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Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
The State of Planetary Defense
Vishnu Reddy delivers a sober but hopeful report on our understanding of near-Earth objects, their dangers, and our readiness.
The September Equinox 2019 Issue of The Planetary Report Is Out!
A new issue of The Planetary Report brings you our pride in the success of LightSail 2 and our gratitude to our members for making it happen. Plus Venus science from Akatsuki and Venus Express, and the status of planetary defense.
Our asteroid hunters are trying to save the world. Here’s what they’ve been up to
Here are some recent reports from our NEO Shoemaker Grant program asteroid observers, who are quite literally trying to save the world.
Proposals to Explore the Solar System’s Smallest Worlds
Van Kane rounds up some of the latest NASA Discovery mission proposals aiming to explore our solar system's smallest bodies.
Five steps to prevent asteroid impacts
For Asteroid Day, Bruce Betts reviews 5 steps needed to prevent asteroid impacts, as well as how The Planetary Society is involved in those.
Shoemaker NEO Grant Winners Announced: Saving the World
The six winners of the 2015 Shoemaker NEO Grants will use the grants to upgrade their observatories to improve their abilities to study potentially dangerous asteroids.
Hunting Binary Asteroids
Thanks to The Planetary Society’s Shoemaker NEO Grant program, a new telescope has been brought to bear focusing on searching for and understanding the properties of binary asteroid systems.
Arecibo Observatory operational after repairs to fix earthquake damage
Early in the morning on January 13, 2014, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck beneath the Atlantic Ocean north of Puerto Rico, damaging Arecibo Observatory, the world’s largest single-dish radio telescope. The telescope is now operational after repairs and scientists have resumed observations. However, the future of Arecibo Observatory remains unclear due to funding uncertainties in the federal budget.
Fireworks in the Earth's Sky Sent from the Moon: Reflections from LPSC 2014
Deepak Dhingra reports on presentations from this year's Lunar and Planetary Science Conference focusing on how impacts on the Moon have affected Earth.
[Updated] To Europa!...Slowly. First Impressions of NASA's New Budget Request
Europa may get a mission...eventually. We give our first take on the 2015 NASA Budget request. How does Planetary Exploration fare? Which projects were cancelled? Will NASA capture an asteroid? And most importantly, what can you do about it?
Planetary Radio: NEOWISE PI Amy Mainzer
NEOWISE has reawakened to discover many more asteroids and comets. The mission leader thanks the amateur astronomers who follow up on these discoveries.
Watch this with your kids: Asteroid Fact versus Fiction
A cute video from the OSIRIS-REx mission in the style of
Cosmos with Cosmos Episode 4: Heaven & Hell
Humans face the consequences of our own knowledge about the cosmos in this latest episode recap and analysis of Carl Sagan's classic series.
Laser Bees Update
An update from University of Strathclyde researchers about the Planetary Society sponsored laboratory Laser Bees asteroid deflection project including a new laser and other lab equipment, and the start of new related projects.
One More U.N. Step Forward on NEOs
This week, the United Nations will move one step closer to an international response to the threat from near Earth objects (NEOs).
On space kindness and the Chelyabinsk meteor
Through an act of kindness, we now have images of the Chelyabinsk meteor trail from Russia's Elektro-L satellite.
Asteroid Telescope First Light
Using a Shoemaker NEO Grant a new telescope is operating in Illinois to do asteroid tracking.
Laser Bees Papers
For those wishing to bore into more details of our Laser Bees project itself, graduate student Alison Gibbings from the University of Strathclyde has sent their technical paper that resulted from the 2013 Planetary Defense Conference.
Asteroids – what you can do
Partnering with our friends from The Planetary Society, the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), whose members hail from all over the globe, is bringing you an update on our activities and something you can join in on—at least if you are a student or young professional aged 18–35.
Saving the Planet can be Exciting!
Planetary Radio for the week of May 6 visits the Planetary Defense Conference one last time to join a