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Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
The Strangest Place on the Moon?
A closer look at the odd lunar feature called
Uranus Awaits
It’s been a long time since anyone paid Uranus a visit. The Uranus system is, however, fascinating, as evidenced by the wealth of topics covered by the diverse group of planetary scientists who gathered to discuss it last week at the Paris Observatory.
How I Gave My Preschool Class Mars Fever
It all started when we read a book called, There's Nothing to Do on Mars, by Chris Gall. And then something wonderful happened.
DPS 2013: The fascination of tiny worlds
In which I summarize Joe Veverka's Kuiper Prize talk at the Division for Planetary Sciences meeting:
Juno is in Safe Mode again, but still okay
After entering safe mode last week during its Earth flyby, Juno returned to normal operations and downlinked all engineering and science instrument data. It entered safe mode again on Sunday night, but it is expected to re-resume normal operations late next week.
One for the history books: Stunning Saturn mosaic captured last week by Cassini
I try to be measured in my praise for spacecraft images. Not every photo can be the greatest space image ever. But this enormous mosaic showing the flattened globe of Saturn floating within the complete disk of its rings must surely be counted among the great images of the Cassini mission.
Alpha Centauri Planet Hunt Update
An update from Yale’s Debra Fischer about the Alpha Centauri planet hunt, partially sponsored by The Planetary Society, as well as her team’s efforts to remove “noise” from parent stars to help find exoplanets.
DPS 2013: Confusing Curiosity SAM results
What did I learn about Curiosity at last week's Division for Planetary Sciences meeting? There were a few talks, most of which concerned soil and atmsospheric chemistry. I can summarize their conclusions with one sentence: More data is needed.
America's Pastime: Planetary Science
Apologies to baseball fans and others for the theme of this week's Planetary Radio preview, which has star player Emily Lakdawalla on deck.
Juno's flying by Earth today, and images of the Moon are already on the ground!
Juno flies past Earth for a gravity assist at 19:22 UTC today, and the first images from the encounter are already on the ground and processed by amateurs!
DPS 2013: Tidbits from Titan
I attended a few talks at the Division for Planetary Sciences meeting today that concerned Titan's origin and interesting surface, and then one in the afternoon about the atmosphere.
Juno Flies By Earth Today
NASA's Juno spacecraft gets a gravity assist from the Earth on its way to Jupiter today. Learn all about today's close approach.
An early look at Comet ISON
Comet ISON is brightening as it approaches the Sun, and can now be seen from many ground-based telescopes.
Your Name...On Its Way to the Stars?
This week's Planetary Radio features artist Jon Lomberg inviting listeners to join the New Horizons Message Initiative.
DPS 2013: Some quick updates on Mercury
Some notes from the first day of the Division for Planetary Sciences meeting on Mercury.
An Ongoing Odyssey
Twelve years on, Mars Odyssey just keeps sending great images.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Roves to Solander West, into Winter Campground
The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission stepped up preparations for the coming Martian winter in September as Opportunity rounded the northern tip of Solander Point and drove into what will be her campground at Endeavour Crater for the next six months or so. It's been nearly a year in the planning. Now, from the rover's first look around, this winter could turn out to be one for the books.
Google+ Hangout with ESA about Europe's Mars exploration
The European Space Agency invited me to join Mars Express project scientist Olivier Witasse, and spacecraft oeprations manager Michel Denis for a Hangout on Europe's recent and future exploration of Mars and Phobos.
On space kindness and the Chelyabinsk meteor
Through an act of kindness, we now have images of the Chelyabinsk meteor trail from Russia's Elektro-L satellite.
NASA's MAVEN Mission Spared from Shutdown
Launch preparations will resume for NASA's MAVEN spacecraft, due to launch to Mars on November 18th. Work had previously been suspended, potentially causing the spacecraft to miss its once-every-26-month launch opportunity.



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