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Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Pretty panoramas: Curiosity's scenic views of distant hills
The landscapes that surround Curiosity are picture-postcard beautiful.
Mangalyaan update: Testing of main engine underway
A report in the Times of India states that India's Mars mission's main engine is now being tested.
Cosmoquest Astronomy Hour, Wednesday: What's up with Curiosity on Mars
It's becoming a biweekly thing -- join me, Fraser Cain, and now Casey Dreier for an update on Curiosity and a chance for you to get your Curiosity questions answered! The Google+ Hangout is on Wednesday, October 10, at 16:00 PDT / 23:00 UTC.
Pretty picture: Late afternoon in Gale Crater
Curiosity shot a lovely panoramic view of the distant rim of Gale crater in the dramatic lighting of late afternoon on sol 49. Damien Bouic has colorized it, and it is beautiful.
Citizen "Ice Hunters" help find a Neptune Trojan target for New Horizons
2011 HM102 is an L5 Neptune Trojan, trailing Neptune by approximately 60 degrees. This object was discovered in the search for a New Horizons post-Pluto encounter object in the Kuiper Belt.
Exploring the XDF: The Hubble eXtreme Deep Field
The newly-released eXtreme Deep Field takes us even further back into the history of our universe than the Ultra Deep Field or UDF.
Happy Cassini PDS Release Day!
It's a quarterly feast day for me: the day that the Cassini mission delivers three months' worth of data to NASA's Planetary Data System. Here's a few images processed from the October 1, 2012 data release.
Mars Program Update from MEPAG
Bruce Betts reports on the status of the current and future Mars program and on acronyms from a meeting of NASA's MEPAG (Mars Exploration Analysis Program Analysis Group).
Deep Impact targets possible 2020 asteroid flyby
Yesterday, Deep Impact performed a trajectory correction maneuver, firing its thrusters to line up for a flyby seven years from now. Here's a preview of that encounter.
Curiosity Update, sol 57: Digging in at Rocknest
Engineers requested that Curiosity be driven to a
Curiosity catches sunspots along with Phobos and Deimos transits
Curiosity has been shooting photos of the Sun as Phobos and Deimos cross its face, and -- as far as I can tell -- captured sunspots as well.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Finds Thrill of Newberries on Matijevic Hill
On reconnaissance of Matijevic Hill, Opportunity has driven right into another Martian mystery, compete with new kinds of “berries,
Beautiful rocks ahead at Glenelg, but first, Curiosity must dig in the sand
A beautiful panoramic view of the varied rocks of Glenelg has been transmitted from Curiosity on Mars. But before going any further, it's time to run the first Martian sand through the soil sampling system.
Sturzstroms on Saturn's Moon Iapetus
Long-runout landslides (sturzstroms) are found across the Solar System. They have been observed primarily on Earth and Mars, but also on Venus, and Jupiter’s moons Io and Callisto. I have just published a paper about sturzstroms on Iapetus.
Curiosity Update, Sol 52: Glenelg Ho!
Curiosity has pulled up to the edge of Glenelg, its first destination within Gale crater.
What's Up in the Solar System in October 2012
Welcome to my monthly survey of the activities of robots across the solar system! Tomorrow is the equinox at Mars; both Curiosity and Opportunity will be spending the month actively analyzing Martian rocks. It'll be a less active month for Cassini, as Saturn passes through solar conjunction late next month.
Mangalyaan, India's 2013 Mars mission, is now under construction
In August, India's prime minister announced the intent to build and launch a Mars orbiter in time for the November 2013 launch window, an insanely fast schedule. The structure of the spacecraft has now been delivered.
Dawn Journal: Five years since launch
On the fifth anniversary of its launch, Dawn is on the way to Ceres.
An alien moon, photographed from the surface of an alien world
Curiosity has successfully photographed a crescent Phobos in a bright daylit Martian sky.
Cosmoquest Science Hour, Wednesday: A virtual field trip to the hills on Curiosity's horizon
I'm hosting this week's Cosmoquest Science Hour, and plan to take viewers on a virtual tour of those mountains on Curiosity's horizon, and show you where Curiosity is likely to go. Join me and Fraser Cain here at 1600 PDT / 2300 UTC Wednesday.



Sun
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Small Bodies