that the mission has found since the robot field geologist landed in 2004.