Dawn
The Dawn spacecraft is currently sitting on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral, where it will wait until September 26th for launch. NASA always chooses these vague, optimistic names for spacecraft. The...
View ArticleDawn liftoff
NASA’s image of the day is the Dawn spacecraft launching via a Delta II rocket. It’s heading to two asteroids: Ceres (actually a dwarf planet) and Vesta. The journey will take several years. In March...
View ArticleSulu gets an asteroid
George Takei, better known as Sulu to the world of non-hardcore Trek fans, now has an asteroid named after him. I say non-hardcore Trek fans because hardcore Trek fans know his real name. Or maybe it’s...
View ArticleAdd one more killer asteroid
Another potential killer asteroid was rediscovered after being lost since the 60’s. Revolving around the sun once every 4.7 years, this asteroid isn’t a threat for the foreseeable future, but if the...
View ArticleMars, Phobos, or Deimos?
Which will be the newest extraterrestrial body humans will set foot on? (Aside from the moon, of course.) According to Pascal Lee of the Mars Institute, “[Phobos and Deimos] are the most accessible...
View ArticleRosetta
The second fantastic photo of Earth from space I’ve come across in as many days was taken by the Rosetta comet probe sent up by the European Space Agency (ESA). The Rosetta craft made big news recently...
View ArticlePhaethon Cometh
One of the dark horses of the inner solar system makes its closest approach to Earth since it was discovered in 1983 soon. Phaethon is an asteroid (perhaps the burnt out core of a comet). We pass...
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