WHAT WE DO


JOINRENEWJOIN

Your 2012 Year in Space Calendar
 

The Planetary Society Blog

Archive

Archived posts are listed in reverse chronological order.


  • Jan. 10, 2011 | 13:12 PST | 21:12 UTC
    Grab bag: "Rocky" exoplanet, molten lunar core, Rhea close encounter
    I'm having a tough time getting moving today so please excuse a linky post on Kepler's "rocky" exoplanet discovery, the Moon's core, and Cassini's upcoming Rhea flyby: The Kepler exoplanet hunting mission has made news today with a report of "its... More»
  • Jan. 7, 2011 | 09:25 PST | 17:25 UTC
    Stardust mission update: 38 days to Tempel 1
    The Stardust mission posts regular status updates to its website but they're a bit buried, so I'm glad for the watchful members of unmannedspaceflight.com who point them out as soon as they're posted. The latest update, dated yesterday, says that... More»
  • Jan. 6, 2011 | 14:57 PST | 22:57 UTC
    A Remembrance
    by Tom Kemp, Global Volunteer Coordinator and Mary Brown, Telescope Group Coordinator The Planetary Society has lost a very dear friend and tireless volunteer. Anna May Tomaszewski was the volunteer coordinator at the Planetary Society... More»
  • Jan. 6, 2011 | 10:33 PST | 18:33 UTC
    Solar eclipses from space: Hinode and SDO
    I could watch these videos a hundred times. Two spacecraft that keep their ever-watchful eyes on the Sun -- NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and JAXA's Hinode -- were doing their thing, when something large wandered past: the Moon. I love... More»
  • Jan. 5, 2011 | 14:35 PST | 22:35 UTC
    Dawn Journal: LAMO (Low Altitude Mapping Orbit)
    Here's our monthly checkup with the Dawn mission, contributed by Marc Rayman, the mission's Project System Engineer. Thanks as usual to Marc! --ESLClick to enlarge >Marc RaymanBy Marc Rayman Dear Dawnscriminating Readers, Dawn finishes 2010 much... More»
  • Jan. 5, 2011 | 11:02 PST | 19:02 UTC
    Two possible futures for Akatsuki
    There are two intriguing possibilities being discussed in the Japanese media for what to do with Akatsuki, a space probe in orbit near Venus with a fully functional, highly capable suite of cameras but a damaged main engine. Asahi Shumbun reported... More»
  • Jan. 5, 2011 | 10:38 PST | 18:38 UTC
    Sunset and eclipse on Mars
    These two movies were posted to the JPL website a couple of weeks ago, and they are just amazing. I've seen amateur-processed versions of both of these movies using the raw versions of the images, but the videos below, produced and processed by the... More»
  • Jan. 4, 2011 | 14:13 PST | 22:13 UTC
    Juno in an alternate universe
    I was browsing JPL's Planetary Photojournal today and noticed that they've posted an updated artist's concept of the Juno spacecraft, which is set to launch in August for a 2016 arrival at Jupiter:Click to enlarge >JunoLaunching from Earth in 2011,... More»
  • Jan. 4, 2011 | 10:27 PST | 18:27 UTC
    Two views of Santa Maria, from orbit and from the ground
    Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has just snapped another photo of Opportunity sitting on the ground on Mars. These pictures never get old. This one shows Opportunity at the rim of Santa Maria crater; it was taken on December 31, 2010 (sol 2466). Click... More»
  • Jan. 4, 2011 | 10:02 PST | 18:02 UTC
    How Mars Express' orbit shifts with time
    While I was writing yesterday's blog entry on Mars Express' Phobos flybys I realized that I didn't understand Mars Express' orbit very well. So I sent an inquiry to the Mars Express blog, which they answered in a blog entry today (quick work,... More»