Congratulations are in order to X Prize Foundation Founder Peter Diamandis and the team behind the Mars Curiosity rover. Popular Mechanics selected them for their 2013 Breakthrough Awards. Diamandis won the Leadership Award for his work in creating prizes and technology breakthroughs with the X Prize Foundation. The magazine includes a Q&A with Diamandis. The Mars Curiosity team were among 9 other individuals and groups singled out in the innovators […]

Gale Crater Vista, in Glorious Color This is the first 360-degree panorama in color of the Gale Crater landing site taken by NASA’s Curiosity rover. The panorama was made from thumbnail versions of images taken by the Mast Camera. Scientists will be taking a closer look at several splotches in the foreground that appear gray. These areas show the effects of the descent stage’s rocket engines blasting the ground. What […]

NASA landed its Curiosity rover safely on Mars Sunday evening. It is the largest and most ambitious mission ever launched to the Red Planet. It also used a novel sky crane system to lower the car-sized rover onto the surface. This system apparently worked flawlessly. I watched the landing with 2,000 people during the Planetary Society’s Planet Fest celebration at the Pasadena Convention Center. It was bedlam in here when […]

The Planetary Society is holding its Planetfest Event this Saturday and Sunday in Pasadena to celebrate the landing of the Mars Curiosity Rover. The details: August 4, 2012, 9:30 am – 5:00 pm August 5, 2012, 2:00 pm – 11:30 pm or later Pasadena Convention Center 300 E. Green Street Pasadena, CA 91101 Tickets The program will feature leaders in space exploration, including:  Charles Elachi, Director of NASA Jet Propulsion […]