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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Fall 2017 issue of The Planetary Report now available
The Fall 2017 issue of The Planetary Report is in the mail and available online now to our members!
Cassini: The dying of the light
Cassini is no more. At 10:31 according to its own clock, its thrusters could no longer hold its radio antenna pointed at Earth, and it turned away. A minute later, it vaporized in Saturn’s atmosphere. Its atoms are part of Saturn now.
And then there was one
The end of the Cassini mission is a harbinger for a looming gap in outer planets exploration missions.
What to expect during Cassini's final hours
A timeline of what to expect from the great mission during its final hours.
A guide to Cassini's remaining orbits
Sadly, the Cassini mission ends soon. We're halfway through the
Saturn's small satellites, to scale
Emily shares another of her popular size comparisons of solar system bodies, taking advantage of Cassini's recent views of Saturn's tiniest moons.
Cassini's 'Grand Finale' Portrait of Saturn
Amateur image processor Ian Regan shares a stunning mosaic of Saturn in all its ringed glory.
Radar in Earth and Planetary Science, Part 2
Heather Hunter brings us the next installment in her series on radio detection and ranging.
Saturn and Titan in the Milky Way
An unusual photo of Saturn by astrophotographer Damian Peach shows the planet and its largest moon nestled among the star-filled lane of the Milky Way.
Trusty Cassini survives first dive between Saturn and its rings
Cheers erupted in the Von Karman auditorium at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory early Thursday morning as a squiggly green line on a graph developed a crisp, tall peak, signifying that the Cassini spacecraft was calling home after surviving its first plunge between Saturn and its ring system.
This weekend, it's the beginning of the end for Cassini
NASA's long-lived Cassini spacecraft is about to buzz Titan for the final time, putting it on course for a spectacular mission finale that concludes in September.
Another smoking gun in the search for life in Enceladus’ ocean
NASA's Cassini spacecraft sniffed out molecular hydrogen spewing from Enceladus' subsurface ocean. The discovery means Saturn's moon has all the basic ingredients needed to support life.
Cassini, with only a half-year to go at Saturn, just keeps dropping awesome images
Our latest roundup of Cassini goodies from Saturn includes Pan, a ravioli-shaped moon that orbits inside the planet's ring system.
Radar in Earth and Planetary Science: An Intro
Heather Hunter explains how radar works and what it's used for on Earth and beyond.
Amazing photos of tiny moons as Cassini orbits among the rings
Behold: Daphnis, the tiny, 8-kilometer moon that orbits within a ring gap, gently tugging on the edges of the gap to create delicate scallops.
Spaceflight in 2017, part 2: Robots beyond Earth orbit
What's ahead for our intrepid space explorers in 2017? It'll be the end of Cassini, but not before the mission performs great science close to the rings. OSIRIS-REx will fly by Earth, and Chang'e 5 will launch to the Moon, as a host of other spacecraft continue their ongoing missions.
Serene Saturn (or the “Glutton for Punishment” mosaic)
A week ago Saturday I decided -- against my better judgment -- to tackle this monster of a mosaic. I call it the
What's up in the solar system, November 2016 edition: Cassini takes a leap, ExoMars starts science, Long March 5 launch
Cassini is going to make a major change to its orbit, getting much close to Saturn, setting up 20
What's up in the solar system, October 2016 edition: ExoMars arrives!
ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter arrives on October 19, and it will deliver the Schiaparelli lander to its brief life on the Martian surface. Juno's headed into its science orbit, MOM has released science data, and New Horizons will finally finish downlinking Pluto flyby data.
One year remains in the Cassini mission
Cassini ends a year from today, which is sad. But the final year of the mission is going to be awesome.