How to watch it this afternoon.
You know, if we were a true spacefaring civilization, we’d move the planet to get it in the same orbital plane as earth so we could do this every few months instead of once a century or so.
Category Archives: Space Science
No, National Geographic
The ISS is not 1200 miles up.
That California Meteorite
It turns out that it was a fairly rare type, containing amino acids.
The Rings Of Earth
What would they look like from the surface?
The Lunar Seas
Why do they face the earth?
Tatooine Planets
There may be a lot of them. I think that this is a good example of how little we know about planet formation.
The End Of The Aztecs’ Fourth Sun
Was it caused by an impact event in the mid-Atlantic?
Does Earth Have More Than One Moon?
Maybe, but only temporary ones.
The Phobos Mission
Can anything be salved from it, scientifically? Some thoughts from one of the scientists. If we were really a spacefaring nation, we’d have someone on their way to it right now, or soon, to retrieve or fix it.
[Update a while later]
The latest from Emily Lakdawalla. As she says, unless there’s a change in the situation, not much more to report until it comes down, either on its own or with assistance from the ground. I also agree with her that it’s strange that anyone thinks they can predict an entry date at this point.
[Update a few minutes later]
Alan Boyle: “NASA’s Nicholas Johnson tells me @PhobosGrunt isn’t projected to re-enter till next month; too early to be more specific right now.”
That’s right.
Phobos-Grunt
What a name. Anyway, I have an article about it up over at Popular Mechanics.
[Update a while later]
Here’s some more info. According to that piece, it’s dropping in altitude a little over a mile per orbit, but that will accelerate as it gets lower in the coming weeks, if they can’t get it on its way.
[Update a few minutes later]
Emily Lakdawalla has the latest. It’s not looking good, according to sources in Russia.