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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Through a Glass, Darkly
When sent from deep space, even imperfect images can inform and amaze.
Finally, some high-quality photos from Chang'e 3!
A pile of Chang'e 3 photos has been released to the Web, and they are much, much better than what I've seen before. They include, for the first time, photos of Earth from the lander.
Polar vortices across the solar system
Earth's polar vortex has been in the American news all week. But we're not the only planet that has one; basically every world that has an atmosphere has a polar vortex. Here are lots of pretty pictures and animations of polar vortices.
International Space Station gets warranty extension to 2024
The White House and NASA have approved a 2024 lifespan extension for the International Space Station.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Diviner maps geologic context of Chang'e 3 landing site
The LRO Diviner Lunar Radiometer has been mapping the entire Moon on a nearly continuous basis since July, 2009. The Diviner team has produced maps of the thermal behavior and and a range of derived quantities at Chang’e 3 landing site that are described in this post.
2013: The Year in Pictures, an addendum
Every year, I write a feature article for the year's final issue of The Planetary Report titled
It's that time of year again: Happy LPSC deadline day, and happy haiku
Conference abstractsSummaries of summariesGeo-poetry
Europa New Frontiers Mission? (Or why I like the Europa Clipper concept even more now)
Europa remains a top priority for a future mission to explore whether it could host life. While the Europa Clipper mission, remains the current front runner, a senior NASA manager has suggested that the agency may look at still lower cost options. Van Kane looks at what those options might be.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Mission Nears 10-Year Milestone, Oppy Roves On, We Look Back on 2013
Opportunity wrapped a landmark year in December, sending home more evidence of ancient habitable environments at Endeavour Crater as the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) mission geared up to celebrate an historic milestone – the completion of 10 years of surface operations on the Red Planet.
India keeps up the momentum, returning troubled GSLV to flight
India returned its troubled GSLV to flight Sunday, marking the first successful outing of the country's Cryogenic Upper Stage.
The Last Flight of the Original Space Ranger
Remembering the Moon's first extreme close-up.
Looking back at 10 years of imaging by the Mars Exploration Rovers (Video)
As part of the Planetary Society's celebration of the Mars Exploration Rovers' ten years on Mars, Jim Bell and I got together to look back at and tell stories about some of the great images they took.
Pretty picture: Two crescents: New moon, old Venus
A baby Moon and aging Venus crescents are positioned close in the sky today, and lots of people are taking beautiful photos.
Dawn Journal: Planning for the Ceres Approach Phase
Now more than halfway through its journey from protoplanet Vesta to dwarf planet Ceres, Dawn is continuing to use its advanced ion propulsion system to reshape its orbit around the sun. Now that the ship is closer to the uncharted shores ahead than the lands it unveiled astern, we will begin looking at the plans for exploring another alien world.
Planetary Radio: NEOWISE PI Amy Mainzer
NEOWISE has reawakened to discover many more asteroids and comets. The mission leader thanks the amateur astronomers who follow up on these discoveries.
What's up in planetary missions in 2014
With the New Year upon us, what can we look forward to in 2014? For me, the main event of 2014 is that ESA's Rosetta mission finally -- finally! -- catches up to the comet it has been chasing for a decade. We will lose LADEE, gain two Mars orbiters, and launch Hayabusa2. The year begins with an amazing 24 spacecraft exploring or cruising toward various planetary destinations.
2013: An OSIRIS-REx Retrospective
2013 is drawing to a close, providing a nice opportunity to reflect on the outgoing year and look back at some of the highlights that we have experienced. Here are my top-20 OSIRIS-REx moments of this past year.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spies Chang'e 3 and Yutu
As promised, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's sharp eyes spotted the Chang'e 3 lander and Yutu rover on the lunar surface on December 25. The hardware shows up as a few bright pixels throwing long, dark shadows, clearly visible in a before-and-after comparison.
The Mercury Transit You Probably Missed
Planetary transits of the Sun by Mercury and Venus don't come along very often, and when they do we make a big deal of it because, well, it's really cool!
Snow balls in space
I don’t get much snow in southern California, but I do spend a lot of my time thinking about college snowball experiences and about the snowball fights that have made the objects of the outer solar system.