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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
The view from a rover’s eyes, and tips for viewing the night sky
What do professional basketball players have in common with a Mars rover? Plus more news from the adventure of space exploration.
Jupiter from near and far, and two humans return to Earth
This week, learn about the conditions of the early solar system and get ready for next week’s meteor shower, plus more.
Say hello to Saturn and bon voyage to Perseverance
With 3 spacecraft en route to Mars, we’re sharing mission news, Martian maps, and a chance to meet Bill Nye.
The Cost of Perseverance, in Context
Disney’s global box office revenue for Avengers. The amount of money Google makes in 6 days. The cost of NASA's Perseverance rover is less than you might think.
Missions to Mars, and exoplanets caught on camera
Everything you need to know about two missions en route to Mars and another gearing up for launch, plus the rest of the week’s space news.
Perseverance Microphones Fulfill Planetary Society Campaign to Hear Sounds from Mars
The first Mars microphone, sponsored by The Planetary Society, flew aboard NASA's Polar Lander spacecraft, which crashed on the Red Planet in 1999.
Imaging and imagination in space
Learn about The Planetary Society’s vision for the next decade of exploration and get up to speed on space news.
Sample Return Roundup
It's a banner year for sample return missions. In 2020, China, Japan, and the United States are all scheduled to have sample return missions in flight, seeking to retrieve material from near-Earth asteroids, the Moon, and eventually Mars.
Every Mars landing attempt as of June 2020
Two maps by The Planetary Society show all the places we've landed or crashed on Mars as of June 2020.
Visiting Perseverance During Its Final Week at JPL
An undergraduate physics research student describes her visit to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to see the Perseverance rover before it shipped to Florida for launch.
Here's How Scientists Mapped the Perseverance Rover's Landing Site
The maps will help plan scientific field trips for the rover as it explores an ancient river delta.
The Next 10 Years
Six scientists share the major planetary science discoveries of the past decade, and the questions that will drive the next 10 years of solar system exploration.
Two Mars Missions Are Gutted Despite Near-Record Funding for Planetary Science
A new budget submission from the White House would continue record-high funding for planetary science, but proposes deep cuts to 2 productive Mars missions and defers funding for deep space telescope dedicated to finding hazardous near-Earth objects.
A New Understanding
Abigail Fraeman examines how the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, changed our view of Mars.
What Comes Next on Mars?
Javier Gómez-Elvira anticipates the next phase of the search for life on the Red Planet.
The Solar System According to Carolyn Porco
The leader of the Cassini spacecraft imaging team discusses pale blue dots, life on Enceladus, terraforming Mars, Pluto, Carl Sagan, and more.
In 1983, Carl Sagan Urged NASA to Send a Mission to Saturn and Titan
Long before the Cassini-Hugygens spacecraft launched in 1997 to explore Saturn and Titan, The Planetary Society urged NASA to make the mission a reality.
NASA to Build New Asteroid-Hunting Space Telescope
The yet-to-be-named telescope would launch as soon as 2024, as part of NASA's new, multi-pronged approach to planetary defense.
Astronomers May Have Found an Interstellar Comet. Here's Why That Matters.
Astrophysicist Karl Battams tells us what we can learn by studying objects from outside our solar system.
India's Vikram Spacecraft Apparently Crash-Lands on Moon
Communications were lost with the lander, which was carrying a small rover named Pragyan to the lunar surface.