Articles

Casey Dreier

President Trump signed Space Directive #1, formally implementing as policy what Vice President Pence had announced at the first meeting of the National Space Council in October: that NASA will focus its human spaceflight efforts on a return to the Moon, and then onto Mars. What really changed?

Katherine Winchell

It takes years to decide where a Mars rover is going to land. Members of NASA's Mars 2020's camera team describe their participation in the process.

Emily Lakdawalla

Three launches to the Moon and one each to Mercury and Mars; two arrivals at near-Earth asteroids; and an approach to an encounter with a distant Kuiper belt object are highlights we anticipate in 2018.

Adam Block

Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block brings us stunning images of beautifully chaotic scenes across the universe.

Emily Lakdawalla

Looking back on 2017, we here at The Planetary Society are proud of what we have accomplished during this orbit of the Sun. Emily Lakdawalla, Jason Davis, Casey Dreier, and Mat Kaplan reflect on the year that was.

Jason Davis

What do the shortest days of the year look like from space?

Emily Lakdawalla

Results from the Juno gravity science experiment presented at last week's American Geophysical Union meeting suggest Jupiter's winds penetrate only to 3000 kilometers deep.

Jason Davis

The winner will be picked in 2019.

Andrew Jones

China is making steady progress on a proposed mission to bring a piece of Mars back to Earth in the late 2020s.

Emily Lakdawalla

JunoCam may be an outreach instrument, but its superb photos of storms on Jupiter are providing plenty of data for scientists to talk about.

Casey Dreier

The Planetary Society was proud to join dozens of other scientific organizations in standing against this unnecessary and detrimental tax increase on the future scientific workforce of the United States.

Emily Lakdawalla

At the American Geophysical Union meeting, members of the Juno team showed observations of active volcanism on Jupiter's moon Io.

James Davenport

On December 10, Kepler—NASA’s prized exoplanet discovery telescope—will finally turn back and take a picture of the Earth.

Jason Davis

NASA is about to pick finalists for its next New Frontiers mission. Will Venus make the cut?

Emily Lakdawalla

South Korea's first mission to the Moon, the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter KPLO, is now planned for launch in December 2020.

Kate Howells

December 5th is International Volunteer Day, and The Planetary Society has many reasons to celebrate...3,652, to be exact!

A.J.S. Rayl

Opportunity continued the historic winter science campaign inside Perseverance Valley and delivered the goods that confirmed an important discovery in November, and then cruised through winter solstice, driving the mission closer to its 14th anniversary of surface operations coming up in January.

Emily Lakdawalla

India plans a return to the Moon with an orbiter, lander, and rover on the Chandrayaan-2 mission.

Jason Davis

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

Duane W. Hamacher

The Polynesian peoples' astronomical knowledge helped them colonize the vast Pacific Ocean.