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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
In Pictures: Cygnus Takes out the Trash
Early this morning, Scott Kelly and Tim Kopra released a trash-filled Cygnus cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station. Orbital ATK flight controllers will send Cygnus into Earth's atmosphere for a controlled reentry Saturday morning.
Light plays on a Martian crater rim
Recently, space image processing enthusiast Thomas Appéré noticed that Curiosity had taken five photos of exactly the same spot on the rim of Gale crater, identical but for being taken at different times of day. That spot was due north of the rover, so the rising and lowering Sun illuminates the rounded hummocks of the crater rim differently from early morning to early afternoon.
Curiosity update, sols 1218-1249: Digging in the sand at Bagnold Dunes
Curiosity has spent the last month sampling and processing dark sand scooped from the side of Namib Dune. The rover has now departed Namib and is preparing to cross the Bagnold dune field, while working to diagnose an anomaly with the CHIMRA sample handling mechanism.
30th anniversary images of Uranian moons
January 24 was the 30th anniversary of the Voyager flyby of Uranus. Uranian moons have been on my mind ever since New Horizons sent us close-up images of Charon. On the occasion of the anniversary, Ted Stryk produced latest-and-greatest versions of the Voyager views of these worlds.
First Look: Newest LightSail Spacecraft Unfurls Solar Sails
The Planetary Society's LightSail spacecraft successfully deployed its solar sails Thursday, wrapping up an initial round of system-level tests to prepare the CubeSat for flight.
Fun with a new data set: Chang'e 3 lander and Yutu rover camera data
Here, for the first time in a format easily accessible to the public, are hundreds and hundreds of science-quality images from the Chang'e 3 lander and Yutu rover.
Wide views of Mars from Mars Express
Geologist and amateur space image processor Justin Cowart has dug into the Mars Express archives and located some lovely, wide views across great swaths of the Martian globe.
China invites public on-board its robotic missions; and how to download Chang'e data
China plans a busy future in robotic space exploration. Besides the scientific merit, what interests me most about the upcoming Chang'e 4 mission is their intention to get the public involved.
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Shadow Play
Adam Block brings us his first images processed in the new year, showcasing the beautiful interplay of light and dark.
SpaceX Successfully Launches Ocean Satellite but Breaks a Leg on Drone Ship
The Jason-3 ocean monitoring satellite reached orbit today, but SpaceX's third attempt to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a drone ship came up short.
Pretty pictures: Bittersweet goodies from Cassini at Titan, Enceladus, and Telesto
Tomorrow, Cassini will fly by Titan, picking up a gravity assist that will tilt its orbit slightly up and out of the ring plane. That will end what has been a wonderful year of frequent encounters with Saturnian moons.
JunoCam cruise data, and a look ahead to Jupiter
Juno is now fewer than six months and 100 million kilometers away from Jupiter, and the Juno team is busily preparing for the arrival. Amateur astronomers are supporting them by taking lots of Jupiter photos.
Curiosity update, sols 1166-1217: First reconnaissance of Bagnold dunes
In the six weeks since my last detailed Curiosity update, the rover has driven to, on, and around a couple of active barchan sand dunes on Mars. They are now searching for a site to scoop and sample sand on the western edge of Namib dune.
Dawn Journal: Science on Ceres
The Dawn mission is developing humankind’s most intimate portrait ever of a dwarf planet. Mission Director and Chief Engineer Marc Rayman returns with his monthly update on the mission's progress.
Two epic photos of Earth -- but which one is truer?
Two images of Earth taken from different spacecraft at the same time illustrate differences in
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Distant Galaxies
Astrophotographer Adam Block shares stunning his images of far-away spiral galaxies.
December solstice: Viewing Earth's seasonal shifts from space
It's fun to watch the seasons shift from space, and as of this year we have new ways to do that.
For the first time ever, a Curiosity Mastcam self-portrait from Mars
In a remarkable and wholly unexpected gift to Curiosity fans, the rover has just taken the first-ever color Mastcam self-portrait from Mars.
Worth the wait: First public release of Rosetta science camera images of comet 67P
Finally! It has been a long wait, but so worth it: the Rosetta OSIRIS science camera team has delivered the first pile of data from the rendezvous with comet 67P to ESA's Planetary Science Archive. I have spent a good chunk of the last three days playing with the data, and it's spectacular.
A Rosetta OSIRIS picture of comet 67P that's only hours old
ESA announced today a new website at which the OSIRIS team will now be releasing images on a regular basis -- at least one per week -- and they will be recent. Even better news, all OSIRIS data taken through September 16, 2014 has been handed to ESA and its release is expected next week.