Articles

The Downlink

What can we learn from patterns in the Martian sands? And what’s that Earth-like planet over there?

The Planetary Society

Planetary protection means protecting other worlds from Earthly microbes and containing possible microbes that sample return missions might bring back to Earth.

The Downlink

From solar storms to underwater volcanoes and asteroid close calls, catch up on what’s scary and beautiful this week in space.

The Downlink

Catch up on the week’s space news and consider planetary atmospheres from a few thought-provoking perspectives.

The Downlink

All the wonders that the cosmos offered up this week, plus news about NASA’s leadership and an exciting launch.

The Planetary Society

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.

Jason Davis

Thanks to our members and donors, The Planetary Society participated in several activities at the 2019 International Astronautical Conference.

Amy Simon

Imagine 2 icy worlds far from the Sun. Their serene, blue atmospheres. Huge, ominous-looking storms. Tantalizing glimpses of moons with exotic, icy terrains. Delicate sets of encircling rings.

Ted Stryk

Ted Stryk shows us a new color, near-global view of Europa made from Galileo spacecraft data captured in 1996.

Michael L. Wong

Michael L. Wong asks how our understanding of the origin of life on Earth informs our search for it elsewhere.

Casey Dreier

If you're expecting to gather with extended family on Thanksgiving, avoid the politics. Here are some conversation starters to use at the dinner table that everyone can engage in.

Casey Dreier

John Culberson, an 8-term Texas Republican and staunch supporter the search for life on Europa, lost his re-election bid last week. His support for Europa was attacked by opponents and could send a chilling political message about the consequences of supporting space science and exploration.

Conor Nixon

The terrain of Iceland – the Land of Ice and Fire – has some very interesting similarities to Europa.

Emily Lakdawalla

This week it seems fitting to feature a portrait of the Galilean moons by Galileo.

Harriet Brettle

The Jovian system is a busy place. The Groovy Galilean Satellites session at last week's Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) covered analysis of past mission data, testable hypotheses for future missions, and discussion of the use of ground-based data.

Casey Dreier

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy is not just for big payloads, it can also throw light things into space very fast. And that has significant implications for the exploration of distant destinations in our outer solar system—particularly the ocean moons of the giant planets.

Jason Davis

Europa doesn't have grandiose plumes like Enceladus. So how will the Clipper mission figure out what's in Europa's ocean?

Jason Davis

Will NASA's Space Launch System be ready to launch a Europa mission in 2022?

Emily Lakdawalla

Google Maps released several new map products that allow you to see the locations of named features on many solar system planets and non-planets, spinning them around in space with your mouse.

Ted Stryk

The Voyager missions transformed most of the large worlds of the solar system from points of light into places to be explored.