Articles

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

Are aliens real?

An exploration of whether aliens are out there, what kind of extraterrestrial life is most likely to exist, and how we're looking for it.

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.

Way out there

We’re always learning more about the worlds of the outer Solar System, and even those beyond.

Five asteroid deflection techniques to save the Earth

Kinetic impactor or nuclear blast? Here are some ways to defend our planet from a dangerous asteroid.

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.

Why has SpaceX's Starship sparked an environmental controversy?

An interview with environmental policy expert Eric Roesch about what made the April 2023 Starship test launch so environmentally harmful, and why the Federal Aviation Administration may ultimately be to blame.

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).

Have a nice flight!

Flying on Titan is easy, but not as easy as flying on Deimos. Plus, Juice takes off and Ingenuity captures a view from the air.

Rocket flight and the five dwarfs

Meet the Solar System’s five official dwarf planets, celebrate two major launches, and find out why planets sometimes seem to go backwards across the sky.

What does “Mercury in retrograde” actually mean?

"Mercury in retrograde" is one of the most searched terms relating to the planet. Astrological interpretations aside, apparent retrograde motion is an interesting phenomenon that has to do with orbital speeds and observer perspective.

Want more space? Speak up!

Detailed Mars maps, insights into the Venusian surface, and views of Uranian rings all have one thing in common: they don’t happen without public support for space.

The Space Advocate Newsletter, April 2023

The changing fortunes of planetary defense.

A mission to pull back the shroud

VERITAS would peer through Venus’ clouds to study its surface like never before, but it needs your help.

Unusual Uranus! Moist Moon! Volcanic Venus!

A planet shows its pole, another shows possible volcanic activity, and the Moon keeps surprising us with more water.

Asteroids worth getting psyched about

New discoveries from Ryugu, material heading our way from Bennu, and anticipation for a mission to Psyche.

What the search for aliens can learn from life on Earth

When searching for extraterrestrial life, we have to base our hunt on what we know about life on our own planet. This may seem limiting, but there's a lot we can learn from the astonishingly diverse lifeforms we have here on Earth.

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.