Articles

Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.

Reporting from the 2014 Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union

In San Francisco, in an annual tradition, more than 20,000 geologists are descending on the Moscone Center. I'll be attending #AGU14 this week, but you can also watch press briefings and many of the sessions online.

[Updated] NASA's 2015 Budget Increase is Confirmed

Senate passes the CRomnibus spending bill with an $18.01 billion NASA budget, which includes an increase to planetary science and Europa. The legislation now moves on to the President for his signature.

NASA's Budget Increase Is A Step Closer to Reality

By a narrow vote, the House of Representatives passed the 2015 'CRomnibus' spending bill, which includes an increase to NASA and its Planetary Science Division. It now moves on to the Senate.

New Churyumov-Gerasimenko Shapemodel!

Mattias Malmer shares his latest shape model of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, created using data from the Rosetta spacecraft.

Our Global Volunteers: December 2014 Update

The Planetary Society’s Global Volunteer Network has been busy these past few months!

Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Strange and spooky

Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block shares his haunting images of three different types of nebulae.

LightSail Completes Testing, Announcement Expected in January

The Planetary Society's LightSail spacecraft successfully completed testing to prepare it for a possible 2015 test flight.

Book Review: “The Art of Space: The History of Space Art, From the Earliest Visions to the Graphics of the Modern Era”

Mat Kaplan reviews a comprehensive new collection of historic and modern space art from author and superb space artist Ron Miller.

The YORP Effect and Bennu

The YORP effect is a phenomenon that affects the rotation rate and pole orientation of an asteroid. YORP is an acronym that combines four scientist’s names: Yarkovsky, O’Keefe, Radzievskii, and Paddack.

Brief Venus Express update: Not quite dead yet

Venus Express is still alive and talking to Earth, but may fall into Venus' atmosphere in January.

InSight assembly begins

NASA's next Mars lander is becoming real, now under construction at Lockheed Martin.

[Updated] The CRomnibus Comes Through for NASA and Planetary Science

The U.S. budget cycle for fiscal year 2015 is coming to an end. Should Congress pass the so-called CRomnibus bill as-is, NASA would see its highest funding level since 2011 and a great increase to its Planetary Science Division.

Uranus (high pass filter + contrast stretch)

Revisiting Uranus with Voyager 2

Amateur image processor Björn Jónsson brings us some new views of Uranus from reprocessed Voyager 2 data.

China plans a Mars rover and orbiter for 2020 launch opportunity

China is moving forward with plans to launch an orbiter and rover to Mars in the 2020 launch opportunity. The Mars program also includes plans for sample return in 2030.

First Look Photographs of Orion's Return to Dry Land

NASA's Orion spacecraft is back on dry land following its offloading from the USS Anchorage late Monday night. Here are some selected photographs by Kevin Baird.