Articles

The Downlink

Liquids do all kinds of interesting things on planetary surfaces, from creating rippled impact craters to streaming out from under carbon dioxide glaciers.

Casey Dreier

Good for space, bad for NASA? Here's what to watch for as NASA enters into Trump's second term.

The Downlink

It’s been a great year for space exploration. Now you get to pick the highlights.

The Downlink

Perseverance faces a hard climb, but New Horizons proves it’s worth going the distance.

The Downlink

From logos to policy to mission architectures, if you want to achieve something in space, you’ve got to design it first.

Jack Kiraly

An overview of what U.S. space policy might look like under a Trump or a Harris administration.

The Downlink

With the Sun at the peak of its activity cycle, we Earthlings get treated to some awesome sights. Plus, some truly awe-inspiring launches happened this week.

Kate Howells

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft launched today aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The Downlink

Asteroids that come in pairs, matching volcanic features on Mars and Earth, and the potential space policies of two administrations.

Kate Howells

The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft launched on Oct. 7, 2024, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It will travel to the Didymos-Dimorphos asteroid system to study the aftermath of the first-ever field test of an asteroid deflection technique.

The Downlink

This week we look forward to launches, gaze at glowing auroras, and get creative with glitter.

Casey Dreier

Europa Clipper will soon head for Jupiter's icy, potentially habitable moon. Without the advocacy efforts of The Planetary Society and our members, the mission may never have been possible.

The Downlink

A Martian cloud atlas, LightSail wins big, and multiple missions coast toward launch.

Asa Stahl

Catch this once-in-a-lifetime comet over the next few days.

Kate Howells

The European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing to launch a mission to study the aftermath of DART's impact on the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos.

Asa Stahl

For a mission that doesn’t aim to find alien life, Europa Clipper may come surprisingly close.

Casey Dreier

Weeks before the new fiscal year, Congress still hasn't finalized NASA's 2025 budget.

The Downlink

Cameras on spacecraft are our eyes into the Cosmos. Sometimes they teach us things, sometimes they reveal gaps in our knowledge.

Kate Howells

NASA is preparing to launch its flagship mission to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa. Launching sometime in October 2024 and arriving in 2030, the mission will explore the icy world with a subsurface ocean that scientists think could have conditions favorable to life.

The Downlink

Life thrives on Earth, and we even send evidence of our presence out into the Solar System. Is anyone out there looking for us?