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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Mars may host oceans’ worth of water deep underground
The tentative discovery hints at an habitat where life could potentially thrive.
A long night, and “so long!” to InSight
Celebrate the December solstice, be thankful you’re not on Triton, and say goodbye to the InSight Mars lander.
It’s not easy being this far out
Distant robots run into problems, and distant worlds hold onto secrets — for now.
Your cosmic community
There’s no limit to what a community of like-minded space enthusiasts, advocates and even famous luminaries can achieve when we all work together.
Venusian Probes and UFOs
Venus is an intimidating destination for spacecraft, and we’re pretty sure Earth hasn’t yet been a destination for aliens.
A cosmic bowling ball spinning through space
Jupiter is a world of extremes, and Venus hints at some mysteries. You can take action to help learn more about these worlds and others.
Making our mark on other worlds
Perseverance’s tracks show where it’s been. You can help decide where we’re going.
Every Mars landing attempt as of June 2020
Two maps by The Planetary Society show all the places we've landed or crashed on Mars as of June 2020.
InSight Update: A Couple More Tiny Quakes and Heat Probe Progress
InSight has detected a couple more small Marsquakes, and the team has lifted the housing of the heat probe off the ground, exposing the top of the mole in a surprisingly wide hole.
InSight Detects Some Very Small Marsquakes
InSight has finally detected its first Marsquakes, but so far, none have been large enough to produce good science. Still, it’s great news that the seismometer is producing sensible data.
InSight Update, Sol 92: The Mole Did Hit a Rock
The HP3 mole started hammering itself today, and almost immediately (after just 5 minutes) appears to have encountered a rock. No matter; they'll try again Saturday.
InSight update, sols 43-83: Instrument placement complete
InSight has placed its second science instrument on the ground and set it free. Now it's time to bury the heat probe in the soil.
Touchdown for InSight's Heat Probe
InSight has gone two for two, placing the second of its instruments gently on the Martian ground.
So long, MarCO, and thanks for the radio transmissions
NASA says it does not expect to receive any more transmissions from the MarCO CubeSats that accompanied Insight to Mars last year.
InSight Milestone: Wind and Thermal Shield Placed Sol 66
InSight mission has successfully placed the wind and thermal shield over the seismometer. The seismometer will now be shielded from winds and kept warm over the cold Martian nights, so the quality of its data should dramatically increase.
InSight Update, sols 25-42: Seismometer sensors working!
Engineers have leveled the seismometer and made progress on adjusting the position of the tether so that it doesn't interfere for the experiment. Most significantly for the mission, they have balanced the Very Broad Band sensors -- 3 of SEIS’ 6 seismic sensors -- and confirmed that they are generating good data.
InSight update, sols 1-24: Operations begin, first instrument deployed
It’s been a busy first three weeks on the InSight mission, and they’ve already achieved a major milestone: placing the seismometer on the ground. They've also gathered a self-portrait and 360-degree panorama.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Spots InSight Hardware on Mars
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has finally spotted the InSight lander, its parachute, and its heat shield resting on the Martian surface. The images confirm the location of InSight's landing site, a little to the north and west of the center of the landing ellipse. The lander is located at 4.499897° N, 135.616000° E.
After the Success of InSight, It’s Time for NASA to Commit to Mars Sample Return
In the brief period of public and political goodwill generated by NASA's latest success at the Red Planet, now is the time to secure a commitment for the next steps at Mars: sample return.
New Cameras on Mars!
There was jubilation when InSight landed, but I'm just as happy to be writing about a distinct InSight event: The flow of raw images sent from Mars, straight to the Web, has begun.