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Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
DSCOVR mission releases first EPIC global view of Earth, more to come in September
Five months after its launch, the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) mission has successfully journeyed to the region of space where Sun and Earth gravitational attraction offset each other. From the vantage point of L1, DSCOVR's EPIC camera has captured its first full-globe view of Earth, and it's well, epic.
Welcome home, AstroSamantha
Three astronauts have returned to Earth, and while I'm happy that they landed safely, I'm very sad that astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti is not in space anymore to wish us
LPSC 2015: Aeolian Processes on Mars and Titan
Planetary scientist Nathan Bridges reports on results from the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference about the action of wind on the surfaces of Mars and Titan.
A Sky Full of Stars
In pictures of the planets, the stars aren't usually visible. But when they do appear, they're spectacular.
Flawed Beauties
More examples of imperfect--but tantalizing--images from deep space.
A (Difficult) Day in the Solar System
After a bad day on the launch pad, some perspective.
From Mercury orbit, MESSENGER watches a lunar eclipse
Watch as our enormous moon -- a quarter the diameter of the planet -- just winks out as it passes into Earth's long shadow, in an animation captured from more than 100 million kilometers away.
45th Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium Report
The 45th Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium, usually focused on terrestrial studies, shifted this year to planetary science. Ted Stryk gives us an overview.
Lovely, live, continuous, high-definition video of Earth
Have you ever wished you could enjoy the astronauts' view of Earth from the Space Station? Now, you can. Just go to the live feed from the High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) experiment, crank it up to its highest resolution, let it take over your monitor, and watch Earth spin by.
A new Earthrise over the Moon from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's pushframe camera
Earth's brilliant colors shine above the drab lunar horizon in this new
Another Day in the Solar System
One day, five worlds.
Forensic Ballistics: How Apollo 12 Helped Solve the Skydiver Meteorite Mystery
What can a 45-year-old mission to the Moon tell us about a
Fireworks in the Earth's Sky Sent from the Moon: Reflections from LPSC 2014
Deepak Dhingra reports on presentations from this year's Lunar and Planetary Science Conference focusing on how impacts on the Moon have affected Earth.
Cosmos with Cosmos Episode 12: Encyclopedia Galactica
Cosmos returns in fine form in its penultimate episode. Sagan explores the historical and scientific precedents for the search for extraterrestrial life (SETI) and our human desires to not be alone in the universe.
Looking Backward: Curiosity gazes upon the setting Earth
A few days ago, Curiosity looked westward after sunset and photographed Earth setting toward the mountainous rim of Gale crater.
Cosmos with Cosmos Episode 11: The Persistence of Memory
Cosmos stumbles with an episode that is plodding, scattered, and more than a little preachy. This episode will only persist in my memory as a shadow of what could have been.
New version of panoramic view from Chang'e 3
A higher-resolution version of the Chang'e 3 lander's panoramic view of the lunar surface has appeared on the Web, and artist Don Davis has cleaned it of artifacts to make a beautiful, seamless view. In other news, the mission has been reorganized to accommodate a possibly year-long adventure on the lunar surface.
Through a Glass, Darkly
When sent from deep space, even imperfect images can inform and amaze.
Finally, some high-quality photos from Chang'e 3!
A pile of Chang'e 3 photos has been released to the Web, and they are much, much better than what I've seen before. They include, for the first time, photos of Earth from the lander.
NASA re-creates the Apollo 8 Earthrise using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data
If there's one thing I've learned after decades of studying the first human voyages to another world, it's that there is always more to discover about Apollo. Case in point: The Apollo 8 Earthrise photo that became one of the iconic images of the 20th century.