Good Acta Astronautica for Feb (vol. 239): Buys, M. Hanner, C. Refining asteroid mass uncertainty via volume, and bulk density constraints for optimal flyby mission design Pages 89 .2025.10.070Bull, R. Vavrina, M. A. Lyzhoft, J. et al. Retaking in-flight spacecraft… Read More »Note, Paper: Fly Sci Cite
Going on this moment: the Macao International Forum on Space and Planetary Sciences 2026: ifmacao.must.edu.mo In the program (https://ifmacao.must.edu.mo/program-detail): Xiaodong WANG, Solar Wind, Cometary Ions and Energetic Neutral Atoms (SCIENA) Sensor for the ESA Comet Interceptor Mission Long XIAO, The… Read More »Macau Forum on Space and Planetary Sciences
Time for the Autumn meeting of the AGU (American Geophysical Union). The big meet is in New Orleans, Dec. 15-19: https://www.agu.org/annual-meeting As you might expect from the name “Geophysical”, it mostly deals with the Earth. It deals with the Earth… Read More »2025-Fall AGU Meeting
Let’s check Icarus for 1 January 2026 (vol. 443): Souza-Feliciano, A. C. Rommel, F. L. Morgado, B. E. et al. Rotational Light Curve, phase, and visible colors of (52246) Donaldjohanson throughout Lucy Mission Flyby Art 116771Hirabayashi, M. Prediction of Apophis’s… Read More »Note, Paper: Of Shapes and Fates
No surprise: ESA’s Ministerial Council approved (officially…) the RAMSES mission. While meeting this week (26-27 Nov… US holiday), the European Space Agency’s Council of Ministers officiated Agency matters. RAMSES is now on track to rendezvous with Apophis in ~2029, partly… Read More »RAMSES Has Rubber Stamp
More papers from Planetary Science Journal (2025, vol. 6): M. Darby Dyar, Breitenfeld, L. B. Lane, M. D. et al. Spectroscopy of the Hamburg Meteorite, Michigan H4 240 ae0a4fBair, A. N. Schleicher, D. G. Comprehensive Analyses of the Strongly Carbon-chain… Read More »Note, Paper: Seeing Pieces
The 6th COSPAR (Committee on Space Research) Symposium is taking place in Nicosia, Cyprus (no, I didn’t fly there) this Nov 3-7: https://www.cospar-assembly.org/symposia/ COSPAR: a bit of a big deal. Therefore, their meeting is big. Maybe too big; I’ll try… Read More »2025 COSPAR Symposium, Nicosia
In lesser news: NewSpace startup Fleet Space announced that their payload- a science instrument- will join the ApophisExL mission to the eponymous asteroid in 2029. www.fleetspace.com/newsroom/fleet-space-targets-apophis-for-off-world-exploration-missionSeptember 23, 2025Fleet Space Targets Apophis For Off-World Exploration Mission The ApophisExL mission is a… Read More »Got It On Apophis Mission (Fleet Space)
A bit light for this blog, but… ESA has posted an explainer video for the RAMSES mission: www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2025/10/Ramses_ESA_s_mission_to_rendezvous_with_asteroid_ApophisRamses: ESA’s mission to rendezvous with asteroid Apophis 13/10/2025 This week marks three and a half years until the Apophis flyby of Earth;… Read More »See RAMSES Teaser
In Acta Astronautica for October (vol. 235): Broslav, T. Dreyer, C. Sercel, J. Optical mining of carbonaceous chondrite simulants: Testing and lessons learned in asteroid mining research p. 1 .2025.04.033Wang, Y. Zhu, Y. Ding, Y. Research on the ignition characteristics and… Read More »Note, Paper: Light this Rocket, Little Rock edition