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
In the February 2026 Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy (vol. 138 #1): Voyatzis, G. Gkolias, I. Gaitanas, M. et al. Terminator periodic orbits around binary asteroids: an application to the ESA Hera mission 2 s10569-025-10274-y Irregular shapes give irregular gravity… Read More »Note, Paper: Dimorphos Sol-oriented Orbits
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
Just posted on the ol’ arXiv, more engineering than science: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics > arxiv.org/abs/2601.02533Hibberd, A. Eubanks, T. M. Catching 3I/ATLAS Using a Solar OberthSubmitted on 5 Jan 2026 Not only is our object of interest ATLAS from another… Read More »3I High-Speed Flyby Try?
The Winter 2025 meeting of the AAS (American Astronomical Society), Jan 4-8, Phoenix, AZ, concludes soon: https://aas.org/meetings/aas247 Again, my cull of small-body-relevant agenda items. Most of the meeting is general astronomy, not small bodies or Solar System items: https://submissions.mirasmart.com/AAS247/Itinerary/EventsAAG.aspx See… Read More »AAS Winter 2026 Meeting, Three
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