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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
FOIA Request Sheds Light on NASA Mission Extension Process
A FOIA request offers insight into NASA's planetary science extended mission review process, which seems, at best, confusing, and at worst—with adjectival ratings like “Very Good/Good”—arbitrary.
Ceres coming into focus
The Dawn mission released new images of Ceres yesterday, taken on February 4, when Dawn had approached to within 145,000 kilometers. More details are coming into view, and they're fascinating. For one thing, there's not just one white spot any more: there are several.
2016 Budget: Great Policy Document and Much Better Budget Plan
Van Kane gives a summary of the 53-page proposed Fiscal Year 2016 NASA Planetary Science budget.
Mars Orbiter Mission images Mars' moons, including the far side of Deimos
Today I'm excited to show you some previously unreleased images from Mars Orbiter Mission, containing Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos.
New Horizons returns first images from mission's Pluto approach phase
Here they are, the first images of Pluto from the approach phase of the New Horizons mission. Science has begun; we're on the home stretch!
Ceres Coming Into View
Dawn is on approach to Ceres, the largest of the asteroids, and is starting to resolve features.
NASA Budget Lists Timelines, Costs and Risks for First SLS Flight
NASA will set the Space Launch System's inaugural flight date at the end of this year, according to the agency's 2016 budget request, which was released on Monday.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Completes 11th Year of Surface Operations!
On January 24th, something wonderful happened on Mars. Opportunity completed her 11th year of exploring the surface of the Red Planet! The veteran rover couldn't exactly go to Disneyland to celebrate this amazing achievement, so she did what she loves to do – roved on.
Flawed Beauties
More examples of imperfect--but tantalizing--images from deep space.
Winter 2015 Issue of The Planetary Report is Here!
The winter issue of The Planetary Report continues to hit Planetary Society members’ mailboxes and, for those of you who want your copy in digital form, it’s now posted on our website.
It's Official: We're On the Way to Europa
NASA's 2016 budget request increases the space agency's budget by $519 million, starts a new mission to Europa, increases funds to Commercial Crew, and threatens some long-running planetary missions.
Remembering Charles Townes
Mat Kaplan honors the memory of a scientific pioneer.
Camera now measuring even fainter Near-Earth Objects
Camera purchased with the support of a 2009 Shoemaker NEO Grant is now on a new telescope providing follow-up measurements for even fainter near-Earth objects.
Talking to Pluto is hard! Why it takes so long to get data back from New Horizons
As I write this post, New Horizons is nearing the end of a weeklong optical navigation campaign. The last optical navigation images in the weeklong series will be taken tomorrow, but it will likely take two weeks or more for all the data to get to Earth. Two weeks! Why does it take so long?
Dawn Journal: Closing in on Ceres
Dawn's chief engineer Marc Rayman gives an update on the mission as it gets ever closer to its next target: The dwarf planet Ceres.
How NASA's Yearly Budget Request Comes Together
It takes a year to make, and is the starting point for all coming debate by Congress. It's the President's Budget Request, and understanding how it comes together is an important part of being an effective space advocate.
Commercial Crew Rivalries: Fun to Watch, Everybody Wins
Now that Boeing and SpaceX have won the high-profile privilege of carrying astronauts to the ISS, they must start making public appearances as reluctant equals.
A second ringed centaur? Centaurs with rings could be common
Chiron, which is both a centaur and a comet, may also have rings.
Ceres: Just a little bit closer (and officially better than Hubble)
Last week's Dawn images of Ceres were just slightly less detailed than Hubble's best. This week's are just slightly better.
At last! A slew of OSIRIS images shows fascinating landscapes on Rosetta's comet
The first results of the Rosetta mission are out in Science magazine. The publication of these papers means that the OSIRIS camera team has finally released a large quantity of closeup images of comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, taken in August and September of last year. I explain most of them, with help from my notes from December's American Geophysical Union meeting.