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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
The day I caught rocket fever
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.
Goodbye, Delta II rocket
This Saturday, the final Delta II rocket will launch NASA's ICESat-2 spacecraft into orbit.
Orion's third flight will haul two pieces of a space station to lunar orbit
NASA is planning for a 30-day mission to lunar orbit in 2024.
How India built NavIC, the country's own GPS network
The country's satellite navigation system faced a long and difficult road, but it's finally operational.
NEA Scout unfurls solar sail for full-scale test
The next time its solar sail is deployed, NEA Scout will be out near the Moon.
Let's check in on The Planetary Society's asteroid hunters
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.
Will an asteroid hit Earth? Your questions answered.
The Planetary Society presents a list of Frequent Asteroid Questions (FAQs).
New report explores threat from near-Earth asteroids
How dangerous are near-Earth asteroids, and what will we do if we find one headed toward Earth?
#LPSC2018: Fungi in the lab, hot springs frozen cold, and exploding lakes
The first astrobiology session at last week's Lunar and Planetary Science Conference featured talks on a huge variety of interesting topics, and was one of my favorite sessions at the meeting.
Announcing the 2018 Shoemaker NEO Grant Winners
Seven very advanced amateur astronomers will help find, track, and characterize near Earth asteroids.
If you come at the Space Launch System, you best not miss
Getting NASA out of the rocket business is more complicated than you think.
Creating a guidebook for Earth's hypothetical twin
Early Earth's atmosphere wasn't a place for humans. Yet the planet had microbial life—something we should keep in mind for exoplanets.
What's Up in Solar System Exploration in 2018
Three launches to the Moon and one each to Mercury and Mars; two arrivals at near-Earth asteroids; and an approach to an encounter with a distant Kuiper belt object are highlights we anticipate in 2018.
Clipper Slipper
Will NASA's Space Launch System be ready to launch a Europa mission in 2022?
Reminder: The Giant Magellan Telescope is going to be awesome
The GMT will characterize Earth-size exoplanets' atmospheres, looking for compounds that indicate the presence of life.
Is There Anybody out There?
The Planetary Society has supported SETI, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, practically since our founding in 1980. Learn the past, present, and future of SETI.
Planetary Society-funded telescopes help find ring around Haumea, a distant dwarf planet
Haumea has a ring! Two telescopes used in the discovery—one in Slovenia, and one in Italy—received funding from The Planetary Society's Shoemaker Near Earth Object (NEO) Grant program, which helps amateur astronomers find, track and characterize near-Earth asteroids.
Doing SETI Better by Understanding Ourselves
One of the reasons SETI is hard is that we don’t know exactly what we are looking for, and part of that difficulty is that we still aren’t sure of who we are. An astronomer and an anthropologist team up to explore how cultural myopia shape what we can find in the cosmos.
We choose to go to the Moon and do the other things
Vice President Mike Pence kicked off the National Space Council's first meeting today by declaring Americans will return to the Moon. Casey Dreier and Jason Davis analyze this new direction for NASA's human spaceflight program.
NASA, international partners consider solar sail for Deep Space Gateway
A Canadian Space Agency proposal would install a solar sail on the outside of the Deep Space Gateway, a miniature space station in lunar orbit.