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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Chang'e 3 update: 6 instruments active, new fan-produced landing video
Today there was a lengthy press briefing by several members of the Chang'e 3 science team. A complete transcript was posted in Chinese. I have run it through two machine translators and found it to be quite informative, not just about the mission but also about attitudes about Chinese space exploration and foreign cooperation. I also have a cool fan-produced video to share.
Conversations with an interplanetary spacecraft: "Hi, Juno!"
Juno's Earth flyby represented the first opportunity for many of the science instruments to be used on a planetary target. There were terrific photos of Earth and the Moon, plus a cool project to see if Juno could detect intelligent life on Earth.
Destination: Europa!
It's time to reassess Europa exploration, past, present and future. The Destination Europa! session at AGU, inspired by the eponymous website and movement, didn't take exactly that message as its theme, but it's what I got from the presentations. What an ELECTRIFYING meeting this has been for Europa exploration!
Color photo of Yutu rover and Chang'e lander, and more on the Chang'e 3 landing site
Fresh off of Chinese state television are lovely pictures taken by Chang'e 3 lander and rover of each other!
Amazing Chang'e 3 descent video
Watch and enjoy this full video of Chang'e 3's descent onto the lunar surface.
Chang'e 3 has successfully landed on the Moon!
Transmitting images all the way down, China's Chang'e 3 lander successfully arrived on the lunar surface at 13:11:18 -- half an hour before the scheduled landing time. Rover deploy is set for a few hours later.
Six wheels on soil for Yutu!
Here it is! Animated gifs, composed of screen grabs from Chinese state television, of the Yutu rover rolling on to the lunar surface. This was a replay, but it was no less thrilling for that; the actual rollout happened at 20:40 UT (12:40 PT). Six wheels on soil! Woohoo!
Chang'e 3 landing tomorrow 13:40 UT, earlier than previously reported
According to numerous Chinese news reports, Chang'e 3's landing on the Moon is now scheduled to begin at 21:40 Beijing time on December 14, which is 13:40 UT or 05:40 PT. That's about two hours earlier than previously stated.
The Plumes of Europa
2013 has been a rather exciting year for Europa scientists. Today's exciting news: the Hubble Space Telescope discovery of water vapor plumes from the south pole of this icy moon.
A Tale of Two Posters: Sediment on Mars and Searching Jupiter's Rings
A close look at two international planetary science poster presentations from the 2013 AGU Fall Meeting featuring sediment experiments to better understand Martian geomorphology and Juno's plans for exploring Jupiter's ring system.
Watch this with your kids: Asteroid Fact versus Fiction
A cute video from the OSIRIS-REx mission in the style of
Europa: No Longer a "Should," But a "Must"
We've waited long enough, Europa cries out for exploration and discovery. It's time to heed that cry.
Quick Chang'e 3 and Mars Orbiter Mission updates
Yesterday Chang'e 3 lowered its orbit periapsis to a mere 15 kilometers, and Mars Orbiter Mission successfully performed a trajectory correction maneuver.
Enceladus huffs and puffs: plumes vary with orbital longitude
In which I finally get around to writing about a paper published last August: Enceladus' plumes sometimes spout more and sometimes spout less, depending on where Enceladus is in its orbit. This discovery was enabled by Cassini's longevity at Saturn, and we'll be able to follow up on it, as long as Cassini is allowed to complete its mission.
A Protected Class of Programs at NASA?
The House Science Committee is considering giving a select few NASA programs special protected status against cancellation.
Curiosity results at AGU: Gale crater rocks are old, but have been exposed recently
In a Martian first, the Curiosity science team has measured the age of a Martian rock, in two totally different ways. They presented the result at the 2013 meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
The Mists of Mars
Two grand canyons fill with fog, one on Earth and one on Mars.
Chang'e 3 has arrived in lunar orbit
Just a quick update: Chang'e 3 successfully entered lunar orbit today at 09:53 UTC, after a 361-second lunar orbit insertion burn.
Dawn Journal: Equidistant from Vesta and Ceres
Gliding smoothly through the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, Dawn continues to make good progress on its ambitious mission of exploration. It is patiently but persistently pursuing Ceres, the second destination on its interplanetary itinerary.
Comet ISON Wrap Up
Comet ISON captivated our world, and many of our world’s robotic emissaries for many months. But, alas, poor ISON is dead -- again. Here I wrap up our enthusiastic coverage of this multi-morphing zombie comet that tried to survive and re-survive as it came within one solar diameter of the Sun.