Up close and personal

A new study explains how Pluto and Charon may have formed together. According to new simulations, the dwarf planet and its largest moon may have formed from a collision between two icy bodies. While other moons, including Earth’s, likely formed from impacts as well, the Pluto-Charon system appears to be different in that both objects likely remained largely intact during their collision, becoming temporarily stuck together and rotating as a single object before separating into the binary system we see today. Pictured: A composite of enhanced color images of Pluto (lower right) and Charon (upper left), each taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft in 2015. Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI.

NASA is refining its plans to bring samples back from Mars. On Tuesday, the agency announced a new approach to its Mars Sample Return program, aiming to significantly reduce costs and speed up the project’s timeline. The plan is to simultaneously pursue early planning of two landing architectures, encouraging competition and innovation, and then later select a single path forward from among the two. Read The Planetary Society’s statement in response to this announcement.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will stay even longer on the ISS. The two astronauts were originally meant to be on the International Space Station for eight days, but their stay was extended to over eight months because of problems with Boeing’s Starliner vehicle. Now, delays with SpaceX’s new Crew Dragon spacecraft may mean the pair will be on the ISS for as long as 10 months.

Chinese taikonauts have broken the spacewalk record with a nine-hour excursion. Taikonauts (the Chinese term for astronauts) Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong recently spent just over nine hours working on the outside of the Tiangong space station, carrying out tasks such as installing space debris protection devices.

Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In a ceremony on Jan. 4, President Joe Biden awarded Bill Nye the United States’ highest civilian honor to recognize his contributions to the nation and the world. The White House’s statement said, “Bill Nye has inspired and influenced generations of American students as ’Bill Nye the Science Guy.’ His dedication to science education continues through his work as CEO of The Planetary Society and as a vocal advocate for space exploration and environmental stewardship.”

Our members can make big contributions as space advocates, too. At our annual Day of Action, Planetary Society members come together in Washington, D.C., to speak with their representatives in Congress about the importance of investing in space science and exploration. In-person meetings are the most impactful form of advocacy. The 2025 Day of Action takes place on March 24. Sign up before Jan. 31 to take advantage of early-bird registration prices.

On Nov. 22, 2024, Emily Calandrelli became the 100th woman to venture into space. On this week’s episode of Planetary Radio, Emily shares her experiences on the Blue Origin voyage, what she took to space, and how motherhood influenced her reaction to seeing Earth from space.

This month on Planetary People: Lou Friedman. Planetary People is a live Q&A series that connects our members with people at the forefront of space science and exploration. This month's guest is Planetary Society co-founder Louis Friedman. Celebrating our 45th anniversary, Lou will share stories from the earliest days of the Society and talk about his work at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, including the Voyager missions, the Mars program, and more. Planetary Society members can join the live event on Jan. 15 in our online member community. Not yet a member? Join today!