Articles

Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.

Treasure Hunting With Hayabusa2

IN THE EARLY hours of 22 February, light was just beginning to brighten the campus of JAXA’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Sciences (ISAS) in Kanagawa, Japan. It should have been a quiet time, but the Hayabusa2 control room was packed with people. We were about to land on an asteroid.

Hayabusa2 drops second target marker, targets artificial crater for sample collection

The reflective softball-sized sphere will give the spacecraft a visual guide during a second potential sample collection.

Noctilucent Clouds, Curiosity sol 2410 (colorized)

Curiosity Gazes Upon Noctilucent Clouds Over Gale Crater

Wispy clouds of stunning beauty fly over Curiosity every evening.

LightSail 2 artist concept with Earth behind

LightSail Launch Event

LightSail 2’s launch window opens on June 22, and we are finalizing plans for our launch viewing celebrations. Once we have finished coordinating the details with the Air Force’s STP-2 mission team and the Kennedy Space Center, we will share them with all of our members and backers so that you can join us in person or remotely via the internet.

Hayabusa2 shadow during aborted 2nd target marker drop

Hayabusa2 Encounters Snag Trying to Drop Second Target Marker

The spacecraft is healthy and safe, but time is running out to collect a second sample from asteroid Ryugu.

Beresheet impact site on the Moon, before and after

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Images Beresheet Impact Site

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has successfully imaged the impact site of the Beresheet lander, which made a really good run at performing the first privately funded Moon landing on 11 April, but crashed after the failure of its main engine.

Chang’e-4 may have discovered material from the Moon’s mantle

The first science results from the unprecedented Chang’e-4 lunar far side mission are in. The mission’s Yutu-2 rover, deployed from the lander shortly after the Chang’e-4 landing on 3 January, has, with the help of the Queqiao relay satellite, returned data which suggests it has discovered material derived from the Moon’s mantle.

View of the North from Bennu’s Southern Hemisphere

Here's a Roundup of Recent OSIRIS-REx Postcards from Bennu

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is currently sweeping arcs between the asteroid's north and south poles.

Crescent Earth and Moon from Longjiang-2

China’s SmallSat Lunar Mission Longjiang-2 to Deorbit on 31 July

According to amateur spacecraft tracker Daniel Estévez, Longjiang-2 will crash into the Moon on 31 July after more than a year in lunar orbit.

Here’s an Update on Hayabusa2’s Crater-Creating Explosion

Hayabusa2's SCI experiment fell toward Ryugu for 40 minutes before detonating about 300 meters above the surface.

Chandrayaan-2 Launch Delayed until July

India's combination lunar orbiter, lander, and rover spacecraft was previously scheduled to lift off in May.

The Mars Exploration Rovers Update: The Final Report

It’s a fall afternoon at Endeavour Crater. The summer winds finally lost their energy and the dust storm season is over. But there are no more signals coming from Earth. No more comm sessions with the orbiters. Nothing like it used to be.

Shifting Rocks at the Aberlady Drill Site

Curiosity Update, Sols 2313-2387: Two New Drill Holes Despite Memory Problems

The Curiosity team is touring Glen Torridon, the Valley of Clay, south of Vera Rubin Ridge, happily photographing everything and zapping rocks. It’s clearly a delight for the team to be in a place they’ve been hoping to reach for 7 years.

Dust accumulation on InSight's solar panels to sol 122

InSight Detects Some Very Small Marsquakes

InSight has finally detected its first Marsquakes, but so far, none have been large enough to produce good science. Still, it’s great news that the seismometer is producing sensible data.