Blogs
Meet our bloggers...CEO, Bill Nye, Emily Lakdawalla, Bruce Betts, Mat Kaplan, Casey Dreier, and a host of expert and entertaining voices from throughout our vast space community.
Browse Recent Blog Posts
LightSail 2 update roundup: Testing, delivery and a new animation in the works
Posted by Jason Davis on 2016/10/07 06:01 CDT
LightSail 2 and Prox-1 are expected to meet for integration by the end of the year. Here's an update roundup, including a sneak peek of new animations and the abstract from a recently accepted paper on the spacecraft's attitude control system.
Fun with a new image data set: Mars Orbiter Mission's Mars Colour Camera
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2016/10/06 06:16 CDT | 7 comments
It's always a delight to sink my teeth into a new data set, and I have spent this week playing with one I've been anticipating for a long time: ISRO's Mars Orbiter's Mars Colour Camera, or MCC. MCC is unique among current Mars cameras in its ability to get color, print-quality, wide-angle, regional views of Mars.
MOM's Second Anniversary at Mars
Posted by Sandhya Ramesh on 2016/10/05 01:04 CDT | 1 comment
On Mars Orbiter Mission’s second anniversary of Mars arrival, ISRO has (finally!) made available to the public data from its first year in orbit.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Exits Marathon Valley then Rocks Spirit Mound
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2016/10/04 07:17 CDT
It was another September to remember for Opportunity as she cruised through the Lewis and Clark Gap and out of Marathon Valley, then hiked downslope, leading the first overland expedition of the Red Planet to Spirit Mound, a new site deep in Endeavour Crater’s rim.
What's up in the solar system, October 2016 edition: ExoMars arrives!
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2016/10/04 06:42 CDT | 2 comments
ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter arrives on October 19, and it will deliver the Schiaparelli lander to its brief life on the Martian surface. Juno's headed into its science orbit, MOM has released science data, and New Horizons will finally finish downlinking Pluto flyby data.
ESA opens its ears to citizens of Europe
Posted by Ruth McAvinia on 2016/10/04 10:14 CDT
In September, the European Space Agency gathered 2,000 people around the continent to discuss their future in space.
To Mars, with a monster rocket: How politicians and engineers created NASA's Space Launch System
Posted by Jason Davis on 2016/10/03 06:00 CDT | 9 comments
NASA is building a giant rocket called the Space Launch System to send humans to Mars. In part 4 of our Horizon Goal series, we recap the messy tangle of politics and engineering that led to the vehicle's creation in 2011.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2016/09/30 08:13 CDT | 6 comments
Today there is one less spacecraft returning science data from beyond Earth. The European Space Operations Centre received the final transmission from Rosetta at 11:19 September 30, UT.
Rosetta spacecraft may be dying, but Rosetta science will go on
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2016/09/29 12:47 CDT | 3 comments
The Rosetta mission will end tomorrow when the spacecraft impacts the comet. ESA took advantage of the presence of hundreds of members of the media to put on a showcase of Rosetta science. If there’s one thing I learned today from all the science presentations, it’s this: Rosetta data will be informing scientific work for decades to come.
Posted by Marc Rayman on 2016/09/29 12:05 CDT | 2 comments
Nine years ago today, Dawn set sail on an epic journey of discovery and adventure. The intrepid explorer has sailed the cosmic seas and collected treasures that far exceeded anything anticipated or even hoped for.
Search Blog Posts:
Essential Advocacy
Our Advocacy Program provides each Society member a voice in the process.
Funding is critical. The more we have, the more effective we can be, translating into more missions, more science, and more exploration.
Connect With Us
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more…
Continue the conversation with our online community!
