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  • “Exploration is in our nature.” - Carl Sagan

Jason Davis • Nov 10, 2016

A week in the solar system

It's been an interesting week here on planet Earth.

This afternoon, I took a peek at NASA's Deep Space Network visualization page to watch signals flowing to and from our robotic ambassadors around the solar system. At the time I looked, the DSN was having lively chats with probes at Mars and Saturn, while receiving signals from Voyager 1 that left the spacecraft 19 hours ago.

One thing led to another, and I started looking up all of the pretty pictures that came back to Earth during the past few days. Here are a few snapshots from November 4 through 8.

The Sun

The Sun from SDO, Nov. 8, 2016
The Sun from SDO, Nov. 8, 2016 Image: NASA / SDO / AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams

Earth

Earth Western Hemisphere from DSCOVR, Nov. 8, 2016
Earth Western Hemisphere from DSCOVR, Nov. 8, 2016 Image: NASA EPIC Team
Earth Eastern Hemisphere from DSCOVR, Nov. 8, 2016
Earth Eastern Hemisphere from DSCOVR, Nov. 8, 2016 Image: NASA EPIC Team

Ceres

Interplanetary space

Mars

Endeavour Crater, Mars, from Opportunity rover, Nov. 8, 2016
Endeavour Crater, Mars, from Opportunity rover, Nov. 8, 2016 Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech
Gale Crater, Mars, from Curiosity rover, Nov. 8, 2016
Gale Crater, Mars, from Curiosity rover, Nov. 8, 2016 Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS
Mars from MARCI, aboard MRO, Nov. 5-6, 2016
Mars from MARCI, aboard MRO, Nov. 5-6, 2016 The small dots are the landing sites of Curiosity and Opportunity.Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS

Saturn

Saturn from Cassini spacecraft, 6 November 2016
Saturn from Cassini spacecraft, 6 November 2016

The outskirts

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