Explore Worlds
Find Life
Defend Earth
All
All
Sun
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Observing the Martian Atmosphere for Two Mars Years
June 29, 2010 was the second Martian anniversary of the start of Mars Climate Sounder (MCS) observations at Mars.
LightSail 1 Passes Critical Design Review
LightSail 1, the Planetary Society's new ultra-light Cubesat-based solar sail spacecraft, has passed its Critical Design Review.
Apply for a Shoemaker NEO Grant! Deadline extended to June 24
Amateur astronomers, get your proposals in for this year's round of Shoemaker NEO Grants!
Firming Up the Spacecraft Design
The LightSail 1 spacecraft development is proceeding well. Our engineering team has completed crucial milestones to building the vehicle that will demonstrate the value and potential of using sunlight alone to propel exploratory craft through space.
Photos of your names on the IKAROS spacecraft
IKAROS, Japan's solar sail, is nearly ready for launch, piggybacked behind the Venus orbiter Akatsuki.
Akatsuki and IKAROS getting ready for launch, with your names aboard
I've been so focused on the dramatic return of
Updates on Shoemaker NEO Grant Recipients (18 March 2010)
Our past Shoemaker NEO grant recipients have once again shown themselves to be a hardworking and enterprising group.
Making a difference through the Shoemaker NEO Grants
Amir Alexander has just posted an update on the activities of the most recent winners of the Shoemaker NEO Grants.
Propose for a Shoemaker Near Earth Object Grant
Are you a serious amateur astronomer who enjoys the challenge of following up on the discoveries of faint near-Earth objects?
Planetary Society Researcher Max Rocca Discovers Largest Impact Crater in South America
It was January of 2004 when the elegant curve of the Vichada first caught the attention of geologist Max Rocca of Buenos Aires. Could the course of the river have been shaped by the circular outlines of an impact crater? Rocca decided to find out.
WISE has found its first comet, P/2010 B2 (WISE)
Having discovered its first asteroid on January 12, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has now officially discovered its first comet, P/2010 B2 (WISE).
What Will Be the Top Space Story in 2010?
What do you think will be the top trend in space in 2010? In his Cosmic Log on MSNBC, Alan Boyle suggests that The Planetary Society's solar sailing project may be a contender.
Send Your Name to Venus, now with a certificate!
I wrote a few weeks ago about a new Send Your Name to Venus campaign conducted by the Akatsuki mission. Now The Planetary Society has arranged with JAXA to collect names and messages on our website.
LightSail Garners News Headlines
The Planetary Society's new solar sail project -- LightSail -- has generated headlines and hundreds of news stories since it was announced on Monday.
LightSail Featured on NPR's Science Friday
Our Executive Director Lou Friedman joins host Ira Flatow on NPR's Science Friday -- November 13 -- for a live chat about The Planetary Society's exciting new solar sail project.
A million dollars says The Planetary Society can make a solar sail fly
The Planetary Society announced today that an anonymous donor has put up one million dollars to help us get a solar sail in flight.
FINDS Exo-Earths Starts Up: Testing the Prototype
The prototype that Julien constructed in the lab was taken to Lick Observatory, and we had our first-light run with the fiber in July.
Optical SETI's Growing Capabilities
Often, the phrase “next steps” has been known to describe things that don't actually happen. But for The Planetary Society's All-sky Optical SETI, it's different. Here's what's happened in the last year.
Send your name to Venus with Venus Climate Orbiter (PLANET-C), now known as Akatsuki
The Japanese space agency's science missions have an abundance of names. They start out with a programmatic name, like MUSES-A, PLANET-A, etc. -- which might be like calling NEAR
Apophis is less scary than it used to be
Based on analyses of previously unstudied telescopic data, NASA scientists have released new predictions for the path of the 300-meter-diameter asteroid Apophis.