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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Mars24 has been upgraded for Curiosity
Robert Schmunk has released a new version of the Mars24 application to help us tell time at Curiosity's landing site.
Video: This is not the droid you're looking for
Just to break the tension in advance of Curiosity's landing, a little humor from UnmannedSpaceflight.com's Astro0.
Videos: Where are Curiosity's science instruments and how do they work?
Mat Kaplan and I recently recorded a couple of videos giving a tour of the science instruments on the Curiosity Mars rover.
Press briefing schedule for Curiosity (assuming a nominal landing)
JPL has published a schedule for press briefings in the first week of Curiosity's mission on Mars.
Pretty Panoramas: Opportunity at Whim Creek
I know it’s been all Curiosity, all the time on this blog for the last couple of weeks, and that’s not likely to change much for the next couple of weeks. But I don’t want people to forget that there’s another rover exploring Mars’ ancient geology. Opportunity has been taking spectacular photos of Whim Creek and Endeavour Crater this last week.
Celebrate Curiosity with a “Party on Mars!” Saturday night!
Join me and Bill Nye to blow off some steam on Saturday night as we anticipate Curiosity’s landing! In the spirit of such nerdtacular gatherings as W00tstock and LeetUp, we’re having a big party at the Paseo Colorado here in Pasadena to celebrate Curiosity!
The Planetary Report, June 2012: Dark Skies?
The June Solstice issue of our member magazine The Planetary Report is out! The feature article, by W. Scott Kardel of the International Dark-Sky Association, looks at the ecological, economic, and philosophical problem of light pollution. My inside-the-cover Snapshots from Space features image processing work by Gordan Ugarkovic. Bill Nye's Planetary Society Kids section shows you how to build your own MarsDial, and on its back page I share some weird and interesting facts about Mars' moons.
When will we see Curiosity's first images?
Enough people have asked me when we'll see Curiosity's first images from the surface of Mars that I sought out an answer. The short version: it depends.
Curiosity's seventeenth camera: MARDI
Curiosity is equipped with seventeen cameras. One of them, the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) will capture a movie as the rover descends to the surface.
Got questions about Curiosity? I've got answers for you
Whether you are a scientist or a layman, if you have ever asked yourself any question about Curiosity, I strongly suggest that you read the newly published press kit!
A plea to Mars Science Laboratory team members: write your experiences down
In which I beg the people working on Curiosity to write about what happens in the coming weeks, even if you never share those writings publicly.
A fifth moon for Pluto, and a possible hazard for New Horizons
Pluto is now known to have at least five moons (Charon, Nix, Hydra, P4, and the newly discovered P5), and its burgeoning population might pose a risk to New Horizons during its flyby, three years from now.
How Curiosity Will Land on Mars, Part 3: Skycrane and Landing
The final phase of Curiosity's landing on Mars involves the
Birth of a New Moon
As astronaut Don Pettit prepared for his return to Earth, he tweeted several beautiful shots from the Space Station.
Programming note: I'm going on a pre-Mars landing vacation
Just a note to let people know I'll be on vacation until July 16.
What's Up in the Solar System in July 2012
Welcome to my monthly roundup of the activities of our intrepid robotic emissaries across the solar system! Curiosity is about to land; Opportunity has rolled through sol 3000; Odyssey is back online, having switched to a spare reaction wheel; Dawn is now in High-Altitude Mapping Orbit 2; and Cassini is taking advantage of its newly inclined orbit to get spectacular series of images of Saturn's rings.
How Curiosity Will Land on Mars, Part 2: Descent
When people first hear about how Curiosity will land on Mars, their first question always is: are they nuts? This is the second in a multi-part series describing how -- and why -- Curiosity will land this way, in excruciating detail.
Virtual Star Parties
Hang out with Fraser Cain and amateur astronomers all over the world in Cosmoquest's Virtual Star parties conducted over Google+. Here's how -- plus an inspiring video produced by Google to show just how cool this is.
Salacia: As big as Ceres, but much farther away
A newly published paper shows trans-Neptunian object Salacia to be unexpectedly large; it's somewhere around the tenth largest known thing beyond Neptune. It has a companion one-third its size, making it appear similar to Orcus and Vanth.
A geochemist's Periodic Table of Elements
The Periodic Table of Elements that hangs in chemistry classrooms doesn't include a lot of the information about elements that's most important to geologists. Here's one that does.