Again, more goodies in Space Science Reviews for the new year (volume 222): Zhang, R. Zhang, H. Liu, J. et al. Tianwen-2 Mission of China’s Planetary Exploration Program 11 s11214-026-01268-9 The Tianwen-2 mission, launched last year, will rendezvous with asteroid… Read More »Space Science Reviews Tianwen-2
Nothing from Space Science Reviews for a while, then Boom (vol. 222): Palomba, E. Dirri, F. Gisellu, C. et al. VISTA: Dust and Volatile Sensor for the ESA Hera Mission 10 s11214-026-01266-x The Hera mission to asteroid Didymos and its… Read More »Space Science Reviews Milani-VISTA
Much like the last community survey: NASA Infrared Telescope Facility Strategic Planning: Seeking Community Input The IRTF is, by some metrics, the top telescope for doing asteroid follow-up. It is a major asset within our community. Less often, it is… Read More »IRTF 2026 User Survey
See also Day 1 Day 2 AgendaWednesday, January 14, 2026, 9:00 AM9:00 AM Terik Daly Welcome Mission Updates (Chairs: Masatoshi Hirabayashi, Daniella DellaGiustina)9:05 AM Alia AlMansoori Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt 2nd Justitia occultation campaign performed yesterday. Asteroid mining… Read More »2026 Winter SBAG Meeting, 2
Yes, it’s time again for SBAG (NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group), this time the Winter meeting: 34th Meeting of the NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG)January 13–14, 2026 https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/sbagjan2026/technical_program/?session_no=101 Tuesday, January 13, 2026, 8:30 AM8:30 AM Darryl Seligman Early-Career Icebreaker9:25… Read More »2026 Winter SBAG Meeting, 1
Over the weekend, the Pandora space telescope was launched. Pandora is a small, near-infrared telescope, small enough to be built atop a commercial smallsat bus. This smallsat was in turn mated to a commercial, multi-satellite deployer on its launch vehicle;… Read More »Pandora Mission Launched
The call is out for the 2026 Schweickart Prize. The Prize awards the best new student idea in planetary defense, and related asteroid studies. CALL FOR STUDENT PROPOSALS: 2026 SCHWEICKART PRIZEhttps://www.schweickartprize.org/ Deadline: February 4, 2026. Information webinars with live Q&A… Read More »Call for 2026 Schweickart Prize
The purpose of the Roman Space Telescope- if you could boil it down to one- would be cosmology, not small-body science. Yet a wide field of view- at high sensitivity and small pixels- will inherently catch asteroids/comets, without even trying.… Read More »Roman Space Telescope Call(s)
Again, the American Astronomical Society’s big meeting is about to go on (Jan 4-8), in Phoenix, AZ. https://aas.org/meetings/aas247 Highlights from (effective) day 2, Jan 6: https://submissions.mirasmart.com/AAS247/Itinerary/EventsAAG.aspx See also: Day 1 (ish) Tuesday, January 6 203 – High-Altitude Balloon Astronomy: Instruments,… Read More »AAS Winter 2026 Meeting, Two(sday)
Now up from Space Science Reviews (vol. 222- 2026): Bell, J. F. Elkins-Tanton, L. Polanskey, C. A. The NASA Psyche Mission: The First up-CloseExploration of a Metal-Rich World 5 s11214-025-01255-6 This is one of Space Sci Rev’s “EditorialNotes”. As with… Read More »Space Science Reviews Psyche-Review