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James Tuttle Keane

@jtuttlekeane.bsky.social

planetary scientist 🪐 science illustrator 🎨 trekkie 🖖 dog dad 🐶 Pasadena 🌹 views are my own 🏳️‍🌈 he/him

274 Posts2590 Follower330 Folgt
James Tuttle Keane@jtuttlekeane.bsky.social · 11h ago

Shuang Yang—Chang’e 7 will land near the Moon’s south pole Shackleton crater later this year and deploy (via tether) a seismometer that is planned to survive for 8 years. This might be the first node of a long-lived *international* geophysical network! #AOGS2026

A photograph of my notebook showing a sketch of Shuang Yang (Chinese Academy of Science) talk at AOGS. It shows a low, oblique shot of the Chang’e 7 lander, landed on the Moon, as it lowers its seismometers (SP + VBB) to the surface of the Moon from the bottom of the lander. The seismometer will survive up to 8 years through use of an RHU.
James Tuttle Keane@jtuttlekeane.bsky.social · 12h ago

Ralph Lorenz—Huygens showed that Titan can be wet, even at low latitudes. As Dragonfly flies across Titan, the odds it’ll land in mud are low (<1%), and if so, the stickiness will be again to sticky wheat dough (and Dragonfly could still takeoff). #AOGS2026

A photograph of a sketch in my notebook summarizing Ralph Lorenz’s talk at AOGS2026. The pen and pencil sketch shows two spacecraft on the surface of Titan: Huygens and Dragonfly (loosely to scale). The two grey spacecraft sit on a rock littered orange surface with a yellow hazy sky behind them. Next to Hogan’s, I have a zoom in the regular showing how the acoustic sensor suggested that the soil was damp, with liquid sweating out of it. On the right, I show a little insect of some reel, analog dunes, which very rarely can have intradune lakes form in particular particularly rainy seasons. Situations such as this are predicted to be very rare for Titan, but the Dragonfly mission is planned to handle it.
Don Davis@ddavisspaceart.bsky.social · 3d ago

51 years ago I painted a trio of Viking related works for NASA HQ including the widely reproduced one of the landing on Mars. I have reimagined the Landing portrayal in updated form using digital methods of visualization and painting. I chose the same angle but with reality replacing anticipation.

This oil painting portrays the Viking 1 landing on Mars, which appeared in countless publications. The story of this work is relayed in an earlier post and is shown here for comparison with the new portrayal of this very view, showing the event as it would have appeared. This 1975 anticipatory painting was done with oils on a gesso smoothed 16 X 20 canvas panel, using traditional art methods including a tracing paper guide featured earlier. This work shows in retrospect my ideal of the 'spirit of space art', showing something of a summary of what is known of the subject while conveying what it is about the subject's known or theorized attributes that I find visually compelling. The new digital painting updates that visual impression with one based on our current knowledge. The new digital work was also done at the same size as this one was for possible printing purposes, 16 by 20 inches at 300 DPI. #Sciart In 1976 the pair of Viking spacecraft orbiter/lander combos were sent to Mars. Before Viking, Mars was still largely a place of our imaginations, an unknown that we wrote stories about then studied from Earth and space. The dominance of cratered terrain on the portions of Mars photographed by Mariners 4, 6 and 7 gave an initially Lunar impression of that world, which changed during the development of the Viking lander after Mariner 9 revealed the planet. The first landing was aimed for a flat flood plain, judged as a decent place to search for life. The landing date was July 4, however the intended site appeared too rough for comfort in the high quality orbiter photos, causing the landing to wisely be delayed. A smoother site further 'down stream' was found using photo and radar data. The landing proceeded quite nominally, a magnificent achievement that apparently accounted for what it had to and made it the first time. The first photo from the surface was a look at a footpad to see how solid the 'footing' appeared. Then a moderate resolution panorama of the surroundings was obtained, first showing the rocks, hills, dunes-and bright sky. The latter was my biggest surprise as a space artist. The adjustments to the color balance of the later photos were gradually narrowed down. The ubiquitous dust is planet wide, suspended in the air and coloring the sky a luminous tan ochre. This digital painting shows the view a meter above the surface seeing the lander briefly kicking up dust less than a second before touchdown with the footpads 1.4 meters high. The landing rockets were designed with many nozzles to disturb the surroundings as little as possible. The nearby disturbed dust resembles in color that of the sky. We are 6 meters away from the center of the lander. field of view is 60 degrees, we are looking Northwest with the Sun and Earth off the frame to the left. This is a digital art update of the pre mission oil painting I did for NASA HQ 1n 1975. #Sciart
Casey Dreier@caseydreier.bsky.social · 5d ago

This is why I believe using Endurance-A's science goals are so important to consider in this study. If NASA wants to send a mission to the surface, and it consumes nuclear stockpiles, then let's make sure the science is worth the cost.

SpaceNews @spacenewsinc.bsky.social · 5d ago

Sending repurposed Mars rover to the moon could cost more than $1 billion Converting an engineering model of a Mars rover into an actual lunar rover could cost NASA more than $1 billion, an estimate strongly rejected by the agency’s administrator....

Sending repurposed Mars rover to the moon could cost more than $1 billion

Converting an engineering model of a Mars rover into an actual lunar rover could cost NASA more than $1 billion, an estimate strongly rejected by the agency’s administrator.

spacenews.com

James Tuttle Keane@jtuttlekeane.bsky.social · 7d ago

Episode 1 is of my friend’s new documentary about Pangea is out now on YouTube! youtu.be/RY8mipBWjyw?...

How the Formation of Pangea Changed the World

YouTube video by PBS Eons

youtu.be

James Tuttle Keane@jtuttlekeane.bsky.social · 2w ago

Hey #SDCC! You like geology and paleontology? Come see my friend @paleoparadox.bsky.social in their brand new PBS documentary about Pangea! Free premiere tomorrow (Saturday) at 10AM and 11AM. 🌋⚒️ digitalgym.org/movies/eons-...

The cover art for “Eons: Life and Death on Pangea.” The title is in a large white font across the poster, with an ancient creature and erupting volcano in the background.
Riding With Robots@ridingrobots.bsky.social · last wk.

One of NASA's twin Mars-bound ESCAPADE spacecraft captured Earth and the Moon from 363K miles (584K km) away. In visible light, both appear as slim crescents. But switch to thermal infrared and it’s a different picture... 1/2

Against black space, Earth appears at left as a thin white-green crescent lit along its right edge. The Moon, slightly smaller and dimmer, sits at upper right as a matching tan crescent lit on the same side. Only a sliver of each world catches sunlight; the rest of both disks is lost in darkness.In infrared, Earth glows with heat represented by warm colors, while the Moon remains mostly dark.
Don Davis@ddavisspaceart.bsky.social · 2w ago

I will show my Viking related art in a slow trickle over the next few days, as there is a fair amount of it and a new one is coming. This is a pre mission oil painting done for then USGS Astrogeology branch chief Jack McCauley, based on his anticipations of how the landing site could appear.

This mid 70s oil painting attempts to summarize a leading Astrogeologist's idea of what the surface of Mars in the general intended landing zone on a wide flood plain might look like. Jack McCauley familiarized me with his work in the coastal deserts of Peru and photos of the Dry Valleys of Antarctica, places where likely Mars like surface features could most be seen on Earth. Streamlined 'gravel bars' preserve an ancient wash, with blowing dust filling some of the deeper winding channels. Small impact craters continued to form since the climate dried up. The dark sky suggests the anticipated visual appearance at the known atmospheric density, of course not accounting tor the eternal dust pall that actually ended up brightening the daytime sky. The lander was based on photos of models available at the time. #Sciart
Nick Stevens@nick-stevens.com · 4w ago

Lunar View, after Lucien Rudaux. The original lighting made the central peak pitch black, as it was completely backlit, so I moved the Sun to one side. The Earth is unrealistically large. Terrain in #Gaea, everything else in #Lightwave3d

Lucien Rudaux art, showing Earth and Sun above a lunar crater peak.My take on the scene, lit more from the side, with a central oversized Earth.
Elizabeth Tasker@elizabethtasker.bsky.social · last mo.

The English press release with the first images of asteroid Torifune captured by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft is now live! (I translated, the ISAS PR lead checked it while practically running from the press conference, and someone at JAXA HQ stayed late enough to upload 😆 HIGH-FIVES ALL AROUND!)

JAXA | Hayabusa2 captures images of asteroid Torifune

Get information on the Hayabusa2 captures images of asteroid Torifune. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) performs various activities related to aerospace as an organization, from basic res...

global.jaxa.jp

Element115Art@element115.bsky.social · last mo.

Project UPWARD mapping the moon. This was a joint NRO / NASA plan to send an Apollo capsule to photograph lunar landing sites using a modified recon satellite.

Two squares of lunar terrain with a spaceship over it.
Element115Art@element115.bsky.social · last mo.

Before the Lunar Orbiters were built, NASA and the NRO developed a top secret backup: Project UPWARD. This would have had a Apollo CSM carry a modified KH-8 recon satellite to photograph landing sites. Despite being cancelled, the project details remained classified until 2010.

Paul Voosen@voosen.me · last mo.

This "Promise" pitch/floater will be a good test for the space press who primarily focus on human spaceflight. Talk to planetary scientists. Where's that RTG gonna come from (and take away from)? How in the world do they think it would actually be flight operable?

Marshall@captain-exoplanet.bsky.social · last mo.

June 27, 2006: I graduate from Astronomy Camp at the University of Arizona after a visit to the then-incomplete Large Binocular Telescope June 27, 2026: I obtain the first light spectrum on the iLocater spectrograph, one of the second generation of LBT instruments 🔭🪐 #exoplanets

A slightly dark and grainy photograph of a teenager with long dark hair accepting a graduation certificate and poster from a white-haired man. Both are wearing white "Astronomy Camp 2006" t-shirts. They are standing at the front of a classroom which is filled with other people, many in the same t-shirts.A selfie of a smiling bearded white man wearing a "The Ohio State University Department of Astronomy" hoodie. He is standing in front of a giant telescope, much larger than a house, a huge frame of red and silver metal with a giant circular mirror visible at right.
ESA Space Science@science.esa.int · 2mo ago

Thrusters off 🔴 BepiColombo has switched off its solar electric propulsion as the trio Bepi, Mio and MTM draw closer to Mercury. Meanwhile, on the ground, teams across ESA, JAXA and industry are rehearsing the next critical step for these space adventurers: arriving at Mercury. Stay tuned! 🔭 🧪

ESA Operations@operations.esa.int · 2mo ago

The end of a journey, the start of arrival 🛰️🌑☀️ After 8 years of solar electric propulsion, @esa.int’s BepiColombo switches off SEP as it enters its Mercury arrival phase! What’s next? MTM separation, orbit insertion and a bold new chapter around the innermost planet! 🎉

Emily Lakdawalla 🏳️‍⚧️ Uranus Expert@elakdawalla.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Dear anybody who works at an institition with a good science library: can you please please invite me to have some kind of research visitor electronic library access. A good friend once did this for me through Caltech but it was only allowed for two years and that was a while ago

Emily Lakdawalla 🏳️‍⚧️ Uranus Expert@elakdawalla.bsky.social · 2mo ago

As a researcher who has relied on Google my entire professional life, I am deeply interested in any and all practical answers to this question. I will definitely be doing a lot more digging into bibliographies for more sources but that’s hampered by the fact that I don’t have research library access

Michael Battalio@battalio.com · 2mo ago

Email from MEPAG just now about MEP being forced to pay for Skyfall (Isaacman's ridiculous nuclear rocket and Mars helicopters pet project). Assuming it is true; this is horrific since it means probably having to end existing missions unless there is money added to the MEP budget.

MEP status: The Mars Exploration Program has been directed to absorb and manage the Skyfall payload on the Space Reactor-1 (SR-1) demonstration mission within its budget. This will largely be under the Mars Future Missions line, effectively eliminating any new developments/missions until after SR-1/Skyfall launches. It is also anticipated that the costs for Skyfall will exceed the available funding in that line ($110M), which means that without a budget augmentation in FY27, the chances are quite high that more than one currently operating mission at Mars will be terminated and their funds redirected to supporting Skyfall. FY27 budget status: The President’s budget request for NASA Science looked very much like last year’s, and although members of Congress quickly indicated that request was “DOA”, the House markup is flat (at the FY26 level), with the entire MEP at $300M. This means that a substantial fraction of the MEP’s budget will go to Skyfall. Although launch is slated for late 2028, there are legitimate questions as to whether that is feasible. If that slips to the 2031 opportunity, and the MEP budget is not augmented to cover the added costs of Skyfall over the next several years, the planned program (based on the Mars Future Plan) is unlikely to make substantial progress. The Senate markup has been delayed, so we have a short window of time to show our support for a budget that enables the MEP program of record to continue alongside Skyfall. That would include a new payload pipeline, the previously-planned activities for the Mars Future Missions line, and support for ongoing extended missions that are still returning excellent science data and helping to ensure we maintain a highly skilled scientific and engineering workforce.
ACLU@aclu.org · 2mo ago

There are currently more bills attacking trans youth’s right to play sports across the U.S. than there are trans youth in school sports.