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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Would you like some salty water with your space salad?
Two new grant-winning projects, a collection of awesome space imagery, a mighty plume, and much more this week in space.
Space salads and salty waters
The two winning proposals in the 2023 round of STEP grants are a project that will compare different methods of growing edible plants in simulated deep-space exploration conditions, and a project that will study salty lakes on Earth that share characteristics with the past and present oceans of other planets and moons.
Hard-working spacecraft and even harder-working microbes
The Soyuz spacecraft have been helping humans get to and from space for decades, but that’s nothing compared to the billions of years that microorganisms have been making life on Earth possible.
Moonshadow, Moonshadow
The Moon casts shadows on itself and on Earth, environmental concerns overshadow a test launch’s success, and exoplanets are awesome (beyond a shadow of a doubt).
Asteroids worth getting psyched about
New discoveries from Ryugu, material heading our way from Bennu, and anticipation for a mission to Psyche.
The Planetary Society’s Space Book Club
Announcing a new space book club, where Planetary Society members can discuss great books and connect directly with authors and other experts.
Volcanic Venus, myriad moons, and space sonification
Learn all about the possible volcanic activity found on Venus, the facts about a hyped-up near-Earth asteroid, Jupiter’s newest moons, and what space images sound like.
Spectacularly crepuscular!
Curiosity captures crepuscular rays on Mars, a new member community launches, and solar sailing takes exploration into the future.
Welcome to your member community!
The Planetary Society has a new virtual space for members to connect and work together to advance space science and exploration.
The future of solar sailing
An exciting future for solar sailing is on the horizon.
Harnessing the power of the crowd
The Planetary Society has a long history of helping the public make progress in space exploration.
Never let a rock sneak up on you
Finding asteroids before they hit Earth not only protects us from harm, it can also yield beautiful photos.
Weaving together a picture of the Cosmos
When we combine data sources, collaborate with each other, and invite artistic perspectives, we can better understand the Universe we live in.
More worlds, anyone?
The more we search, the more we find. From exoplanets to moons to asteroids, the list of worlds just keeps growing.
I spy with my technologically enhanced eye
Seeing more with infrared cameras, radar telescopes, and good old-fashioned artistic instincts.
Here are some of our favorite LightSail 2 pictures
LightSail 2 captured numerous images to help the mission team monitor the sail and showcase the beauty of solar sailing.
Worthy goals for a lifelong love of space
Our new list of Space Life Goals will help inspire your passion for space. Catch up on this week’s space news, and tick off a few goals while you’re at it.
Ending a year, looking to the future
This year has been great for space exploration. With your support, we’ll make sure the future is even better.
A long night, and “so long!” to InSight
Celebrate the December solstice, be thankful you’re not on Triton, and say goodbye to the InSight Mars lander.
Capturing the Cosmos
This week we have images snapped the old-fashioned and cutting-edge ways, creative ways of thinking about exploration, and artwork that expresses the beauty of it all.