Articles

Jennifer Vaughn

On May 8, 2012, Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson brought their unique brand of motivational speaking to Capitol Hill. In a standing-room-only lunch discussion in one of the meeting rooms for the Committee on Space, Science, Technology, these two space superstars, along with planetary scientist Louise Prockter, explained to members of Congress, staffers, and media why we must continue to invest in planetary exploration.

Jim Bell

Today, NASA's highly-successful robotic solar system exploration program, and the Mars exploration program in particular, is on the brink of a major turning point.

Charlene Anderson

The Planetary Society is deeply troubled with the priorities reflected in NASA's FY13 budget. If implemented, it will portend grave consequences for our nation's ability to conduct deep-space science missions and could irreversibly erode unique aspects of the space industrial base needed for such missions.

Garry Hunt

Garry Hunt brings a distinctive perspective to the now-raging debate over the cuts to NASA's science program proposed in the Administration's fiscal year 2013 budget.

Bill Nye

Today, NASA announced its budget for its fiscal year 2013. As you might imagine, there are large budget cuts. But, the planetary science program has been cut disproportionately. NASA's allocations are out of balance.

Emily Lakdawalla

The Planetary Society continues our strong political advocacy for space science and exploration. The following is an excerpt from a letter we sent to Jacob Lew of the Office of Management and Budget and the President's Chief of Staff.

Charlene Anderson

Here's a quick wrap-up of the

Charlene Anderson

Today, The Planetary Society entered the following statement into testimony for the hearing

Charlene Anderson

If want to demonstrate your support for planetary exploration -- and you're planning to be in the Washington, D.C. area next Tuesday, November 15, 2011 -- please consider adding your presence to the congressional hearing on

Charlene Anderson

The European Space Agency (ESA) seems to have gotten tired of waiting for NASA to commit to its share of the joint 2016/2018 Mars missions that were planned to lay the groundwork for an eventual delivery of samples of Mars to Earth.

Charlene Anderson

It looks like we rattled a few cages in Washington, D.C. this week. White House staffers in the Office of Science and Technology Policy returned from their holiday weekend to find more than 1500 messages from Planetary Society Members waiting for them.

Charlene Anderson

The road to Mars just seems to get longer and harder every day. The Planetary Society has just asked its Members to contact the White House and ask John Holdren, the President's Science Advisor, to make sure that NASA and ESA are allowed to work together on the 2016 and 2018 missions to Mars.

Charlene Anderson

In this latest skirmish over NASA's budget, the numbers are in -- and it looks like we won!

Charlene Anderson

Is this the time to forget about political action? No! It's time to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboards) and write to your local newspaper proclaiming your support for space exploration.

Charlene Anderson

Today, 12 July 2011, the Planetary Society submitted into testimony a written statement to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the U.S. House of Representatives for their hearing on NASA's Space Launch System.

Bill Nye

Today the U.S. House of Representative subcommittee charged with appropriating funds to NASA mandated a draconian cut of almost $2 billion from the space agency's proposed budget.

Bill Nye

About a week ago, I attended the meeting of an organization I am excited about: the Alliance for Earth Observation. The conference was remarkable.

Emily Lakdawalla

I just got the following email from the American Geophysical Union (AGU), requesting anyone whose Congressperson sits on the Appropriations Committee to place a phone call to support the production of Plutonium-238, the isotope of plutonium that powers spacecraft that cannot run on solar power.

Emily Lakdawalla

Australia's Space Policy Unit is conducting a survey of people in the commercial space industry, state and local governments, and education and research sectors as part of an effort to assess the economic value of civil space to the country.

Louis D. Friedman

Yesterday, the Planetary Society issued a statement about the request that the U.S. House of Representatives suspend the rules when voting on the NASA Authorization bill, saying, in part,