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Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Mars Plans Advance (and Occasionally Fade)
In the last two months, there has been significant news about the European-Russian 2018 mission and about NASA’s 2020 rover. NASA also has announced that it would like to send a new orbiter to the Red Planet in the early 2020s.
Despite Rain Delays, NASA Prepares for Busy Year of SLS Engine Tests
Despite a rainy spring that has caused schedule delays, NASA is preparing for a busy year of Space Launch System engine testing.
[Updated] Good Planetary Support in A Flawed NASA Bill
Casey Dreier gives a brief summary of the House draft bill released the other day that would authorize NASA funding for the years 2016 and 2017.
United Launch Alliance Pulls Back Curtain on New Rocket
ULA revealed its new Vulcan rocket system today, an Atlas and Delta mashup the company says will increase power, lower costs and broaden mission capabilities.
Discovery Lives
Last month teams of scientists from around the United States submitted proposals for the thirteenth mission in NASA’s Discovery program. Jason Callahan discusses this latest round of proposals.
A New Path to Mars?
A new advocacy initiative for the Society: let's get humans to Mars.
Four Ideas to Bust the Floor on Outer Planet Mission Costs
The road to lower costs outer planet missions has been paved by NASA’s first two New Frontiers missions, the $700M New Horizons mission to Pluto and the $1.1B Juno mission to Jupiter. But can the cost of a mission to the outer solar system be cut to $450M, the limit for a Discovery mission?
Meet NASA's Winning Asteroid Redirect Spacecraft, and the Asteroid It May Visit
NASA has decided to pluck a small boulder off a large asteroid, instead of bagging an entire asteroid outright, the agency announced Wednesday.
Slides from the LPSC 2015 Session on the Community Response to NASA's Budget Request
The Planetary Society helped organize a community response to the latest NASA budget at the 2015 meeting of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
Is the Opportunity Rover a Mission 'Whose Time Has Passed'?
The NASA Administrator declared that the Opportunity rover is a mission 'whose time has passed' and will be defunded next year. Will Congress act to save it?
Interview with an SLS Engineer: How Booster Test May Help Drive Golden Spike for Interplanetary Railroad
With NASA and Orbital ATK preparing for an important test tomorrow in Utah, an SLS engineer describes the inner workings of the vehicle's new solid rocket boosters.
A First Time for Everything: Blitzing Congress for Space
There is a first time for everything. Riding a bike, stargazing, and yes, even lobbying Congress. Jack Kiraly describes his first Legislative Blitz with Michael Briganti and Casey Dreier on Capitol Hill last week.
Space Advocates Descend on Capitol Hill
The Space Exploration Alliance wrapped up its most recent 'legislative blitz' last week. Nearly 70 individuals participated in the democratic process, speaking to nearly 168 difference offices in Congress. Nearly half of those individuals were Planetary Society members.
Understanding why our most Earth-like neighbor, Venus, is so different
Van Kane introduces us to EnVision—a proposed European mission to help improve our understanding of Venus.
Highlights from our reddit Space Policy AMA
The space policy and advocacy team at The Planetary Society held an AMA (ask me anything) on reddit, here are some of the highlights.
Why We Write to Congress
It's time to write to Congress in support of planetary exploration. Why? Because it works.
Planetary CubeSats Begin to Come of Age
Van Kane rounds up some recent planetary mission concepts based on CubeSat technology.
Europe's Experimental Spaceplane Completes Successful Test Flight
The IXV spaceplane, designed to demonstrate reentry technologies, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean this morning after a successful, 100-minute test flight.
Two Days, Two Launches and Three Landings
Within a two-day span, two rocket launches and three ocean landings are scheduled—one of which involves an autonomous spaceport drone ship.
FOIA Request Sheds Light on NASA Mission Extension Process
A FOIA request offers insight into NASA's planetary science extended mission review process, which seems, at best, confusing, and at worst—with adjectival ratings like “Very Good/Good”—arbitrary.



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Uranus
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