The Planetary Report • September/October 1995

Hubble Space Telescope Spies on the Neighbors

On the Cover: A rare storm rages across the face of Saturn as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. The white, arrowhead-shaped feature is about as big across (12,700 kilometers or 7,900 miles) as Earth. The winds at the storm's latitude blow at about 1,600 kilometers (990 miles) per hour. HST has been watching the storm since its discovery in September 1994. Flyby spacecraft such as the <i>Voyagers</i> can't give us such repeated coverage, which enhances the value of the HST data. This image was taken on December 1, 1994, when Saturn was 1,455 million kilometers (904 million miles) from Earth.

Features

4 Japan Looks to the Future: A Long-Term Lunar Plan: Tamiya Nomura outlines Japan's scientific exploration plan for the Moon.

7 The New Pluto Express Mission: Jackie Giuliano describes this latest mutation of the Pluto Fast Flyby mission.

8 Romancing the Stone: The Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous: Robert Farquhar and Joseph Veverka present the first in-depth mission to study an asteroid.

12 Traveling Through a Mirror: The Hubble Space Telescope Studies the Planets: Charlene Anderson showcases stunning images of places throughout the solar system.

Departments

3 Members' Dialogue Should we focus on the Moon or Mars for exploration?

6 World Watch Society efforts to save planetary exploration.

18 News & Reviews Roundup of articles on the Shoemaker-Levy 9 collision.

19 Society News Pathfinder Microrover name winner, Galileo updates, and BETA.

20 Q&A How are objects found in space?

22 Basics of Spaceflight Attitude control systems.

The Planetary Report • September/October 1995

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