All
All
Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
White Rock through the ages: Mariner 9, 1972
While conversing with Ken Edgett about the smiley face on Mars he remarked to me how different Mars looks at different pixel scales, and in particular that there is a transition somewhere in the neighborhood of six to seven meters per pixel.
Atlantis and Columbus embark for the International Space Station
Atlantis and Columbus embark for the International Space Station
Name a telescope in 25 words or less
Name a telescope in 25 words or less
Finding images from Mars
There have been so many missions to Mars, which have sent back so much data, that figuring out how to find images of places on Mars can be really overwhelming.
NASA's 2009 budget
NASA's 2009 budget
Lecture by G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of ISRO
Lecture by G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of ISRO
WD5 most likely missed Mars, but we may never know
WD5 most likely missed Mars, but we may never know
Have a happy day on Mars
I thought this was a fun image to kick off the weekend. This isn't the first happy-looking crater to be photographed from Mars, but I really like this one; it's more goofy.
Target Earth, asking candidates about science, SETI, and the rovers
Target Earth, asking candidates about science, SETI, and the rovers
Dawn Journal: Safely Cruising
Now in interplanetary cruise, the Dawn spacecraft is following a much more leisurely pace than the one it maintained during the initial checkout phase of the mission.
Ride along with Cassini at Saturn!
Ride along with Cassini at Saturn!
The Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Spirit and Opportunity Begin Fifth Year of Exploration in Shadow of "Little Sasquatch "
The Mars Exploration Rovers celebrated their fourth birthdays and began their fifth year of exploring this month -- and for the first time since the big dust storm hit the headlines last summer, Spirit and Opportunity made the news. It wasn't for the notable exploration or engineering milestone they had just achieved or the discoveries they've helped scientists make about a once very different Mars. It was because of an alleged
First science results from the MESSENGER Mercury flyby
First science results from the MESSENGER Mercury flyby
MESSENGER's First Mercury Flyby Reveals a "Whole New Planet"
Just two weeks after MESSENGER's first flyby of Mercury, the mission's science team presented their first impressions from the long-awaited second look at the innermost planet.
Hubble is pointing at 2007 WD5 (and Mars) tomorrow
Hubble is pointing at 2007 WD5 (and Mars) tomorrow
Asteroid near misses are disconcertingly common
Asteroid near misses are disconcertingly common
Back-of-the-envelope calculations on Mercury
Back-of-the-envelope calculations on Mercury
Pluto is still a long, long way away
Pluto is still a long, long way away
I spy Callisto
I spy Callisto
Teeny little Bigfoot on Mars
The story of a Sasquatch-shaped rock visible in a recent panorama from Spirit is getting a lot of play in the mainstream media, but fortunately, it's not being taken very seriously. (My favorite take on this picture is the lead from the Times Online story about it: