Visiting the Birthplace of PlanetVac

Space is hard. Sample collection and return is harder still. That’s why the radically-simplified PlanetVac system from Honeybee Robotics is so intriguing. Join Planetary Society Chief Scientist Bruce Betts and host Mat Kaplan on a tour of Honeybee that includes a PlanetVac demo. Bruce returns for this week’s What’s Up jaunt around the night sky. Planetary Society Digital Editor Jason Davis shares big news about the LightSail 2 solar sail and the next SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch.

Related Links:

• PlanetVac Xodiac
• Honeybee Robotics
• Masten Space Systems Xodiac
• LightSail 2 Launch update
• March 24, 2018 In the Shadow Eclipse Documentary Premiere at SIU
• April 7, 2018 Yuri’s Night LA Celebration
• May 8-10 Explore Mars Humans to Mars Summit in Washington D.C.
• May 24-27, 2018 National Space Society International Space Development Conference in Los Angeles

This week's prizes are a Planetary Society t-shirt and a 200-point iTelescope.net astronomy account.

This week's question:

How many missions in NASA’s Mercury program carried humans into space?

To submit your answer:

Complete the contest entry form at http://planetary.org/radiocontest or write to us at [email protected] no later than Wednesday, March 14th at 8am Pacific Time. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Last week's question:

What is the second brightest star in the night sky as seen from either hemisphere?

Answer:

The answer will be revealed next week.

Question from the week before:

What two planets in our solar system have about the same surface gravity?

Answer:

We wanted to hear that Mercury and Mars are the closest in surface gravity, but would have also accepted Venus and Uranus.