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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
What Is a solar eclipse? Your questions answered.
Your guide to total, partial, and annular eclipses: what causes them, what you'll see, and when the next one will happen.
A comet visitor and a pretty metal Moon
The week’s space news, plus your guide to the night sky and ways you can contribute to Venus science.
Mars in all its glory, and a planet as hot as a star
Dive into Mars mania and catch up on this week’s space exploration updates.
Sample Return Roundup
It's a banner year for sample return missions. In 2020, China, Japan, and the United States are all scheduled to have sample return missions in flight, seeking to retrieve material from near-Earth asteroids, the Moon, and eventually Mars.
Perseverance, optimism, and an undeniably cool poster
The week’s space news, plus action you can take to advance exploration.
Committed to doing the work
Our initial plans to proactively work against racism, along with the week’s space news.
Every Mars landing attempt as of June 2020
Two maps by The Planetary Society show all the places we've landed or crashed on Mars as of June 2020.
Weather scrubs a launch, forms Mars dunes, and inspires art
Get ready for the rescheduled Crew Dragon launch and catch up on the highlights of the week in space.
Martian mud and a milestone in human spaceflight
Get your space exploration news and see what happens when you leave paint on the launchpad.
The Bold Plan to See Continents and Oceans on Another Earth
A group of researchers, backed by NASA funding, wants to use solar sails and the Sun's gravity to capture an image of an exoplanet so sharp we can see continents, oceans, and clouds.
Here's How Scientists Mapped the Perseverance Rover's Landing Site
The maps will help plan scientific field trips for the rover as it explores an ancient river delta.
The Next 10 Years
Six scientists share the major planetary science discoveries of the past decade, and the questions that will drive the next 10 years of solar system exploration.
Star Trek: Picard Gets the Martian Landscape Right
The visual effects for the new television series Star Trek: Picard show a wonderfully realistic Mars in panoramic views that obviously rely upon NASA and ESA imagery. This article is spoiler-free except for the disclosure of an important event depicted in the opening moments of the show.
Is the Moon a Stepping Stone or a Cornerstone for Mars?
New legislation proposed in the House of Representatives would radically shift NASA's human spaceflight efforts away from the Moon and back to Mars.
A New Understanding
Abigail Fraeman examines how the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, changed our view of Mars.
What Comes Next on Mars?
Javier Gómez-Elvira anticipates the next phase of the search for life on the Red Planet.
The Solar System According to Carolyn Porco
The leader of the Cassini spacecraft imaging team discusses pale blue dots, life on Enceladus, terraforming Mars, Pluto, Carl Sagan, and more.
China Considers Voyager-like Mission to Interstellar Space
The mission includes a flyby of Neptune and measurements of the heliosphere, the electrically charged gas bubble surrounding our solar system
Planetary Society Talks Europa, Planetary Defense, and Solar Sailing in Washington D.C.
Thanks to our members and donors, The Planetary Society participated in several activities at the 2019 International Astronautical Conference.
How the European Space Agency Does Planetary Defense
Defending the planet from the hazard of potential asteroid impacts requires investments from the whole world. In Europe, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Union both support work to understand and mitigate the threats from near-Earth objects.