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Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Dawn Journal: Halfway Through Checkout
Now more than halfway through its 80-day initial checkout phase, the Dawn spacecraft continues to please its fans in mission control and throughout much of the rest of the universe.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Spirit Homes in on Winter Site as Opportunity Examines Victoria's Ring
The Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) logged another major milestone in October as they completed a second Martian year of field geology and now may rove on through 2009.
MSL: Landing site downselections
After three days of presentations, voting, and extended discussions, the
Dawn Journal: Testing, Testing, Testing
Dawn's checkout phase continues to go very well. The spacecraft is healthy as it and Earth travel their separate ways, separating at almost 1 light second per day.
MSL landing site selection meeting: Day 2 site-by-site presentations
Unlike the Mars Exploration Rover mission, which featured two golf-cart-sized landers, this time we have only one giant, Volkswagen beetle-size. So at the end of this process we have to pick our favorite place on Mars, not our favorite two places.
MSL sites, comet outbursts, and other stuff
The latest on MSL landing sites, a look at comet outbursts, and links to other stuff.
Dawn Journal: Firing Up the Ion Propulsion System
Joining an elite club among spacecraft, Dawn successfully fired up its xenon ion propulsion system on October 6.
Dawn Journal: Launch!
The Dawn project welcomes you to deep space! Dawn is operating smoothly on the fourth day of its eight-year adventure.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Spirit Slides Across Home Plate as Opportunity Digs in at Victoria Crater
It might not be the stuff of Broadway musicals, but the Sun and did
Dawn Launch: A Brilliant Flash and a Thunderous Roar!
At 7:34 a.m. EDT the Delta II Heavy roared off launch pad 17 B at Cape Canaveral with a brilliant flash of glowing orange light and billowing white smoke.
New Horizons now aimed directly at Pluto
This afternoon Alan Stern posted to unmannedspaceflight.com that New Horizons has successfully completed the trajectory correction maneuver that lines the spacecraft up for its July 14, 2015 encounter with Pluto.
Dawn Journal: Awaiting Launch II
The countdown is underway for Dawn's liftoff on September 26 at 7:25:00 am EDT. This is the second time our hero has been within a few days of launch.
Dawn Journal: What to Expect After the Launch III
Now less than two weeks from its planned September 26 launch, Dawn is eagerly awaiting the beginning of its fantastic adventure.
Opportunity takes first gingerly steps into Victoria Crater
Mars Exploration Rover scientists, engineers and enthusiasts have been playing the waiting game for 10 weeks, watching the much-reported dust storm subside so that Opportunity could get back to doing what it does best - exploring craters.
Skies slowly lightening for Spirit and Opportunity
I just received another batch of
Dawn Journal: Dawn Prepares to Launch II
NASA is preparing (again) to bring Dawn to the Florida skies as all systems are gearing up for a September 26 launch.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Spirit and Opportunity Shake Some Dust, Assess Storm Damage, and Return to Exploring
With dust from the summer's storms floating down on and all around them, the Mars Exploration Rovers returned to their exploration agendas this month, picking up right where they left off in July when winds kicked the soils up into the southern hemisphere and forced them to hunker down and conserve power.
Europlanet : CoRoT - Preliminary Results
ESA's planet-hunting satellite COROT bagged its first exoplanet in observations of the star COROT-Exo-1.
A little good news on the rovers
The skies aren't quite as dark as they have been, for both Spirit and Opportunity. In fact, Spirit has enough power now to be doing a little work with its robotic arm.
"Concern Increasing" for Opportunity
Yesterday evening the Mars Exploration Rover mission posted an update that states