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Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.

Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Spirit Sleeps through Solstice, Opportunity Cruises Past Viking Record

The Mars Exploration Rovers made it through their fourth winter solstice in what is the coldest, most challenging Martian winter the twin robot field geologists have experienced.

Photo proof of good progress on IKAROS sail deployment

We have photo proof that the multi-step process of the deployment of IKAROS' square solar sail is going according to plan!

Is this the eastward turn we've all been waiting for?

As I discussed on Monday, Opportunity is in the middle of a lengthy trek toward a crater named Endeavour and its tantalizing upraised smectite-bearing rim.

Firming Up the Spacecraft Design

The LightSail 1 spacecraft development is proceeding well. Our engineering team has completed crucial milestones to building the vehicle that will demonstrate the value and potential of using sunlight alone to propel exploratory craft through space.

Initial checkout of IKAROS complete

JAXA has posted a short update on their solar sailcraft IKAROS.

Earth as seen from Akatsuki's IR1 camera

Akatsuki captures goodbye shots of Earth

Three of Akatsuki's six science instruments have now checked in as operating normally, producing lovely photos of the receding homeworld.

All's well on IKAROS and Shin-en

Today JAXA posted a very brief mission status update on the IKAROS spacecraft, launched yesterday along with Akatsuki. Brief is good; all's well.

Official launch and landing dates announced for Curiosity

Yesterday the Jet Propulsion Laboratory formally announced the launch dates chosen for Curiosity, the next generation Mars rover also known as Mars Science Laboratory.

Voyager 2's flipped bit fixed

A happy ending to this story: JPL reported yesterday evening that the flipped bit in Voyager 2's flight data system software has been successfully toggled back to its correct value.

Akatsuki, IKAROS, UNITEC-1, and your names are on their way to Venus

It was a picture-perfect launch for three Venus-bound spacecraft this morning: the Akatsuki Venus orbiter, the IKAROS solar sail, and a university-built minisat named UNITEC-1.

Opportunity: longest-lived landed Mars mission

Today is sol 2,246 of Opportunity's mission to Mars; as I write, it's just before 7:00 local solar time. If this sol passes, as her previous 2,245 have done, with Opportunity still alive and speaking to Earth, she will have surpassed a record set on November 12, 1982: Opportunity will pass Viking Lander 1 as the longest-lived landed Mars mission.

Akatsuki and IKAROS new launch date set

According to the Akatsuki Twitter feed, the next try for launch of Akatsuki and IKAROS will be Thursday, May 20, at 21:58:22 UTC.

Voyager 2 status update: Yep, it was a flipped bit

Voyager 2's engineers have confirmed that the problem with the spacecraft was indeed the result of a single flipped bit in its software, as they predicted.

Akatsuki and IKAROS launch scrubbed due to weather

The countdown for the planned launch of Akatsuki and IKAROS got to about four minutes before they decided to cancel the attempt due to weather, and I can't blame them.