The Spring Equinox 2014 issue of The Planetary Report is here!

The Spring Equinox 2014 issue of The Planetary Report is here! 

If you receive your magazine digitally, you can pick it up now here. This file is also available to any Member who wants to take a look in advance of receiving their hard copy. 

Wind-sculpted sand—that is how I think of dunes. In our main feature, “The Dune Whispers,” Ralph D. Lorenz describes the formation, and varieties, of these fascinating and beautiful works of planetary art.

For the first time in decades, humanity’s robotic emissaries are on the Moon. Last December, China launched, and landed, Chang’e 3 and its six-wheeled rover Yutu on the lunar surface. In “China Is On the Moon,” Emily Lakdawalla reports on this significant advance in international space exploration. 

Are you watching Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey? Hosted by Society board member Neil deGrasse Tyson, the new Cosmos is the rebirth of Carl Sagan’s visionary and influential Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. Casey Dreier reflects on the new series’ potential to connect and inspire us all.

Ah, our friends, the asteroids! Oh...maybe not all of them are friends. Bruce Betts updates us on the Society-sponsored Laser Bees project, which could protect Earth from a potentially dangerous space rock. Bruce also invites everyone to send their names to asteroid Bennu as part of the Society’s fun Messages from Earth program.

Plus, Bill Nye has some exciting news, we compare hydrocarbons on Titan and early Earth, and we see Enceladus in a new light. 

The Planetary Report is our way of saying thank you—four times a year—to Members of The Planetary Society. If you are not a Member and would like to be, we invite you to join us here.

Happy reading!

Donna Stevens
Senior Editor
The Planetary Report