Articles

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

Hayabusa2 Safe and Sound after Blasting New Crater on Ryugu

Hayabusa2 successfully used its explosive-packed SCI experiment to create an artificial crater on asteroid Ryugu.

Beresheet Has Entered Lunar Orbit!

SpaceIL's Beresheet Moon lander successfully entered lunar orbit today after a 6-minute engine burn that began at 14:18 UTC / 10:18 EDT.

First Science Results from Hayabusa2 Mission

The Hayabusa2 team held a press briefing last week at LPSC to report newly published results on asteroid Ryugu.

What to Expect When Hayabusa2 Blows a Hole in Asteroid Ryugu

The Hayabusa 2 spacecraft will deploy its Small Carry-on Impactor experiment, SCI, on 5 April.

Beresheet Gears up for Lunar Rendezvous

The Israeli spacecraft is set to enter lunar orbit on 4 April at 17:57 UTC (13:57 EDT).

Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Lesser-Known Luminaries

Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block shares some of his latest images highlighting some hidden gems.

OSIRIS-REx sees Bennu spewing stuff into space

The asteroid's rotation rate is also increasing, and scientists continue refining the plan to collect a regolith sample next year.

Where We Are on 1 April 2019

Emily Lakdawalla takes us on a tour of the spacecraft currently exploring from within our solar system. All planets and spacecraft locations are shown at their location for April 1st, 2019.

The subtle color difference between Uranus and Neptune

The color of Uranus and Neptune is similar, but not identical. Uranus appears greener and Neptune bluer.

Hayabusa2 Scores a Bulls-eye on Touchdown, More Explodey Fun on the Horizon

The mission is also gearing up for a possible second sample collection.

Yutu-2 Rocks On into Lunar Day 3 for Chang’e-4 mission

China’s Yutu-2 rover is continuing to make tracks on the lunar far side.

Watch Hayabusa2's incredible touchdown on asteroid Ryugu

The spacecraft fired a bullet into the surface and unleashed a massive spray of debris.

Result's of InSight's first hammering attempt, sol 92

InSight Update, Sol 92: The Mole Did Hit a Rock

The HP3 mole started hammering itself today, and almost immediately (after just 5 minutes) appears to have encountered a rock. No matter; they'll try again Saturday.

Fun With a New Data Set: The OSIRIS-REx Earth Flyby

The OSIRIS-REx team recently issued their first data release to the Planetary Data System. This release doesn’t include any closeup pictures of asteroid Bennu, but it does include all the pictures they took during their September 2017 Earth flyby.