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Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Scientists play with fire aboard trash-filled cargo spacecraft
This afternoon, NASA started a fire aboard a trash-filled cargo spacecraft, but it was all in the name of science. Engineers at the agency's Glenn Research Center are studying how large-scale fires spread in space.
Nadia Drake: NSF investigating how to shut down Arecibo
Reporter Nadia Drake has been following the status of Arecibo very closely, and recently wrote two articles explaining what it means that the National Science Foundation has begun an environmental review process for the giant radio telescope.
Video: Two talks featuring pretty pictures from space
Videos of two recent talks I've given, one intended for a general audience and one aimed at professionals.
Red Dragon and Planetary Exploration
If SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft becomes a standard catalog item that could ordered, the way a launch vehicle is, what might the impact be on planetary exploration?
LightSail 2 will transmit Morse code from space, and you can make the sound your ringtone
The Planetary Society's LightSail 2 spacecraft will identify itself from orbit using Morse code, and you can make the sound your ringtone.
What to expect from JunoCam at Jupiter
Juno will go in to orbit at Jupiter on July 5 (July 4 in North and South American time zones), and it's carrying a camera that's going to take really awesome photos of Jupiter. But you're going to have to be patient. Emily Lakdawalla explains why.
Dawn Journal: In the Details
Dawn is continuing to record the extraordinary sights on dwarf planet Ceres. The experienced explorer is now closer to the alien world than the International Space Station is to Earth.
Whither the Weather? A Jet Stream Explainer
Jet streams are found in planetary atmospheres throughout our solar system. But what exactly are they?
Take a look inside the station's new expandable module with astronaut Jeff Williams
BEAM, the International Space Station's new expandable habitat module, is open for business. NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka entered the module at 4:47 a.m. EDT (9:47 UTC) this morning.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Scuffs Up Signs of Past Water at Marathon Valley
Opportunity spent the first half of May digging into an outcrop, taking dozens of panoramic images from her site on the south wall of Marathon Valley at Endeavour Crater’s western rim, and basking in the Martian spring weather.
Follow a space shuttle tank through LA with this timelapse video
This timelapse video follows some of the space shuttle external tank's 19-hour journey from Marina del Rey to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
Announcing Planetary Radio: Space Policy Edition
Announcing Planetary Radio Extra: Space Policy Edition (PRE:SPE for short)—a new spinoff of Planetary Radio that will delve into the weeds of space policy and politics.
What's up in the solar system, June 2016 edition: Juno approaches Jupiter
Your monthly roundup of the adventures of the 20+ robots exploring our solar system.
ExoMars Domino Effect
A difficult but necessary decision by ESA and Roskosmos to postpone the launch of the ExoMars rover from 2018 to 2020 raises a question about the fate of other planetary exploration programs in the pipelines of both space agencies.
BEAM expanded and pressurized: Your news, commentary and tweet roundup
BEAM is expanded and pressurized! The International Space Station's newest module, which will serve as a technology demonstrator for in-space expandable habitats, was fully filled with air this afternoon.
Lunar Farside Landing Plans
Phil Stooke describes a research trip to the Regional Planetary Image Facility at the USGS in Flagstaff, where he discovered Jack Schmitt's proposed plans for a farside landing site for Apollo 17.
With retry scheduled tomorrow, NASA and Bigelow say BEAM will work—it's just a question of when
NASA will try again tomorrow to expand BEAM, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module. During a press teleconference this afternoon, officials said they were confident the module was going to expand—it's just a question of when.
Three-peat! SpaceX sticks another drone ship landing
SpaceX continued its impressive string of first stage recoveries today, sticking a Falcon 9 drone ship landing during the successful launch of THAICOM 8, a communications satellite.
Three bright planets: Portraits from the Pyrenees
It's a great time to go outdoors and look at planets. I have three glorious planetary portraits to share today, sent to me by amateur astronomer Jean-Luc Dauvergne.
Space station module expansion called off after BEAM doesn't budge
NASA and Bigelow Aerospace weren't able to get the space station's newest module up and running this morning. Another attempt could come as early as Friday.