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The Planetary Society Blog
Archive
Archived posts are listed in reverse chronological order.
May. 9, 2011 | 10:21 PDT | 17:21 UTC
A rare direct hit from a meteorite
Meteorites hit Earth all the time, but they almost never score direct hits on human-built structures (or humans, for that matter). Most stories you'll read on the Web about observed meteorite falls are either wrong or hoaxes. Once in a while,... More»
May. 6, 2011 | 09:46 PDT | 16:46 UTC
Guest post: Jason Davis: Why Shuttle Endeavour is currently broken
For a long time my editor and I have lamented the fact that the narrow focus of my blog -- on planetary bodies and planetary missions, past and present -- gives readers the impression that the Planetary Society doesn't care about the topics that I'm... More»
May. 5, 2011 | 12:32 PDT | 19:32 UTC
We Roasted and We Toasted...
by Bill Nye
Last Saturday, April 30, 2011, the Planetary Society roasted and toasted Lou Friedman – our cofounder and retiring Executive Director.
It was a lovely and fun party at the remarkable Cicada Restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, hosted by... More»
May. 5, 2011 | 09:30 PDT | 16:30 UTC
Book reviews: T Minus and Laika
I recently read two graphic novels exploring the early history of spaceflight, and I'd like to recommend both for summer reading. Although the two overlap in time, they couldn't be much more different.
Click to enlarge >T Minus, by Jim Ottavani,... More»
May. 4, 2011 | 11:29 PDT | 18:29 UTC
Familiar yet alien ancient views of Earth
I have always found maps of the motions of Earth's continents fascinating, so it is really cool to see some gorgeous new reconstructions of what Earth would have looked like to spaceborne observers over the last 750 million years. They've been... More»
May. 3, 2011 | 11:18 PDT | 18:18 UTC
Dawn's Vesta phase timeline, a summary
Now that Dawn has finally begun its science mission at Vesta, I thought it'd be useful to go back through Marc Rayman's Dawn Journals to collect a summary of the plans for Vesta.
The mission is divided into phases. Dawn has now completed the... More»
May. 3, 2011 | 11:13 PDT | 18:13 UTC
Dawn Journal: On the threshold of a new world
Here's our monthly checkup with the Dawn mission, contributed by Marc Rayman, the mission's Project System Engineer. Thanks Marc! --ESLClick to enlarge >Marc RaymanBy Marc Rayman
Dear Dawntalizingly Close Readers,
Dawn is on the threshold of a new... More»
May. 2, 2011 | 09:46 PDT | 16:46 UTC
Memo to early risers: Look up!
There is a traffic jam of planets on the eastern horizon in the early morning right now and for the next several weeks, a prize for those of you who have to rise before dawn. Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, and Mars cluster close together on the eastern... More»
May. 2, 2011 | 09:26 PDT | 16:26 UTC
The scale of our solar system
Space.com has taken advantage of the infinitely scrollable nature of Web pages to produce a really cool infographic on the scales of orbital distances in the solar system. The only thing I'd add to it is Sedna, whose current position at about 90 AU... More»
Apr. 29, 2011 | 14:02 PDT | 21:02 UTC
Shuttle LIFE is go for launch with Endeavour!
The Planetary Society's Bruce Betts traveled to Florida to oversee the preparation of our Shuttle LIFE experiment for launch on the space shuttle Endeavour. He was hoping to watch the launch, too, but the launch was postponed until at least Monday,... More»
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