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The Planetary Society Blog
Archive
Archived posts are listed in reverse chronological order.
Aug. 18, 2011 | 14:45 PDT | 21:45 UTC
Rapping the elements, by Oortkuiper
This is a bit of a departure from space science, but was so awesome, I had to share. I've always loved Tom Lehrer's "The Elements". Well, Youtube user Oortkuiper has done him an order of magnitude better:Many people have heard of Tom Lehrer's 'The... More»
Aug. 18, 2011 | 05:35 PDT | 12:35 UTC
GRAIL twins together on their rocket
It's the first time I've ever seen anything like this -- two identical spacecraft, side by side on one launch adapter ring: Click to enlarge >Twin GRAIL spacecraft preparing for launchThe twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) lunar... More»
Aug. 17, 2011 | 05:33 PDT | 12:33 UTC
Gale's not the only Martian crater with an "enigmatic mound"
Much has been made of the "enigmatic mound" within Gale crater, which will be the target of the Curiosity Mars rover's investigations once it safely lands there next year. (Knock on wood.) The mound is 5,000 meters tall; it's so tall, in fact,... More»
Aug. 16, 2011 | 07:26 PDT | 14:26 UTC
Vesta's wacky craters
Now that Dawn's science mission at Vesta has officially begun, the team has begun daily image releases, with an index page located here. The images show craters upon craters, but the longer I study the images, the wackier the craters look. This... More»
Aug. 16, 2011 | 06:42 PDT | 13:42 UTC
In their own words
While doing my daily reading today I was struck by the awesomeness of two recent blog posts. Both were composed not by professional bloggers like me but by professional space explorers, one a scientist and the other an engineer.
The scientist is... More»
Aug. 15, 2011 | 04:19 PDT | 11:19 UTC
Looking down on a shooting star
This photo is making the rounds of Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and whatever other social network you care to name today. It was shot by astronaut Ron Garan from the Space Station, and it's a meteor seen from above. Way cool. Click to enlarge... More»
Aug. 15, 2011 | 03:34 PDT | 10:34 UTC
Guest Post: Jason Davis: What's up in human spaceflight
by Jason Davis
Last week was a relatively quiet one for human spaceflight, as planetary exploration stepped briefly into the limelight. The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity finally reached Endeavour crater, marking the end of an arduous... More»
Aug. 12, 2011 | 10:52 PDT | 17:52 UTC
Comet Garradd in 3D (sort of)
Amateur astronomer Patrick Wiggins sent me this neat little animation of comet Garradd moving against background stars through an hour's worth of observing. I'm not any kind of astronomer but if I were I think I would get a kick out of looking at... More»
Aug. 11, 2011 | 10:05 PDT | 17:05 UTC
The role of press releases in space news coverage
I was not trained as a journalist, so before I started working for the Planetary Society I had no understanding of how much news reporters depend upon press releases to generate story ideas. Did you know that most of the news that you read on the... More»
Aug. 10, 2011 | 12:09 PDT | 19:09 UTC
Wheels on Cape York!
Ever since she landed on Mars, there have been three basic materials under Opportunity's wheels. There's drifty sand (which has sometimes proven to be a hazard): Click to enlarge >From the back, err front looking backOpportunity took this image... More»
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