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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Ripples and rivers
Liquids do all kinds of interesting things on planetary surfaces, from creating rippled impact craters to streaming out from under carbon dioxide glaciers.
Streaks and highlights
It’s been a great year for space exploration. Now you get to pick the highlights.
Journeys worth making
Perseverance faces a hard climb, but New Horizons proves it’s worth going the distance.
Grand designs
From logos to policy to mission architectures, if you want to achieve something in space, you’ve got to design it first.
Solar maximum = maximum awe
With the Sun at the peak of its activity cycle, we Earthlings get treated to some awesome sights. Plus, some truly awe-inspiring launches happened this week.
Twinsies!
Asteroids that come in pairs, matching volcanic features on Mars and Earth, and the potential space policies of two administrations.
Glitter and glow
This week we look forward to launches, gaze at glowing auroras, and get creative with glitter.
Cloudy skies, smooth sailing
A Martian cloud atlas, LightSail wins big, and multiple missions coast toward launch.
Spacecraft, what do your robot eyes see?
Cameras on spacecraft are our eyes into the Cosmos. Sometimes they teach us things, sometimes they reveal gaps in our knowledge.
Someone’s aliens
Life thrives on Earth, and we even send evidence of our presence out into the Solar System. Is anyone out there looking for us?
Inside, underneath, backward, upside-down
From holes on Mars to a spun-around moon and a flipped reflection, space science involves looking at things from all different angles.
Super-size it
Europa Clipper is a big spacecraft with big solar panels, all so it can perform a big mission. The galaxy is big too, and a Planetary Society member painted it that way.
Wow! Boom! Ultra cool!
The “Wow!" signal has a new explanation, and an ultra-cool experiment advances quantum sensing in space. Plus, making an asteroid go “boom!” might work, depending on the circumstances.
Life in other worlds
New research suggests liquid water might be hiding under the surface of Mars. Could life be there too?
Seeing the unseeable
From X-ray imaging to slithering beneath Enceladus’ crust, space technology is always expanding what we can see for ourselves.
A big find on Mars
A big rover makes a big find on Mars. Little rovers have their place in exploration, too.
Serendipity, a super-Jupiter, and saving VIPER
This was a big week in space, from Curiosity stumbling upon sulfur crystals to an exoplanet discovery and a major advocacy effort.
A planetary smash-up
A comet collided with Jupiter 30 years ago, and the resulting images still inspire awe and wonder today.
Rockets rock!
Rockets are an integral part of spaceflight, and this week they get the attention and admiration they deserve.
Getting a good look at what’s out there
From taking hundreds of thousands of photos of Mars to scanning the skies for asteroids, humanity is keeping an eye on our cosmic neighborhood.