The first edition of The Planetary Post, hosted by Bill Nye, aka “The Science Guy” and actor Robert Picardo, best known for his role as the Emergency Medical Hologram in Star Trek spin-off, Voyager, aired on social media Feb. 16.
If the inaugural Planetary Post is anything to go by, garnering over 1,200 Facebook Likes and over 18,000 pageviews in less than 12 hours, it’s likely to become an indispensable addition to the news-feed of anyone with an interest in astronomy and space exploration.
Crystal clear graphics, superb production quality and two well known presenters combine to provide a highly watchable first edition that gives viewers an intro to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Exomars Trace Gas Orbiter scheduled for launch in March 2016.
The Exomars TGO will search for hydrogen, at up to depths of one metre, locked up in Martian soil and rocks by using spectrometric technology.
The TGO is just one element of the Exomars project, a collaborative effort involving the ESA and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), that will also see an Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM), called ‘Schiaparelli,’ set off for the Red Planet in 2018.
Also covered in this month’s Planetary Post is the imminent Space Advocacy Blitz of the US Congress slated for Feb. 21-23. Bill Nye, a veteran of previous Blitz’s, outlined how the Blitz involves petitioning Congress-people and staffers in support of planetary science. Recent Space Advocacy Blitz successes have seen the US planetary science budget exceed $1.5 billion for the first time in many years as well as securing a commitment to NASA’s planned Europa mission.
The Europa mission will explore Jupiter’s moon Europa, often considered as one of the most promising locations in the solar system to search for signs of extraterrestrial life.
Anyone wishing to learn more can sign up to receive future editions of the Planetary Post and periodic updates via The Planetary Society’s website.
