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The Planetary Report December Solstice 2011 Volume 31, Number 5

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The Planetary Report December Solstice 2011 Volume 31, Number 5 THE PLANETARY REPORT DECEMBER SOLSTICE 2011 VOLUME 31, NUMBER 5 www.planetary.org REMEMBERING THE YEAR IN PICTURES NEW (OLD) VENUS IMAGES C POLITICAL ACTION 2011 UPDATE C SHOEMAKER GRANT RECIPIENTS SNAPSHOTS FROM SPACE EMILY STEWART LAKDAWALLA blogs at planetary.org/blog. New images, old camera 1975 was a good-looking year for Venus VENERA 9 BECAME THE FIRST ARTIFICIAL satellite of Venus, and its lander was the first to photograph Venus’ surface, on October 20, 1975. One of its two cameras, a line-scanner that rotated in order to build a complete image, returned two views of a rock-strewn hillside. The scanner was angled from the spacecraft’s body, so this panorama shows the horizon at its edges and the Images: Russian Academy of Sciences/Don Mitchell Sciences/Don of Academy Russian Images: ground in front of the lander at its center. This view was reconstructed by Don Mitchell from data on tapes exchanged between the Soviet Union and Brown University. More recently, digital data have become available online, and Mitchell used those data to reconstruct a view of Venus (at right) captured by the Venera 9 orbiter on December 11, 1975. For more Venera photos, visit Mitchell’s website at MENTALLANDSCAPE.COM. —Emily Stewart Lakdawalla LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS IMAGE PLANETARY.ORG/SNAPSHOTS DIS COVER MORE ABOUT AMATEUR IMAGE PROCESSING PLANETARY.ORG/PROGRAMS/PROJECTS/AMATEUR SEE MORE EVERY DAY! PLANETARY.ORG/BLOG CONTACT US The Planetary Society 85 South Grand Avenue Pasadena, CA 91105-1602 General Calls: 626-793-5100 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: planetary.org 2 THE PLANETARY REPORT C DECEMBER SOLSTICE 2011 SNAPSHOTS FROM SPACE CONTENTS DECEMBER SOLSTICE 2011 The Year in Pictures Stunning photography of breakthroughs 6 in space science from the the past year. MIDDLE OF THE MAGAZINE Planetary Society Kids How do we gather light in space? And how do telescopes work? 2011 Advocacy Wrap-Up The big story of the year was how NASA got the short end 13 of the stick in the fiscal year 2012 budget. By Charlene M. Anderson A Letter from Russia As hopes for Phobos-Grunt fade away, Bruce Betts shares a letter 18 from the Russians as well as his thoughts on the mission. Protecting Earth from Asteroids Shoemaker Grant recipients are profiled, and Bruce Betts heads 20 to Romania for the 2011 International Academy of Astronautics Planetary Defense Conference. DEPARTMENTS 2 Snapshots from Space 1975 was good for Venus. 4 Your Place in Space Bill Nye reflects on the events, discoveries, and wonderful people who made 2011 a year to remember in space science. 16 Q&A How are spacecraft decommissioned? 17 Factinos Lakes on Europa; water vapor surrounding a young star. 19 What’s Up? The two brightest planets in the sky. 22 Planetary Radio Catch up with what happened on Planetary Radio recently. 23 MySky Members’ photos of the sky. ON THE COVER: After 30 years and 135 flights, the United States’ space shuttle program has ended. On July 8, 2011, the last shuttle— Atlantis—roared into a blue Florida sky to carry four tons of supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station. With Atlantis and its sisters Discovery and Endeavour now headed for museums, the space station will now depend on Russian, Japanese, and European rockets to deliver supplies, and hope for privately built supply ships to become available soon. Photo: Ben Cooper/LaunchPhotography.com CONTACT US The Planetary Report (ISSN 0736-3680) is published quarterly at the editorial offices Editor CHARLENE M. ANDERSON The Planetary Society of The Planetary Society, 85 South Grand Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105-1602, 626- Managing Editor JENNIFER VAUGHN 85 South Grand Avenue 793-5100. It is available to members of The Planetary Society. Annual dues in the Associate Editor DONNA ESCANDON STEVENS Pasadena, CA 91105-1602 United States are $37 (U.S. dollars); in Canada, $40 (Canadian dollars). Dues in other Art Director LOREN A. ROBERTS for HEARKEN CREATIVE General Calls: 626-793-5100 countries are $57 (U.S. dollars). Printed in USA. Third-class postage at Pasadena, Copy Editor A. J. SOBCZAK E-mail: [email protected] California, and at an additional mailing office. Canada Post Agreement Number Proofreader LOIS SMITH Internet: planetary.org 87424. Technical Editor JAMES D. BURKE Science Editor BRUCE BETTS Viewpoints expressed in columns and editorials are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent positions of The Planetary Society, its officers, or its advisers. © 2011 by The Planetary Society. YOUR PLACE IN SPACE COFOUNDER CARL SAGAN BILL NYE is executive director 1934–1996 of The Planetary Society. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chairman of the Board DAN GERACI CEO, Iron Age Consulting Corp. President JAMES BELL EVERY 26 MONTHS, a launch window opens you are part of another adventure in space. Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University up that lets us go to Mars. Such a window You are a participant. Vice President HEIDI HAMMEL opened this year. With your help, we’ve just about com- Senior Research Scientist and Co-Director, Research, Space Science Institute I made the trip to Cape Canaveral, Florida pleted our two LightSail-1™ spacecraft. These Executive Director to be part of NASA’s “Tweetup” for the are remarkable machines; with the highest BILL NYE science educator November 28 launch of Curiosity, the next thrust-to-mass ratio of any solar sail, they are Photo: United Launch Alliance Launch Alliance United Photo: ANN DRUYAN the highest-performance solar sail spacecraft Chief Executive Officer, Cosmos Studios rover on Mars. I’ve seen a few launches now; LOUIS D. FRIEDMAN each is spectacular in its own way. This one ever built, even better than our own earlier Cofounder left right on time—to the second. The power, Cosmos-1. When we get one into space, it will G. SCOTT HUBBARD professor, Stanford University the sound, and the extent of the exhaust be the most maneuverable solar sail craft to WESLEY T. HUNTRESS JR. Director Emeritus, Geophysical Laboratory, flames are all spectacular features of this date, able to tack its sails with every orbit Carnegie Institution of Washington business. When we stop to consider that around Earth. Twice every 100 minutes or LON LEVIN SkySevenVentures this piece of hardware—this spacecraft—is so, the spacecraft will twist, either to present ALEXIS LIVANOS headed to another world and never coming its sails broadside to sunbeams for maximum Corporate Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Northrop Grumman back, it reminds us of just what our humble thrust or to work its way toward the Sun JOHN LOGSDON Professor Emeritus, Space Policy Institute, species can accomplish. In a way, we’re in edge-on to minimize what will become the The George Washington University the golden age of planetary exploration. Sun’s repelling force. It will also feature amaz- Advisory Council Chair CHRISTOPHER P. McKAY At the same time, we’re at a crossroads. ingly compact accelerometers that will imbue planetary scientist BRUCE MURRAY Unless we keep our advocacy strong, space LightSail-1 with the ability to compute and Cofounder programs around the world will founder. transmit its own movement. For the first time ELON MUSK Chairman and CEO, SpaceX Once again, thanks for your support. in the history of solar sailing, ground telem- JOSEPH RYAN As I write, the Phobos-Grunt (Soil) space- etry will be the secondary source of position Ryan Investments, LLP BIJAL “BEE” THAKORE craft—and our Phobos LIFE biomodule— data. Frankly, my favorite aspect is that you Regional Coordinator for Asia Pacific, Space Generation Advisory Council have been written off as a loss. Despite built this spacecraft. You saw the niche, the NEIL deGRASSE TYSON focused efforts by Roscosmos, the Russian opportunity to produce a space vehicle like astrophysicist and Director, Hayden Planetarium, space agency, and ESA, the European Space no other, and you participated and supported American Museum of Natural History INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL Agency, we could not find a way to awaken us. Thank you. ROGER-MAURICE BONNET Executive Director, the spacecraft, fire its engine, and send it on We very much hope to launch LightSail-1 International Space Science Institute its way to Mars’ extraordinary moon. In this before the end of 2012. We await a “ride” to YASUNORI MATOGAWA Associate Executive Director, issue we share excerpts from a letter written a bit of an unusual altitude; we need to get Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency MAMORU MOHRI by Lev Zelenyi, director of Russia’s Space to a medium Earth orbit (MEO) of about 840 Director, National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation Research Center, to all participants in the kilometers (450 nautical miles). Some years, RISTO PELLINEN mission. It was a bold undertaking by our space agencies and commercial compa- Director of Science in Space Research, Finnish Meteorological Institute colleagues at Roscosmos. Here’s hoping the nies around the world send several rockets ADVISORY COUNCIL rocket scientists, technicians, and mission to MEOs; other years, not so many. We’re BUZZ ALDRIN RICHARD BERENDZEN planners involved have the courage to try hoping that next year, we will launch on one JACQUES BLAMONT RAY BRADBURY again. Please follow news of the mission on of the few. ROBERT. D. BRAUN DAVID BRIN . JAMES CANTRELL planetary.org/blog Also this year, our staff and Board were FRANKLIN CHANG-DIAZ FRANK DRAKE Phobos-Grunt demonstrates once again recognized for some great work. Our own OWEN GARRIOTT GARRY E. HUNT the tremendous difficulty of space explora- Mat Kaplan accepted the Parsec Award for BRUCE JAKOSKY THOMAS D. JONES tion. Although this mission did not succeed, the “Best Science Behind the Fiction” at SERGEI KAPITSA CHARLES E.
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