All
All
Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Exploring the XDF: The Hubble eXtreme Deep Field
The newly-released eXtreme Deep Field takes us even further back into the history of our universe than the Ultra Deep Field or UDF.
Citizen "Ice Hunters" help find a Neptune Trojan target for New Horizons
2011 HM102 is an L5 Neptune Trojan, trailing Neptune by approximately 60 degrees. This object was discovered in the search for a New Horizons post-Pluto encounter object in the Kuiper Belt.
Happy Cassini PDS Release Day!
It's a quarterly feast day for me: the day that the Cassini mission delivers three months' worth of data to NASA's Planetary Data System. Here's a few images processed from the October 1, 2012 data release.
SpaceX's first paid cargo run off to bumpy start
SpaceX successfully sent their first paid Dragon capsule towards the International Space Station Sunday night. But the bigger story happened on the way to orbit.
Mars Program Update from MEPAG
Bruce Betts reports on the status of the current and future Mars program and on acronyms from a meeting of NASA's MEPAG (Mars Exploration Analysis Program Analysis Group).
Deep Impact targets possible 2020 asteroid flyby
Yesterday, Deep Impact performed a trajectory correction maneuver, firing its thrusters to line up for a flyby seven years from now. Here's a preview of that encounter.
Curiosity Update, sol 57: Digging in at Rocknest
Engineers requested that Curiosity be driven to a
Curiosity catches sunspots along with Phobos and Deimos transits
Curiosity has been shooting photos of the Sun as Phobos and Deimos cross its face, and -- as far as I can tell -- captured sunspots as well.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Finds Thrill of Newberries on Matijevic Hill
On reconnaissance of Matijevic Hill, Opportunity has driven right into another Martian mystery, compete with new kinds of “berries,
Shoemaker NEO Winner Finds Close Fly By Asteroid
Gary Hug used his Shoemaker NEO grant provided camera to find 2012 SY49 which flew by Earth at about two lunar distances last week. The tens of meters wide asteroid is a low-probability possible Earth impactor in the future.
Beautiful rocks ahead at Glenelg, but first, Curiosity must dig in the sand
A beautiful panoramic view of the varied rocks of Glenelg has been transmitted from Curiosity on Mars. But before going any further, it's time to run the first Martian sand through the soil sampling system.
Sturzstroms on Saturn's Moon Iapetus
Long-runout landslides (sturzstroms) are found across the Solar System. They have been observed primarily on Earth and Mars, but also on Venus, and Jupiter’s moons Io and Callisto. I have just published a paper about sturzstroms on Iapetus.
Curiosity Update, Sol 52: Glenelg Ho!
Curiosity has pulled up to the edge of Glenelg, its first destination within Gale crater.
What's Up in the Solar System in October 2012
Welcome to my monthly survey of the activities of robots across the solar system! Tomorrow is the equinox at Mars; both Curiosity and Opportunity will be spending the month actively analyzing Martian rocks. It'll be a less active month for Cassini, as Saturn passes through solar conjunction late next month.
Your Place In Space: On the Road at Homestead National Monument
Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye took the stage at Homestead National Monument of America in Beatrice, Nebraska to talk about sustainability and
Celebrate Planetary Radio's 10th Birthday!
Planetary Radio went on the air ten years ago. It's almost time to celebrate this anniversary with a special episode for the week of November 12, 2012. Learn more, including how you can join the party.
Mangalyaan, India's 2013 Mars mission, is now under construction
In August, India's prime minister announced the intent to build and launch a Mars orbiter in time for the November 2013 launch window, an insanely fast schedule. The structure of the spacecraft has now been delivered.
Dawn Journal: Five years since launch
On the fifth anniversary of its launch, Dawn is on the way to Ceres.
NASA's New Direction For Mars (Maybe)
The future of the Mars Exploration Program exists as multiple mission plans straining to exist in the brutal new cost cap from the FY13 budget, pushed far into the future.
An alien moon, photographed from the surface of an alien world
Curiosity has successfully photographed a crescent Phobos in a bright daylit Martian sky.