All
All
Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Dawn Journal: A New Angle on Ceres
Since April 11, instead of photographing the scenery directly beneath it, Dawn has been aiming its camera to the left and forward as it orbits and Ceres rotates to map more of the dwarf planet.
What's up in the solar system, May 2016 edition: Good news in cruise for Juno and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter
May 2016 will be yet another month of fairly routine operations across the solar system -- if you can ever use the word
A Moon for Makemake
The solar system beyond Neptune is full of worlds hosting moons. Now we know that the dwarf planet Makemake has one of its very own.
Future High-Resolution Imaging of Mars: Super-Res to the Rescue?
HiRISE Principal Investigator Alfred McEwen explains an imaging technique known as Super-Resolution Restoration (SRR), and how it could come in handy for high-resolution imaging of the Red Planet.
What NASA Can Learn from SpaceX
SpaceX's announcement that it will send Dragon capsules to Mars demonstrates the advantage of having a clear plan to explore the red planet. NASA should take note.
The phases of the far side of the Moon
Serbian artist Ivica Stošić used Clementine and Kaguya data to give a glimpse of the phases of the lunar farside.
Shuttle tank, meet canal: Engineering wonders cross paths in Panama
Two modern engineering marvels crossed paths this week here in Central America, as the last unflown space shuttle external fuel tank passed through the Panama Canal during a multi-week voyage from New Orleans to Los Angeles.
The Senate Just Proposed to Slash Planetary Science Funding
The Senate has released its draft of NASA's 2017 budget which, despite increasing NASA's top-line by $300 million, would cut $270 million from the Planetary Science Division. Here's why we shouldn't worry—yet.
Field Report From Mars: Sol 4333 - April 1, 2016
Opportunity has climbed west and up Marathon Valley in one of the final campaigns before moving on and beginning the summer field activities to the south southward.
Quick Curiosity update, sol 1320: "Lubango," the 10th drill site on Mars
Curiosity has drilled into Mars for the 10th time at a site named Lubango, on sol 1320 (April 23, 2016). Lubango is in a bright-toned halo around a crack in the Stimson sandstone unit on the western edge of the Naukluft Plateau.
NASA Space Apps Challenge: Women hacking space image data
Today I'm participating in a program called the International @SpaceApps Women in Data Bootcamp. I'm presenting a brief talk highlighting the way that my personal discovery of NASA's image data archives shaped my path into public communication about science, and briefly showcasing three other women who do amazing work with public image data.
Planetary Society solar sails paved way for Alpha Centauri starshot
A new initiative to send a fleet of tiny spacecraft to Alpha Centauri is connected to The Planetary Society through its founders and efforts to advance solar sailing technology.
Moonset over Mars
Enjoy this serene image of a moonset on another world, captured by Curiosity's Mastcam in April 2014 and processed here by Justin Cowart.
Engineering an Impact on the New Frontier
Bradley Williams, Systems Engineer for the camera suite on NASA's OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission, details the path that led him to his current position.
Synthesizing DSCOVR-like Images Using Atmospheric and Geophysical Data
Why does our planet look the way it does from space? How does light interacting with land, clouds, water, snow, ice, gases, and various aerosols all come together? One way to learn the answer is to try and synthesize DSCOVR's view from various
Atmospheric Waves Awareness: An Explainer
There are two types of atmospheric waves that are critically important on Earth and other planets: gravity waves and planetary waves.
A new angle on Mars for Mars Odyssey
Mars Odyssey has been in space for 15 years. It flies in a special
LightSail 2 engineers continue to test for success
It's been a busy two months of system testing for The Planetary Society's LightSail 2 spacecraft. More trials are on the horizon, including a trip to a special magnetic cage at Utah State University's Space Dynamics Laboratory.
Favorite Astro Plots #4: Classifying Exoplanets
Until just a few years ago, a plot of mass versus size of other worlds would have looked pretty sparse and uninformative. But thanks to the tireless efforts of exoplanet astronomers, we now know fairly precise masses and radii for hundreds of distant worlds.
Spring Issue of The Planetary Report Has Arrived!
The Spring 2016 edition of The Planetary Report has just printed and will arrive at our mail house this week. Any member who wants a digital copy can download the issue through our website.