Solar System Dynamics - This site provides information related to the orbits, physical characteristics, and discovery circumstances for most known natural bodies in orbit around our sun. Solar System Known bodies in the solar system larger than 200 miles in diameter Elongation/Opposition Dates Views of the Solar System presents a vivid multimedia adventure unfolding the splendor of the Sun, planets, moons, comets, asteroids, and more. Discover the latest scientific information, or study the history of space exploration, rocketry, early astronauts, space missions, spacecraft through a vast archive of photographs, scientific facts, text, graphics and videos. Views of the Solar System offers enhanced exploration and educational enjoyment of the solar system and beyond. The Nine Planets is an overview of the history, mythology, and current scientific knowledge of each of the planets and moons in our solar system. Each page has text and images, some have sounds and movies, most provide references to additional related information. Interplanetary spacecraft have revolutionized planetary science. Very little of this document would have been possible without the space program. Mars Exploration Rover Mission Mars Exploration Rover Images (Latest) Mars Exploration Rovers Images (Stereo Pairs) The big science question for the Mars Exploration Rovers is how past water activity on Mars has influenced the red planet's environment over time. While there is no liquid water on the surface of Mars today, the record of past water activity on Mars can be found in the rocks, minerals, and geologic landforms, particularly in those that can only form in the presence of water. That's why the rovers are specially equipped with tools to study a diverse collection of rocks and soils Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - is on a search for evidence that water persisted on the surface of Mars for a long period of time. While other Mars missions have shown that water flowed across the surface in Mars' history, it remains a mystery whether water was ever around long enough to provide a habitat for life. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will study the history of water on Mars. Mars Global Surveyor - In mid-August 2001, the orientation of the MGS spacecraft was changed so that the camera (which is fixed firmly to the spacecraft) no longer looks straight down towards the planet. This change, part of an effort to save fuel and further extend the lifetime of the MGS mission, orients the spacecraft so that the camera points 16° off-nadir. For MOC, this meant an increase in the number of sites that could be re-photographed to provide stereo (3-D) coverage. This added bonus for MOC also translated to additional stereo coverage for the sites being studied for the 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers. Images covering the 2003 rover sites are released each month. Image Archive Cassini-Huygens - After a seven-year voyage that includes four gravity-assist maneuvers, Cassini entered Saturn's orbit in July of 2004. It then began a four-year mission that includes more than 70 orbits around the ringed planet and its moons. Pointing its various instruments at carefully calculated scientific targets, Cassini will collect detailed data on Saturn, its rings and the 30 known moons orbiting this gas giant. Galileo Mission Legacy (ppt) Galileo - Launched in 1989, the Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter on December 7, 1995, when it fired its main engine for a successful orbit capture around Jupiter. On that day, Galileo's atmospheric probe plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere and relayed information on the structure and composition of the solar system's largest planet. The spacecraft's orbiter spent the next several years orbiting the giant planet, studying Jupiter and its moons (encountering one moon during each orbit), and returning a steady stream of images and scientific data. JPL's Solar System Simulator Jupiter satellite events and GRS times Jupiter's Known Satellites Interactive Star Atlas   Object Catalogue: Planets Planetary Summary JPL's Ephemeris Generator Twelve Year Planetary Ephemeris: 1995 - 2006 Association of Lunar & Planetary Observers (data) U.S. Naval Observatory - Data Services Clickable Planetary Maps Planetary Maps The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia - The discovery of the first extra-solar planet surrounding a main-sequence star was announced in 1995, based on very precise radial velocity (Doppler) measurements. A total of 34 such planets were known by the end of March 2000, and their numbers are growing steadily. The newly-discovered systems confirm some of the features predicted by standard theories of star and planet formation, but systems with massive planets having very small orbital radii and large eccentricities are common and were generally unexpected. The Search for Extrasolar Planets - A "planet" is an object that has a mass between that of Pluto and 10 Jupiter masses and that forms from material that is orbiting an object above 10 Jupiter masses.     © Copyright 2007 - Samuel J. Wormley   by swormley1@mchsi.com