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The Planetary Report

The Planetary Report is the internationally recognized flagship magazine of The Planetary Society, featuring lively articles and full-color photos to provide comprehensive coverage of discoveries on Earth and other planets.

This bimonthly magazine reaches members of The Planetary Society all over the world, with news about planetary missions, spacefaring nations, intrepid explorers, planetary science controversies and the latest findings in humankind's exploration of the solar system.

The Planetary Report is an exclusive benefit for Planetary Society members. If you're not already a member, please join today!

Download a PDF index of past articles published in The Planetary Report!

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This Month in the Planetary Report

The cover of Volume XXIX, Number 5
On the Cover: Space shuttle astronauts took this optical photo of Russia's Kliuchevskoi volcano in the early hours of its eruption on September 30, 1994. The ash plume, which reached a height of more than 18 kilometers (about 11 miles), is emerging from a vent on the north flank of Kliuchevshoi, which is partially hidden in this view by the plume and its shadow. The small, whitish steam plume near the photo's center is emanating from the dome of a companion volcano, Bezymianny. This is part of a sequence of photos that first allowed scientists to image through ash and cloud. To see a radar version of this photo, go to jpl.nasa.gov/radar/sircxsar/ kliucomp.html. Image: NASA

From the Editor

I can never predict at what moments I'll miss Carl Sagan. It might be when I hear a new result from the exploration of Titan, a world whose organic chemistry was one of Carl's research specialties. Or maybe when I try to end a dispute with another Planetary Society staffer by asking, "What would Carl say?"

He was my boss for 16 years, and I relied on him for insight, support, and inspiration. No one can replace him.

Carl would have celebrated his 75th birthday this November 9, and with that date looming, I -- along with all the staff at The Planetary Society -- have been thinking a lot about how to remember him.

Traditional memorials are static things, whether stones planted in the ground or elegies that fade away to silence. How much better it would be to create something that grows, builds, and plants the seeds for the future that Carl helped us imagine. This is what we are trying to do with the Carl Sagan Fund for the Future.

You'll read about the fund in this issue of The Planetary Report; you'll soon be receiving a letter detailing how it will work. As you read, I hope you'll consider how you can help us create a living and growing memorial to Carl, one that will seed the exploration of the solar system that was, after all, the reason he helped found our Society all those years ago.

So now, when I miss Carl, I feel like we're pushing open a door to let in the future he envisioned. There is no better way to honor him.
--Charlene M. Anderson

Features

We Make It Happen! Project Roundup
by Bruce Betts

Out of This World Books

Planetology: Viewing Earth in Context
by Tom Jones and Ellen Stofan

World Watch
Questions and Answers
Society News
Members' Dialogue