Articles

MaryLiz Bender

On February 6, 2018, I found myself shoulder to shoulder with two of my heroes: Bill Nye on the left, Buzz Aldrin on the right. Our eyes were fixed on the first vertical Falcon Heavy rocket. Figuring the world's most powerful rocket might send me flying backwards once the countdown hit zero, I gripped the railing so tightly I started to lose the feeling in my fingertips.

Kate Howells

On 7 September, down the street from the NAFTA meetings in Washington D.C., the Canada Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars hosted a meeting of many thought leaders from both countries to discuss a point of uncertainty in the Canada-United States relationship: collaboration in space.

Jason Davis

The names were collected by the Society in 2013, and are stored on target markers that will be dropped on the asteroid.

Casey Dreier

The Planetary Society's Space Policy and Advocacy team publishes quarterly reports on their activities, actions, priorities, and goals in service of their efforts to promote space science and exploration in Washington, D.C.

Jason Davis

LightSail 2's ride to space won't happen until at least November 30, as SpaceX works through a list of other payloads in line to fly first.

Darian Dixon

Mastcam-Z will help the Mars 2020 rover explore the surface of Mars. Dozens of amazing scientists and engineers from across the globe contribute to the development of Mastcam-Z. This year, the team photo was taken with our very own Mastcam-Z testbed unit.

Kate Howells

After a bewildering day at AlienCon, a New York Times reporter found hope at The Planetary Society, courtesy of volunteer Sean Marquez.

Jason Davis

The LightSail 2 team gathered in Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for a Mission Readiness Review (MRR) and Operational Readiness Test (ORT).

Jason Davis

A global team of astronomers has found a rare type of asteroid, where two equal-mass objects circle each other in a never-ending dance as they hurtle through the solar system.

Jason Davis

A little-known observatory is s helping usher an Arab astronomy renaissance.

Jason Davis

The Shoemaker NEO Grant program funds advanced amateur astronomers who help determine if nearby asteroids will hit Earth. Here are some collected reports from our asteroid hunters.

Bruce Betts

The Planetary Society presents a list of Frequent Asteroid Questions (FAQs).

Jason Davis

How dangerous are near-Earth asteroids, and what will we do if we find one headed toward Earth?

Casey Dreier

The Senate and House have now released details of how they would fund NASA in 2019. Check out the good, bad, and ugly in these proposals and learn what happens next.

Bill Nye

We humans have always looked to the night sky and pondered our place in the cosmos.

Bruce Betts

Rocket science met planetary science in the California desert when PlanetVac, a new planetary surface sampling technique, was successfully tested on a Xodiac rocket.

Casey Dreier

A new poll shows broad support for space exploration in the United States. But sending astronauts to the Moon ranks as the lowest priority among the public.

Elsa Jensen

Right after the last Mastcam-Z team meeting a year ago (link here to last two blog posts), our team finalized the design of the cameras, and then the fantastic voyage of creating Martian panoramic zoom cameras began.

Casey Dreier

We helped launch the new Planetary Science Congressional Caucus in Washington, D.C., with an exploration exhibition to highlight the range of academic, scientific, and industry partners engaging in planetary exploration. Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye and its Board of Directors were there to welcome members of Congress and hundreds of staff and policy experts.

Jason Davis

The second flight of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket is now scheduled for no earlier than October 30, 2018.