Articles

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

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.

A Kepler Orrery

As of mission end on 30 October 2018, Kepler had detected 1,815 planets or planet candidates in multi-planet systems. All 726 such systems are drawn here.

The March Equinox Issue of The Planetary Report Is Out!

I’m very pleased to announce the publication of the March Equinox issue of The Planetary Report: “Inside the Ice Giants.” The print issue shipped to members yesterday!

The Realm of the Ice Giants

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.

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.

Northern summer global view of Mars from Mars Orbiter Mission

Amidst Cuts to NASA, Mars Sample Return May Finally Happen

The President's Budget Request for NASA in 2020 would start a Mars Sample Return mission and ramp up efforts to send humans to the Moon. But it would still kick off the first year of a new decade with a half-billion dollar cut to the space agency.

Crew Dragon Demo-1 under main parachutes

Crew Dragon Returns to Earth

The spacecraft completed a successful test flight with splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean on 8 March 2019 at 08:45 EST (13:45 UTC).

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.

Planetary Society Members at the 2019 Day of Action

100 Planetary Society Members. 25 States. 1 Day of Action.

Society members from across the United States came to Washington, D.C. on their own dime to advocate for space science and exploration.

Watch Hayabusa2's incredible touchdown on asteroid Ryugu

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

Crew Dragon Successfully Docks to International Space Station

Docking occurred slightly ahead of schedule at 5:51 EST (10:51 UTC).

Crew Dragon Safely on the Way to International Space Station

SpaceX's Crew Dragon has successfully launched on its maiden voyage! It will dock with the ISS tomorrow.

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.

Beresheet Overcomes Early Glitches, Continues Journey to the Moon

The spacecraft performed its second engine burn, raising the highest point of its orbit to more than a third of the way to the Moon.

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.