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Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
SLS Engine Roars through Flight Test in Mississippi
NASA completed the sixth and next-to-last test firing of its RS-25 engine Thursday in Mississippi. Four RS-25 engines power the Space Launch System core stage.
ESA's cool new interactive comet visualization tool based on amateur imaging work with open data
A terrific new visualization tool for comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko demonstrates the value of sharing mission image data with the public. The browser-based tool lets you spin a simulated 3D view of the comet. It began with a 3D model of the comet created not by ESA, but by a space enthusiast, Mattias Malmer.
Community service: Vetting my local library's children's space books
Space fans, here is a valuable community service that you can perform in your neighborhood: Vet your school library's space book collections. My kids' elementary school librarian asked me to take a look at the nonfiction space book collection and cull any outdated or just wrong books. I culled quite a few, and am now recommending some replacements.
The Planetary Society Visits Camp Imgur
Last weekend Imgur hosted a weekend camp for their members and invited Merc Boyan to come out and talk about space and The Society!
Video: NASA Prepares for Sixth SLS Engine Test
The Planetary Society will be at NASA's Stennis Space Center this Thursday for the sixth test firing of the RS-25 engine, which powers the Space Launch System.
New Curiosity Self-Portrait
Amateur image processor Damia Bouic shares new stunning images from Curiosity—including a
LightSail Nominated for SmallSat Mission of the Year
The Planetary Society’s LightSail spacecraft has been nominated for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Small Satellite Technical Committee Mission of the Year 2015 award.
What's up in solar system exploration: August 2015 edition
I'm back from two weeks' vacation, so it's time to catch up on the status of all our intrepid planetary missions, from Akatsuki to the Voyagers and hitting the Moon, Mars, asteroids, comets, and Saturn in between.
MERLIN: The Creative Choices Behind a Proposal to Explore the Martian Moons
Van Kane presents one of the three missions from the latest round of NASA Discovery proposals with the goal of exploring Mars' moons.
Space Station Update: Launch Logistics
Orbital ATK says they are making progress returning Antares to flight, NASA buys more Soyuz seats and the ISS program manager moves on to private industry.
New Robotic Spacecraft Posters
Another round of posters to celebrate historic planetary missions.
Update on NASA Mars Rover Plans
The second in a series of meetings to select the landing site for the Mars 2020 rover is in progress. Van Kane gives us an update.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Enters Marathon Valley, Begins Walkabout
Nearly seven Earth years after Opportunity set its sites on Endeavour Crater, the rover cruised into Marathon Valley, the once-but-a-dream destination.
Our Global Volunteers: July 2015 Update
The Planetary Society's volunteers around the world have been busy these past few months, with all the excitement surrounding Asteroid Day, the LightSail test mission, the New Horizons and Dawn missions, and other space milestones!
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Star Stream
Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block presents the first-ever high-resolution color images of the
Dawn Journal: Descent to HAMO
With a wonderfully rich bounty of pictures and other observations already secured, Dawn is now on its way to an even better vantage point around dwarf planet Ceres.
Field Report from Mars: Sol 4060 - June 26, 2015
Larry Crumpler gives an update on the Opportunity rover's activities in Spirit of St. Louis crater.
In Pictures: West Virginia from Space
Jason Davis shares five images of his home state, West Virginia, taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
DSCOVR's Halo
The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) has begun sending us fresh, whole-hemisphere images of our own fragile planet. Some sources say that the spacecraft is
Proposals to Explore the Solar System’s Smallest Worlds
Van Kane rounds up some of the latest NASA Discovery mission proposals aiming to explore our solar system's smallest bodies.