Articles

Emily Lakdawalla

Two months after arrival, the team has reported some preliminary facts about Ryugu. They also announced the selection of candidate landing sites for the spacecraft sample collection, for the German-built MASCOT hopper, and for the MINERVA-II microrovers

Sandhya Ramesh

The announcement came as a surprise to many people within ISRO, the country's space agency.

Casey Dreier

Have questions about Space Force? We have answers.

Jason Davis

It was a signal from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, not Opportunity, that showed up on a Deep Space Network dashboard last week.

Andrew Jones

The Chang'e-4 spacecraft will launch on December 7 toward a farside landing, making use of a relay satellite to stay in touch with Earth.

Casey Dreier

Though progress is being made on Mars Sample Return, a new report from the National Academies recommends NASA have a long-term plan for robotic Mars exploration, and work to ensure communications infrastructure is maintained at the Red Planet. These recommendations largely align with those made by The Planetary Society in a report released in 2017.

Jason Davis

Let's check in on NASA's Juno spacecraft, which completed its 14th close flyby of Jupiter last month.

Adeene Denton

A lack of new missions keeps scientists guessing on what shaped the planet’s surface.

Emily Lakdawalla

Chandrayaan-2, expected to launch in October, will now be launching no earlier than 3 January 2019, with its lander and rover touching down in February.

Casey Dreier

The Planetary Society's Space Policy and Advocacy team publishes quarterly reports on their activities, actions, priorities, and goals in service of their efforts to promote space science and exploration in Washington, D.C.

Emily Lakdawalla

This week Hayabusa2 completed its closest approach yet to asteroid Ryugu. In a successful gravity measurement experiment on August 6, the spacecraft dipped to within 1 kilometer of the asteroid.

Jason Davis

This weekend, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe spacecraft leaves Earth on a mission to touch the Sun.

Jason Davis

LightSail 2's ride to space won't happen until at least November 30, as SpaceX works through a list of other payloads in line to fly first.

Casey Dreier

A new report assesses how NASA’s Planetary Science Division has implemented (or not) the top recommendations of the scientific community for the exploration of the solar system.

Darian Dixon

Mastcam-Z will help the Mars 2020 rover explore the surface of Mars. Dozens of amazing scientists and engineers from across the globe contribute to the development of Mastcam-Z. This year, the team photo was taken with our very own Mastcam-Z testbed unit.

Jason Davis

Four NASA astronauts and one commercial employee are expected to launch aboard SpaceX and Boeing-operated vehicles in 2019.

Emily Lakdawalla

For the second time, JAXA navigators have zoomed their cameras and other instruments in on asteroid Ryugu. The August 1 operation was quicker than the previous one, requiring only 26 hours for the descent, science, and ascent.

A.J.S. Rayl

As Opportunity slept in Perseverance Valley under the thick cloud of dust that has blanketed the Red Planet for the last six weeks, scientists who are studying the monster storm that forced the robot field geologist into its hibernation mode are now reporting the tempest has peaked.

Kate Howells

After a bewildering day at AlienCon, a New York Times reporter found hope at The Planetary Society, courtesy of volunteer Sean Marquez.

Emily Lakdawalla

What does it mean that the Mars rover Curiosity found organics in Martian rocks? Emily Lakdawalla translates the science.