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Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
At Mars Workshop, Science and Human Spaceflight Find Common Ground
An update from NASA’s First Human Landing Sites/Exploration Zones on Mars Workshop at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas.
A New Budget Deal and a Best Case NASA Budget for 2016
The promise of a congressional budget deal could free up additional resources for NASA. What would a best case scenario look like, and is it possible within the deal?
New Concepts to Explore the Jovian System
Last year, NASA’s managers invited the European Space Agency to propose a small spacecraft to explore the Jovian system. Van Kane describes the recently-posted results of ESA's concept studies for two possible missions.
Where Should Humans Land on Mars? Workshop to Discuss Possibilities
This week in Houston, Texas, scientists are gathering to discuss where humans should first land and explore on the surface of Mars.
LightSail Deployer Passes Prox-1 Fit Check
At Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo engineers loaded a P-POD replica into the partially assembled frame of the Prox-1 spacecraft. The meetup was a fit check to make sure the two pieces of hardware fit together as designed.
2015 Cosmos Award Honoree Neil deGrasse Tyson
The Planetary Society awarded awarded Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and 19-year Planetary Society Board Member, with the 2015 Cosmos Award for Outstanding Public Presentation of Science.
Why Return to the Columbia Hills?
Where should NASA’s next Mars rover, the Mars 2020 sample caching mission, land? One site under consideration is Spirit's old stomping ground, the Columbia Hills.
Dawn data from Ceres publicly released: Finally, color global portraits!
A few days ago, Dawn officially released the first big pile of data from the Ceres mission phase. Thanks to the public release, I can show you color global portraits of Ceres.
SLS Sheds White Paint, Completes Critical Design Review
NASA's Space Launch System officially shed the core stage's white paint job in favor of the vehicle's natural, orange-colored insulation.
Preparing for the Journey to the Moon, Mars and Beyond
Deepak Dhingra reports on a planetary analog field trip exploring a very young volcanic terrain in Idaho at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve.
Enhanced Cygnus Arrives at KSC ahead of Atlas V-powered Cargo Run
Orbital ATK is a month-and-a-half away from resuming cargo runs to the International Space Station.
Zero Dollars for 2016: Two Stalwart Planetary Missions Face a Troubling Future
In its 2016 budget request, the White House inexplicably proposed to end two active, scientifically productive planetary missions: the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
President Obama Highlights Planetary Science Triumphs
At the White House Astronomy Night, President Obama highlighted some of the major triumphs of NASA and its planetary science program. Yet his 2016 budget calls for further cuts to the program.
Filling in the Enceladus map: Cassini's 20th flyby
A couple of days ago, Cassini flew past Enceladus for its 20th targeted encounter. Cassini has seen and photographed quite a lot of Enceladus before, but there's still new terrain for it to cover.
The Success of European Rover Challenge
In September, the second edition of European Rover Challenge (ERC)—the biggest space and robotics event in Europe—took place in Poland. Who took home the top spot?
LightSail and Prox-1 Start Testing and Integration Process
On opposite sides of the United States, teams are starting the testing process to prepare two spacecraft for a one-of-a-kind in-space rendezvous.
Favorite Astro Plots #2: Condensation of the solar system
Behold: the story of how our solar system began, in one chart. This is the second installment in a series of planetary scientists' favorite plots. Today's #FaveAstroPlot was suggested by spectroscopist Michael Bramble.
OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Assembly Nearly Complete
The OSIRIS-REx mission continues to make great progress and is in the Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations (ATLO) phase of the program. There's been many great accomplishments leading up to this point.
NASA-sponsored SmallSats Get Dedicated Rides to Space
NASA-sponsored small satellites will soon have dedicated rides to space, thanks to a new, light-duty rocket program called Venture Class Launch Services, or VCLS.
Neil deGrasse Tyson to Receive Cosmos Award for Outstanding Public Presentation of Science
Famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson will accept The Planetary Society’s Cosmos Award for Outstanding Public Presentation of Science in Pasadena, California on October 24, 2015.