Spacecraft, what do your robot eyes see?
Updated: 2024-10-16 00:46:36
Cameras on spacecraft are our eyes into the Cosmos. Sometimes they teach us things, sometimes they reveal gaps in our knowledge.
Someone’s aliens
Updated: 2024-10-16 00:46:36Life 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
Updated: 2024-10-16 00:46:36From holes on Mars to a spun-around moon and a flipped reflection, space science involves looking at things from all different angles.Cloudy skies, smooth sailing
Updated: 2024-10-16 00:46:36A Martian cloud atlas, LightSail wins big, and multiple missions coast toward launch.Where Congress Stands on NASA's 2025 budget
Updated: 2024-10-16 00:46:36Weeks before the new fiscal year, Congress still hasn't finalized NASA's 2025 budget.New insights into asteroid properties: A STEP Grant update
Updated: 2024-10-16 00:46:36A Planetary Society-funded project to understand asteroids achieved its main goals and scientific objectives this year.How to spot Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas
Updated: 2024-10-16 00:46:36Catch this once-in-a-lifetime comet over the next few days.The Hera launch: What to expect
Updated: 2024-10-16 00:46:36The European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing to launch a mission to study the aftermath of DART's impact on the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos.The Europa Clipper launch: What to expect
Updated: 2024-10-16 00:46:36NASA is preparing to launch its flagship mission to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa. Launching sometime in October 2024 and arriving in 2030, the mission will explore the icy world with a subsurface ocean that scientists think could have conditions favorable to life.Earthlings as aliens
Updated: 2024-10-16 00:46:36Looking at life on Earth from another perspective.Could Europa Clipper find life?
Updated: 2024-10-16 00:46:36For a mission that doesn’t aim to find alien life, Europa Clipper may come surprisingly close.Solar Cycle 25 is still in max phase, so more aurora-boosting sun storms could be coming
Updated: 2024-10-15 22:03:14
Solar Cycle 25 remains in its maximum phase, and more powerful sun storms are likely to come over the next few months, experts say.
Cubesats, the tiniest of satellites, are changing the way we explore the solar system
Updated: 2024-10-15 00:00:59
Whether discovering exoplanets or measuring the size of an asteroid, cubesats are affordable throughout the space community, even to small startup, private companies and university laboratories.
Europa Clipper launches on its journey to Jupiter’s icy moon
Updated: 2024-10-14 07:00:00NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft launched today aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.Twinsies!
Updated: 2024-10-11 14:30:00Asteroids that come in pairs, matching volcanic features on Mars and Earth, and the potential space policies of two administrations.Hera launches to study the aftermath of an asteroid deflection test
Updated: 2024-10-07 14:58:00The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft launched on Oct. 7, 2024, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It will travel to the Didymos-Dimorphos asteroid system to study the aftermath of the first-ever field test of an asteroid deflection technique.Glitter and glow
Updated: 2024-10-04 14:30:00This week we look forward to launches, gaze at glowing auroras, and get creative with glitter.Europa Clipper: A mission backed by advocates
Updated: 2024-10-01 14:00:00Europa Clipper will soon head for Jupiter's icy, potentially habitable moon. Without the advocacy efforts of The Planetary Society and our members, the mission may never have been possible.Explore the Cosmos with The Planetary Society and Lerner Publishing
Updated: 2024-08-30 15:56:00The Planetary Society and Lerner Publishing Group have teamed up to bring young readers an engaging series of books that make space science fun and accessible.Why the “habitable zone” doesn’t always mean habitable
Updated: 2024-08-30 15:03:00The habitable zone is a useful concept in astrobiology, but it can sometimes paint an over-simplified picture of planetary habitability.Super-size it
Updated: 2024-08-30 14:30:00Europa 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!
Updated: 2024-08-23 14:30:00The “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
Updated: 2024-08-16 14:30:00New research suggests liquid water might be hiding under the surface of Mars. Could life be there too?Mars may host oceans’ worth of water deep underground
Updated: 2024-08-12 07:00:00The tentative discovery hints at an habitat where life could potentially thrive.First MetSoc experience
Updated: 2024-08-12 00:00:00
The 86th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society was an event I eagerly anticipated, and it didn’Why you should watch The Perseids meteor shower tonight.
Updated: 2024-08-11 14:35:19
Tonight is one of my favorite nights of the year! It is the peak of The Perseids Northern HemisphereSeeing the unseeable
Updated: 2024-08-09 14:30:00From X-ray imaging to slithering beneath Enceladus’ crust, space technology is always expanding what we can see for ourselves.A big find on Mars
Updated: 2024-08-02 14:30:00A big rover makes a big find on Mars. Little rovers have their place in exploration, too.Does Jupiter protect Earth from asteroids and comets?
Updated: 2024-07-30 14:00:00Jupiter has often been thought to protect the inner Solar System from asteroids and comets, but new research has shown that the giant planet may actually increase the risk of an impact.Serendipity, a super-Jupiter, and saving VIPER
Updated: 2024-07-26 14:30:00This was a big week in space, from Curiosity stumbling upon sulfur crystals to an exoplanet discovery and a major advocacy effort.Why does Jupiter spin so fast?
Updated: 2024-07-25 14:00:00The gas giant is the Solar System's largest planet. Here's why it's also the fastest-spinning planet.Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, 2024
Updated: 2024-07-25 08:51:23
This year the Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society will be taking place in Brussels, Belgium,A planetary smash-up
Updated: 2024-07-19 14:30:00A comet collided with Jupiter 30 years ago, and the resulting images still inspire awe and wonder today.Time to see the Perseid Meteor shower! ☄️
Updated: 2024-07-18 01:27:55
The Perseids get their name because the shooting stars appear to stream from a point in the sky wherRockets rock!
Updated: 2024-07-12 14:30:00Rockets 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
Updated: 2024-07-05 14:30:00From taking hundreds of thousands of photos of Mars to scanning the skies for asteroids, humanity is keeping an eye on our cosmic neighborhood.China targets its first planetary defense test mission
Updated: 2024-07-02 14:00:00China’s first planetary defense test is taking shape. The ambitious mission will use a single launch to observe and impact a near-Earth asteroid.Making history, making waves, and making LEGO
Updated: 2024-06-28 14:30:00The first-ever samples from the lunar farside are here on Earth, Titan’s seas are wavy, and you can make LEGO bricks from space dust to build lunar habitats.