The Team
The NExSS project is overseen by representatives from NASA HQ, three co-leads, and a Steering Committee composed of the PIs of funded proposal teams selected to be the founding members of NExSS.
Many Worlds
Many Worlds is a website for everyone interested in the burgeoning field of exoplanet detection and research. It presents columns, news stories and in-depth features, as well as the work of guest writers.
SAG15
The general goal of the SAG15 Report was to collect and organize community input on key science questions for future imaging missions without focusing on specific mission architectures or assumed capabilities.
Around the Web
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Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully drops rovers on asteroid Ryugu
The two small spacecraft are the size and shape of cheese wheels, and can autonomously hop around the surface.
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Programming note: Emily Lakdawalla speaking tour of New Zealand 23 September - 1 October
Attention Kiwi space fans! I’m embarking shortly on a speaking tour of New Zealand. I hope to meet lots of Planetary Society members and supporters, and sign a few copies of my book.
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Voyage to Mercury
Elsa Montagnon details the challenges of delivering BepiColombo’s two spacecraft from Earth to Mercury.
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Chandrayaan-2
Sriram Bhiravarasu anticipates India’s 2019 lunar venture with an orbiter, lander, and rover.
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Where We Are
Emily Lakdawalla introduces an at-a-glance spacecraft locator to The Planetary Report.
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Three Earth Explorer ideas selected
As part of ESA’s continuing commitment to realise cutting-edge satellite missions to advance scientific understanding of our planet and to show how new technologies can be used in space, three new ideas have been chosen to compete as the tenth Earth Explorer mission.
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Recent tectonics on Mars
These prominent trenches were formed by faults that pulled the planet’s surface apart less than 10 million years ago.
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Gaia hints at our Galaxy’s turbulent life
ESA’s star mapping mission, Gaia, has shown our Milky Way galaxy is still enduring the effects of a near collision that set millions of stars moving like ripples on a pond.
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Going off-road in the search for dark skies
An out-of-this-world mobile observatory, developed in collaboration with Nissan Design Europe in London, UK, was unveiled at the 2018 Hannover Motor Show this week, proving that the sky is never the limit.
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ExoMars highlights radiation risk for Mars astronauts, and watches as dust storm subsides
Astronauts on a mission to Mars would be exposed to at least 60% of the total radiation dose limit recommended for their career during the journey itself to and from the Red Planet, according to data from the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter being presented at the European Planetary Science Congress, EPSC, in Berlin, Germany, this week.
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Orion’s first Service Module integration complete
Last week at the Airbus integration hall in Bremen, Germany, technicians installed the last radiator on the European Service Module for NASA’s Orion spacecraft marking the module’s finished integration. ESA’s European service module will provide power, water, air and electricity to NASA’s Orion exploration spacecraft that will eventually fly beyond the Moon with astronauts. The European Service Module is now complete for Orion’s first mission that will do a lunar fly-by without astronauts to demonstrate the spacecraft’s capabilities.
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Making space exploration real – on Earth
You are on a rock speeding through space. On this rock called Earth every single mineral tells you something about planetary formation. This week astronauts and space engineers will unlock the mystery of those minerals as they start an ESA geology field training course to prepare for future exploration of the Moon, Mars and asteroids.
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Talking sea-level
Scientists from all over the world are meeting in the Azores to talk about satellite altimeters and sea-level rise. Watch the opening session live on 24 September at 08:55 GMT (10:55 CEST)
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Earth from Space
In this week's edition, discover the largest island of the Azores: São Miguel
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Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye Releases Statement on Total Solar Eclipse
Planetary CEO Bill Nye issued the following statement from Homestead National Monument to celebrate the Total Solar Eclipse.
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The Planetary Society & U.S. National Park Service Unveil New Eclipse Resources
The U.S. National Park Service, The Planetary Society and CEO Bill Nye (The Science Guy®) are partnering to deliver a safe, inspiring and educational experience to kids, adults and families.
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Bill Nye joins Junior Rangers for Total Eclipse of the Sun
Bill Nye – The Science Guy® and CEO of the Planetary Society – will join park rangers and celebrated science educators as part of a three-day festival focused on the Total Eclipse of the Sun at Homestead National Monument of America in August.
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Power Interruption Today
The SDO.gsfc.nasa.gov website will be unavailable today from 7:00 am - noon ET while work on the electrical supply to the building takes place.
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Station Keeping Maneuver #17 is Today
SDO will perform Station Keeping (or Delta-V) Maneuver #17 today between 2200-2250 UTC (6:00-6:50 p.m. ET). This maneuver is used to keep SDO inside its box in the geosynchronous belt. SDO thrusters will expel 82 grams of propellant to complete the maneuver. During the maneuver science data may be missing or blurry.
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Today's Maneuver and Schedule for the rest of 2018
Today at 1500 UTC (11:00 am ET) SDO will perform the HMI roll. The spacecraft rolls once around the axis pointed towards the Sun to provide calibration information for the instruments. These measurements are also used to learn how round the Sun is. Here are other planned maneuvers through the rest of 2018. 07/18 @ 1945 UTC (3:45 pm ET) - Momentum Management #32 07/21 @ 0433 UTC (12:33 am ET) - Handover Season Starts with First Handover 07/25 @ 1230 UTC (8:30 am ET) - EVE Cruciform 08/08 @ to be determined - Simulated comet observation 08/12 @...
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Today's Maneuvers
Today SDO is performing the EVE Field of View and HMI Flatfield calibration maneuvers. Between 1315 and 1910 UTC (9:15 am - 3:10 pm ET) SDO will move in patterns about the Sun. Science data may be unavailable at these times or blurry. Here is an AIA 193 Å image from 1354 UTC with the bottom right corner of the Sun cutoff by SDO pointing away from the center of the Sun.
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Happy Summer Solstice 2018!
Today, June 21, 2018, at 1007 UTC (6:07 am ET) the Sun reached its northernmost point in our sky. In the northern hemisphere we have the longest day of the year while people in the southern hemisphere have their longest night. Six months from now we will reverse places for the Winter Solstice. It's all due to the tilt of the Earth's rotation axis that tilts us toward the Sun in northern summer. Our ancestors often celebrated the Solstices with parties. I'll celebrate with some pictures of the Sun. For those who thought Solar Cycle 24 had faded into history,...
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SDO Instrument Calibration Maneuvers
This past Wednesday starting at 1415 UTC (10:15 am ET) SDO performed the EVE FOV and HMI/AIA Flatfield instrument calibration maneuvers. The spacecraft rolled back to its normal orientation before the test. Once the maneuvers were complete, SDO rolled 180° to continue our simulation test. As always during a calibration maneuver, the AIA images may be streaky or cutoff at the edges of the CCDs. The movie shows how that day looked in the AIA 211 Å channel. The interference caused by the edges of the CCD are easily visible around 2000 UTC. Next week SDO will perform the EVE...
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Station Keeping Maneuver #16 Today
SDO will perform station-keeping maneuver #16 today. The maneuver begins at 22:12 UTC (5:12 pm ET) and lasts until 22:56 UTC (5:56 pm ET). During the maneuver science data may be blurry or unavailable. Station-keeping maneuvers are performed to keep SDO inside of its box in the geostationary belt. Even though SDO’s orbit is inclined 28° to the equator (where geostationary satellites orbit), we pass through the geostationary belt twice each day. We must stay inside our longitude box to avoid interfering with our neighbors. SK maneuvers happen about twice each year.
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2018 Maneuvers, Past and Future
SDO ran a number of maneuvers during January 2018. Science data may be unavailable or blurry on days when a maneuver is run. During eclipse season the Earth blocks the Sun for up to 72 minutes each day around 0700 UTC (2:00 am ET). This is also midnight Mountain Time, the timezone of the SDO ground station. 01/03/18: RWA Jitter Test Successful: Instruments reported no blurring in images; ISS performance looked reasonable. 01/17/18: EVE Cruciform Successfully Executed 01/24/18: HMI roll, starting at 1500 UTC (10:00 am ET) 02/10/18: Spring 2018 Eclipse Season Begins 02/14/18:...
NExSS Events Calendar
