All
All
Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
MSL One Year from Launch
One year from today, the Mars Science Laboratory will launch. It seems fitting that the workshop during which we choose the final three possible landing sites begins today.
MSL Workshop Eve
It's almost time! Tomorrow the third Mars Science Laboratory Landing Site Workshop begins!
Last Year's MSL Landing Site Workshop: Day 3
I'm in the airport on my way to California to participate in the third Mars Science Laboratory Landing Site Workshop, so I thought I would take this chance to post my blog entry from day three of last year's workshop.
Last Year's MSL Landing Site Workshop: Day 2
Today was a marathon of landing site presentations, ranging all over the martian globe, and targeting just about every potentially water-related feature on Mars.
Last Year's MSL Landing Site Workshop: Day 1
Coming up next week is the 3rd Mars Science Laboratory Landing Site Workshop, where the Mars science community will come together to narrow down the possible landing site choices for MSL.
Three great new pages on Don Davis' website
Don Davis is a space artist who takes the question of color in space very seriously.
Looking back into Victoria crater
Here's another wonderful self-portrait silhouette by Opportunity.
Danes on Mars
I was delighted to receive an email from Morten Bo Madsen, who I knew from the Mars Exploration Rover mission as
More things to see in the amazing HiRISE image of Phoenix' descent
I have posted several times about the amazing photo captured by HiRISE of Phoenix under its parachute as it descended. There have been two common questions I've received about the photo: was there any color data taken, and what more can I tell you about how hard it was to take the photo? I've got answers to both questions for you today.
Opportunity route map update
Eduardo Tesheiner was kind enough to send me an updated version of his route map for Opportunity so we can get a sense of just how close the rover is getting to Cape Verde.
Yep, it's ice!
The Phoenix mission confirmed it this morning: the disappearing act pulled by those chunks of bright material in the Dodo trench pretty much nails the identification of the bright material as ice, which is great news for the mission. Ice is what Phoenix went all the way to Mars to study; it's what the team has been aiming for all these years.
Sands on Earth, Sands on Mars
One of the ways that planetary scientists try to understand the origin and evolution of landforms on other planets is by studying similar kinds of landforms or
Phoenix Sol 2 press conference, in a nutshell
Emily hits the high points of today's press conference.
Some beautiful video from the Spirit and Opportunity landing sites
A majority of the people who work in planetary geology are usually associated with one or maybe two missions, doing all their research on the results from one instrument on one mission. But there are a few people whose expertise cuts across many space missions, and an even smaller number of people who seem to work on almost everything. Randy Kirk is one of those people.
White Rock through the Ages: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2006-present)
I apologize for the long hiatus in this White Rock series, but I hope this entry will be worth the wait.
What's up in the solar system for the week of April 28
I thought it would be fun to start the week by taking stock of what's going on with all the active planetary missions out there.
A bit of fun with Mars Express images of Phobos
I recently found the focus to work on a big project: namely, downloading and examining every Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera image of Mars' two moons, Phobos and Deimos.
Shadows cast from Victoria's capes and bays
This is from the
White Rock through the ages: Mars Express (2004-present)
When we last visited White Rock on Mars, both Mars Global Surveyor and 2001 Mars Odyssey were mapping the planet.
Spirit, seen from space
The HiRISE instrument on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter really is a spy camera in space. Check out this sequence of nine images from the HiRISE archives, which Doug Ellison pulled together into an animation covering more than a year of Spirit's mission.