The Lunar and Planetary Science Conference continues into day 3-4, Wednesday and Thursday. https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2026/ https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2026/program/ See also: Part I Of the (large) program, here’s my small-body selections: Wednesday, March 18, 2026 Differentiated Bodies: Petrology and Cosmochemistry Neumann W. et al. … Read More »LPSC 2026- Part II
It’s LPSC time. The 57th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference will be held (in the same Houston area) this March 16-20: https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2026/ Really, the LPSC is the big meeting of the annual calendar in this field. This year, there are… Read More »LPSC 2026- Part I
The Meteoritics & Planetary Science issue for March (vol. 61 #3) is finally up: Dobrică, E. Krot, A. N. Brearley, A. J. Shock metamorphic effects in Itokawa phosphates: A comparison with megaregolith-derived meteorites Pg 351 .70102Seifert, L. B. Erickson, T.… Read More »Note, Paper: Merrillite/Apatite Return Flights Writeup
Now up from Geochem J (vol. 60 #2): Matsumoto, Y. Tachibana, S. Dehydration of MgHPO4·3H2O (newberyite) under low pressure conditions and its implications for the surface thermal history of Ruygu and Bennu p7 .GJ26002 Time for some more experimental (laboratory)… Read More »Note, Paper: Phosphate Dehydrate Play
Almost missed this one… PNAS (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.) covers mostly biochem and molecular bio, like many science publications. Those are fields with a lot going on now, so astro is rare. Rare, but not zero- in the Feb. issue… Read More »Note, Paper: Dual Amino Routes Seen
Special guest appearance by our local retrieval principal: The John Batchelor Show S8 Ep463 15 Feb 2026 The show is not a science show. And yet, John’s guest for this episode is Dante Lauretta. You know, Dr. Lauretta, principal investigator… Read More »Batchelor Asteroid Patter
Almost missed this one again… maybe I should give Astronomy magazine more credit: www.astronomy.com/issues/2026/february-2026/www.astronomy.com/science/top-10-space-stories-of-2025/8. An interstellar comet comes to visit6. Bennu and Ryugu may be siblings1. Vera Rubin Observatory begins its surveyHonorable mention: 7. Solar Orbiter, PUNCH, and Proba-3 show… Read More »Telescope Top-Honor Spot
Now up: a lecture, available online, about petrologic Type 1 meteorites and other astromaterials: https://meteoritical.org/society/ed-scott-lecture-series The series, as you might have guessed, are in tribute to Dr. Ed Scott, who died in 2021. Scott was a published and celebrated meteoriticist… Read More »Type 1 Meteorite/Flights, Online…
The January Meteoritics & Planetary Science (vol. 61, #1) is up today. Good on them for recognizing they were behind: Fukai, R. Nishimura, M. Yumoto, K. et al. Nondestructive analysis of Bennu samples toward comparative studies with Ryugu samples P.… Read More »Note, Paper: Sample Analysis And Impacts
Aired Wednesday night, and also available online- a PBS asteroid documentary: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/asteroids-spark-of-life/Nova: Asteroids: Spark of Life? Earth started off as a barren rock. Somehow, it became inhabitable and inhabited. Here we see some of the possible stages in that process,… Read More »Asteroids: Spark of Life? Documentary