See also archives from previous months:
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
May/June 2006
2005
Sender: Mars
Exploration Rovers
Location: Mars
Acquired: 12.Nov.2006
Posted Here: 15.Nov.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
As the Martian winter wanes, Spirit can finally eke enough power out of its dusty solar panels to be on the move again for the first time in months. The first drive was just a few inches, but it's a start.
Extra: Tune into the new podcast on the updated Riding with Robot site.
Sender: Mars Odyssey
Location: Mars
Released: 13.Nov.2006
Posted Here: 14.Nov.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU
Mars explorers believe water cut some of the channels in this part of Arabia Terra. Each of the colors in this false-color image represents a different kind of rock. The geologic history of Mars is just as long and complex as the Earth's, and scientists are just beginning to understand it.
Sender: Cassini
Location: Saturn
Sent: 10.Nov.2006
Posted Here: 13.Nov.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
In this view, Saturn's disc is striped with clouds at the top and ring shadows around the middle. Cassini is now in its 33rd orbit around Saturn, which will last about 12 days.
Sender: Mars Exploration Rovers
Location: Mars
Released: 10.Nov.2006
Posted Here: 12.Nov.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
Opportunity is catching new views of Victoria Crater as it begins to circumnavigate the rim of the deep crater.
Sender: Cassini
Location: Saturn
Released: 9.Nov.2006
Posted Here: 10.Nov.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
The winds in this monster storm at the south pole of Saturn tear around the center at 350 miles per her. The maelstrom spans 5,000 miles. Saturn explorers point out that such a well-defined, hurricane-like storm has never been seen before outside of Earth. A podcast featuring one of the mission scientists is available.
Sender: Venus Express
Location: Venus
Released: 9.Nov.2006
Posted Here: 9.Nov.2006
Credit: ESA/VIRTIS/INAF-IASF/Obs. de Paris-LESIA
The nighttime clouds of Venus, imaged in infrared light and then rendered in blue tones that belie this world's searing temperatures. 9 November marks a year since Venus Express was launched.
Sender: Cassini
Location: Saturn
Sent: 6.Nov.2006
Posted Here: 9.Nov.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
Saturn's shadow falls across the rings.
8 November - Scientists offer an update on the mission to Pluto, and debate Cassini's fate.
Sender: Mars
Global Surveyor
Location: Mars
Released: 7.Nov.2006
Posted Here: 8.Nov.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS
The Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft was launched 10 years ago this week, and the mission was only slated to run until 2000. Images like this one show how much knowledge the extra time has yielded. It shows clouds over the north pole that formed just at the time predicted based on the past four Martian years of observations. Right now, engineers are struggling with balky solar arrays on the orbiter, but they expect to fix the problem.
7 November - A new study shows Titan's atmoshpere is similar to the early Earth's.
Sender: Mars
Exploration Rovers
Location: Mars
Sent: 1.Nov.2006
Posted Here: 7.Nov.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
This contrast-enhanced view of Victoria Crater reveals the beauty of the dunes at its center, as well what appear to be small craters-within-a-crater.
6 November - The Mars rovers have gone back to work.
Sender: Cassini
Location: Saturn
Sent: 4.Nov.2006
Posted Here: 6.Nov.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
In this view, sighted over the weekend, Saturn and the rings form a curved, double horizon.
Sender: Mars Odyssey
Location: Mars
Released: 31.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 5.Nov.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU
This Martian impact crater shows radiating streaks and signs of subsurface ice melted when the meteor slammed into the ground.
Sender: Cassini
Location: Saturn
Sent: 1.Nov.2006
Posted Here: 3.Nov.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
The planet's brilliance overwhelms Cassini's cameras.
3 November - The powerful MRO cameras are being enlisted to hunt for missing Mars probes.
Sender: Mars
Exploration Rovers
Location: Mars
Sent: 27.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 2.Nov.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
Mars explorers will be kept busy for some time digging into the treasure trove of Martian history hidden within the walls of Victoria Crater.
1 November - The Deep Impact spacecraft will get another run at a comet.
Sender: Cassini
Location: Saturn
Sent: 30.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 1.Nov.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
A view taken this week of clouds roiling and spinning at the top of Saturn's atmosphere. It's a reminder that even without the rings, this planet is a weird and wonderful world.
Sender: Mars Odyssey
Location: Mars
Sent: 23.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 31.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU
The summit caldera of a volcano called Syrtis Major. The ridges rise thousands of feet above the floor of the basin. The volcano is not tall, but it's 800 miles wide, and visible even using backyard telescopes.
By the way: happy anniversary to the rocket scientists.
30 October - If you want to send your name along with the Dawn mission, you have until Saturday to submit it.
Sender: Cassini
Location: Saturn
Sent: 27.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 30.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
Saturn's moonlet Pan, just 20 KM across, on patrol in the Encke gap on Friday.
Sender: Cassini
Location: Saturn
Sent: 27.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 29.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
The rings--legions of ice crystals ranked and marshaled by momentum and gravity--measure thousands of miles wide but only about one mile thick.
Sender: Mars Exploration Rover A
Location: Mars
Released: 25.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 27.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
Another small section of the giant "McMurdo" panorama of the Columbia Hills that Spirit has been working on for the past several months. (As always, you can click the image to go to a page where you can download the full image.) NASA released the spectacular panorama in honor of the rover's 1,000th Martian day on the planet.
26 October - JPL has posted a movie about the recent Titan fly-bys.
Sender: Mars Exploration Rover A
Location: Mars
Released: 25.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 26.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
A small section of the giant "McMurdo" panorama of the Columbia Hills that Spirit has been working on for the past several months. (As always, you can click the image to go to a page where you can download the full image.) NASA released the spectacular panorama in honor of the rover's 1,000th Martian day on the planet.
Sender: Cassini
Location: Saturn
Sent: 24.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 25.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
Yesterday, Cassini made another close run above the cloudtops of Titan. On this pass, it was specifically looking for more evidence about what the enigmatic surface is made of. The findings should be available in the next couple of days.
25 October - The MESSENGER probe, on its way to Mercury, has swung by Venus.
Sender: Mars Exploration Rover B
Location: Mars
Sent: 24.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 24.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
Opportunity sent this image from the surface of Mars today. No, that's not an alien artifact; it's a gap in the data, caused by interference from the Sun, which will continue to make communications with Mars spotty until the end of the month.
Sender: Mars Global Surveyor
Location: Mars
Released: 23.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 23.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS
The thin Martian wind can be seen drawing dunes and ripples in the dust. The crater is about a kilometer across. Though released today, this image was captured back in July. (Current communication with Mars is all but cut off until the end of the month due to a solar conjunction between Earth and the Red Planet.)
23 October - JPL, already celebrating its 70th anniversary, is also noting that its director has been honored.
Sender: Cassini
Location: Saturn
Sent: 17.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 20.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
Sunlight and shadow on Saturn's rings.
Sender: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Location: Mars
Released: 16.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 19.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS
The north pole of Mars as seen by the MRO during its instrument check-out. The white areas are a cap of perennial water ice, and the tan areas are the north polar layered materials that have been featured in other striking images. Fresh dispatches from Mars will be scarce during the next week and a half, because the Sun is blocking the Earth's view of the planet, making communications spotty.
Sender: Cassini
Location: Saturn
Released: 17.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 18.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
Saturn's rings appear perfectly smooth from a distance, but this extreme close-up on the F ring shows how tiny moonlets distort and shape it.
18 October - Water on the moon may just be a mirage. More news and images >
Sender: Mars Odyssey
Location: Mars
Released: 16.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 17.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU
The intriguing rocks of Candor Chasma, seen here in a color-coded view, are one of several possible targets for a future rover mission. Some of the stone shows strong signs of having been weathered by water. This image is a reminder that while many eyes are on the new Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the veteran workhorses like Mars Odyssey are still churning out interesting discoveries.
Sender: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Location: Mars
Released: 16.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 16.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/UA
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this color-enhanced view inside an unnamed crater in the Terra Sirenum region. Liquid water may have formed these gullies during recent times. During its short weeks at the planet, the MRO has already returned more raw data than the rovers combined.
Sender: Cassini
Location: Saturn
Sent: 12.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 14.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
The swirling south pole of Saturn, as seen just a few days ago.
Sender: Venus Express
Location: Venus
Released: 13.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 13.Oct.2006
Credit: ESA/VIRTIS/INAF-IASF/Obs. de Paris-LESIA
Another thermal image of a cloud-enshrouded world, but this time it's right next door: this is a view into the complex atmosphere of Venus. The lighter the color, the thinner the clouds and the more heat is escaping from the hellishly-hot surface. Some of these clouds are moving at hundreds of miles an hour.
12 October - During the most recent flyby, Cassini discovered more lakes on Titan. More news and images >
Sender: Cassini
Location: Saturn
Released: 11.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 12.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/UA
Another striking scene observed by Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, which can image the heat rising through Saturn's clouds. The bright spots are actually clearings in the clouds, and Saturn explorers are using images like this to understand the planet's weather in new ways.
Sender: Mars Odyssey
Location: Mars
Released: 9.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 11.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU
Collapsed underground lava tubes from the Elysium volcanic complex make dashed lines on a Martian plain. How interesting would it be to explore the caves in the uncollapsed sections?
Sender: Cassini
Location: Saturn
Released: 9.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 10.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
Saturn's moon Tethys, as seen in a combination of ultraviolet, green and infrared light by Cassini's cameras.
Sender: Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter
Location: Mars
Acquired: 2.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 9.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/UA
Ancient layers and more recent ripples on the floor of Holden Crater, displayed in never-before-seen detail, as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Sender: Mars
Exploration Rovers
Location: Mars
Acquired: 4.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 7.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
Mars explorers are making a detailed survey of Victoria Crater in order to determine if and where they will command the rover to enter the crater and sample some of these exposed rock layers.
Sender: Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter
Location: Mars
Acquired: 3.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 6.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/U of A
Although the picture is zoomed in so much it's a little blurry, this is one of the most remarkable images ever captured by robotic space explorers: it's Opportunity, perched on the edge of Victoria Crater, as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter from orbit. The blue-ish object at the upper left is the rover, and you can even see the shadow of its camera mast.
Sender: Cassini
Location: Saturn
Released: 5.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 5.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/U of A
Cassini's infrared imager can see heat rising from deep within the planet, silhouetting clouds against the glowing interior. This image serves as a reminder that planets are not mere lumps of rock or gas, but resemble living things, pulsing with energy and changing with time.
Sender: Mars Global Surveyor
Location: Mars
Released: 2.Oct.2006
Posted Here: 5.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS
The north pole of Mars as shown in a composite of images from the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter.
Sender: Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter
Location: Mars
Downlinked: 29.Sep.2006
Posted Here: 4.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/U of A
This is another of the first images from the new Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It shows a deep rift in the Cerberus Fossae system that was formed by tectonic activity. This is a very high resolution image: the full-scale version resolves objects as small as 165 centimeters across. Not meters, centimeters.
Sender: Cassini
Location: Saturn
Downlinked: 30.Sep.2006
Posted Here: 3.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
Saturn's cloud tops glow gently in light scattered by the rings.
Sender: Mars Global Surveyor
Location: Mars
Released: 30.Sep.2006
Posted Here: 2.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS
Mars explorers call these unexplained layers deep in Hellas Basin "taffy-pull terrain."
Sender: Cassini
Location: Saturn
Downlinked: 25.Sep.2006
Posted Here: 1.Oct.2006
Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
Saturn's moon Dione and its distinctive white streaks, which may be places where material ejected from inside the moon fell back as snow.
