The launch of the SPHEREx spectrometry mission and PUNCH heliospheric mission, on a single rocket, was successful. All four PUNCHes and SPHEREx deployed from the second stage. SPHEREx, for one, has successfully communicated with the ground; the PUNCH team has… Read More »SPHEREx, PUNCH Up
…we continue with Day 3 (see also Days 1 and 2): Program (https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2025/technical_program/#20250310) Wednesday, March 12, 2025 Space Weathering https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2025/technical_program/?session_no=403Effect of Oxygen Ion Irradiation on the Visible, Infrared, and Raman Spectra of Phobos Candidate Materials: Implications on the Space Weathering… Read More »56th LPSC (2025): Wed, Day 3
Launch delay, again. The SPHEREx mission (plus the PUNCH cluster as secondary payloads) is on hold for the time being; issues with the Starship rocket apparently warrant an investigation across the SpaceX booster lineup.
The launch of SPHEREX has been pushed back to Tuesday night. For a quick rundown of (one of) the mission’s primary drivers, see this recent article in Science. Of course, the spacecraft and its spectrometer are useful for multiple investigations,… Read More »SPHEREx science, in Science
Yes, I know it was days ago and I’m falling behind. I said it was a big meeting, with lots of talks. TP9 Thu, 12 SepImpact Processes in the Solar System Chrysa Avdellidou; Co- Robert Luther, Elena Martellato, Isabel Herreros,… Read More »Europlanet. Sci. Congress 2024, Part Delta
Summer means a Summer meeting of the Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG, www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/). Now, my recap of Day 2. (see Day 1) – An update of DESTINY+, JAXA’s mission to rock comet (3200) Phaethon. Yes, a rock comet. Ground observations… Read More »SBAG, Summer 2024 day 2
I gave an update on the Vera Rubin Observatory. Undeniably, VRO is (will be…) a game changer. Also noteworthy but less newsworthy: the SPHEREx spacecraft is built: spherex.caltech.edu SPHEREx, for Spectro-PHotometric ices and Epoch of Reionization Explorer, is a NASA… Read More »First Light (Flight) in Sight…
… to conclude. Besides obvious results on Ryugu/Bennu, the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference covered lots of other topics this year. You know, Planetary Science: -The DART mission succeeded, as we saw. An entire session (Tue 8:20 am), Characterization of… Read More »LPSC Meeting 2024, part 3
And the final day of the conference: – Dr. B. Holler presented on the Roman Space Telescope (ex-WFIRST). It is on track for launch in a few short years. That’s the good news; too bad small-body mission aspects have been… Read More »SBAG, Winter 2024-Day 3