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Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
They Were the First, and the Last, to Hear from Huygens
On January 14, 2005, the eyes of the world were on the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, where Huygens mission operators were anxiously awaiting news from Huygens. Would the little probe -- a mission built in seventeen countries, more than twenty years in the making -- be a success, or would it prove a repeat of the heartbreaking silence of Beagle 2?
Huygens' Descending View of Titan
Scientists from the Huygens Descent Imager Spectral Radiometer (DISR) team have released their first mosaic of images captured during Huygens' descent. The mosaic is composed of 30 images captured by the Medium Resolution Imager of Huygens' Descent Imager Spectral Radiometer while the probe was spinning and descending toward Titan.
Raw Images from Huygens
In the 48 hours since Huygens' data first began streaming back to Earth, a few processed images of the channeled landscape and bouldery landing site have been released to the public. Now, the Descent Imager Spectral Radiometer team at the University of Arizona has put all of Huygens' images online for the public to view.
Huygens blog: "It's impossible to resist the speculation."
After a mere twelve hours of work, all six of the science teams on Huygens were able to report results this morning. You could easily tell the difference between the administrators and the scientists on this morning's press panel: the administrators looked bright, fresh, and well-rested, while the scientists looked decidedly weary.
New Images from the Huygens Probe: Shorelines and Channels, But an Apparently Dry Surface
This image brought applause from everyone at the European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany.
Huygens landing day live blog
A frequently updated blog with the tumultuous events of Huygens' landing on Titan.
Huygens blog: "This is probably not the best day to speculate."
Anticipation here at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) is rising to a fever pitch. The full complement of more than a hundred scientists are here from all over Europe and the U.S.; they are running around, greeting each other, getting ready for the long-awaited data.
Huygens blog: It's going to be great!
In two days, it'll all be over; for better or worse, Huygens will have hit the ground on Titan, and back on Earth we'll be waiting to see whether the data will be returned. Today, I arrived at ESA's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.
Descent Imager Spectral Radiometer (DISR)
The Descent Imager Spectral Radiometer crams six sub-instruments into a tiny footprint within the Huygens probe.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: NASA/JPL Team Celebrates Rovers' First Year on Mars as Spirit and Opportunity Return
As Spirit rang in her new year at Gusev Crater on Mars Monday, NASA officials and mission team members celebrated the Mars Exploration Rovers first anniversary at an event that featured a press conference, storytelling session, and birthday party at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Spirit and Opportunity Celebrate Christmas by Working
The Mars Exploration Rovers are trudging ever onward through the dead of winter on the Red Planet dreaming, perhaps, if robots dream, of a white Christmas. But Spirit and Opportunity are robots after all and come this weekend
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Spirit Climbs up Husband Hill as Opportunity Returns to Karatepe to Exit Endurance Crater
The Mars Exploration Rovers are roving ever on into new territories and deeper into the history books as they close in on the end of one full Earth year of active duty at their respective sites on Red Planet.
IBM's World Community Grid: A New SETI@home-Inspired Venture
As SETI@home has demonstrated, untold millions around the world are ready and eager to donate their computer time for the advancement of knowledge and the benefit of humankind. The story of distributed computing is only just beginning.
No Longer Boring: 'Fireworks' and Other Surprises at Uranus Spotted Through Adaptive Optics
Uranus has the unfortunate reputation of being the most boring planet in the solar system. But where it appeared to be a nearly featureless, hazy blue ball to Voyager 2, it is now blooming dozens of clouds that are visible to the sharp-eyed Keck II Telescope.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Spirit Climbs toward Uchben Opportunity Picks up Power while at Wopmay
As winter gives way to spring on the Red Planet, the Mars Explorations Rovers are maintaining their 5-day a week work schedules and continuing to send surprises home to Earth. Despite a recurring 'ache' in one of her steering motors, Spirit is continuing her climb in the Columbia Hills toward a rock called Uchben, while her twin, Opportunity, is completing her work at Wopmay.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Rovers Expand the Water Story as Spirit Gets Back to Climbing and Opportunity Stops at Wopmay
The Mars Exploration Rovers are returning more and more evidence that there was liquid water on Mars at some point in the distant past, team members reported at a telecom news briefing yesterday.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Spirit Sits with Steering Glitch, Opportunity Makes Tracks Toward Burn's Cliff
The worst of the Martian winter is over for the Mars Exploration Rovers, but the robots' own dark days appear to be looming as Spirit hits a 'bump' that's kept her at a standstill for a week now.
Close Your Left Eye, Then Your Right: Simultaneous Observations of Asteroid 4179 Toutatis from Two Chilean Telescopes Demonstrate Parallax
This morning, asteroid 4179 Toutatis was so close to Earth that simultaneous observations from two telescopes in the same country could show parallax that is obvious even to the least experienced observer. The two telescopes belong to The European Southern Observatory and are located at La Silla and Paranal in Chile
Very Close Approach by Asteroid 4179 Toutatis: It's Not a Crisis, It's an Opportunity
On Wednesday, September 29, Earth will dodge a cannonball: the Near-Earth Asteroid known as 4179 Toutatis will buzz by at a distance only four times the distance from the Earth to the Moon -- about one and a half million kilometers, or about a million miles. But, as the wisdom goes,