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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Curiosity Update, Sols 2313-2387: Two New Drill Holes Despite Memory Problems
The Curiosity team is touring Glen Torridon, the Valley of Clay, south of Vera Rubin Ridge, happily photographing everything and zapping rocks. It’s clearly a delight for the team to be in a place they’ve been hoping to reach for 7 years.
InSight Detects Some Very Small Marsquakes
InSight has finally detected its first Marsquakes, but so far, none have been large enough to produce good science. Still, it’s great news that the seismometer is producing sensible data.
HiRISE Team Overcomes Imaging Glitches as Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Eyes another Decade in Orbit
Blurred images and battery issues are no longer an immediate problem.
Chang’e-4 Updates: Yutu-2 Roves into Overtime, Returns More Images
China’s Chang’e-4 lander and Yutu-2 rover are continuing to function well and have completed their fourth lunar day.
Software Command to Fix Faulty Sensor Doomed Beresheet
Six days after SpaceIL's Beresheet spacecraft crash-landed on the Moon, we now have an explanation for what went wrong.
Voyager Wide-Angle Views of Jupiter
Last month marked the 40th anniversary of the historic Voyager 1 encounter with Jupiter in 1979.
Beresheet Comes Close before Crashing on the Moon
Mission controllers announced Beresheet had a problem with its main engine, and the spacecraft stopped transmitting shortly thereafter.
Beresheet is about to Land on the Moon
A successful landing will make SpaceIL the first private organization, and Israel the fourth country, to soft-land on the Moon.
2007 OR10 Needs a Name!
It’s time to give 2007 OR10 a name. We’re asking for your help to pick a suitable name for the largest as-yet-unnamed solar system world to submit to the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Beresheet Has Entered Lunar Orbit!
SpaceIL's Beresheet Moon lander successfully entered lunar orbit today after a 6-minute engine burn that began at 14:18 UTC / 10:18 EDT.
Hayabusa2 Safe and Sound after Blasting New Crater on Ryugu
Hayabusa2 successfully used its explosive-packed SCI experiment to create an artificial crater on asteroid Ryugu.
T-minus Five Years and Counting
Can NASA really return astronauts to the Moon by 2024?
Not a Heart of Ice
Mark Marley explains what planetary scientists mean when they say the word
First Science Results from Hayabusa2 Mission
The Hayabusa2 team held a press briefing last week at LPSC to report newly published results on asteroid Ryugu.
What to Expect When Hayabusa2 Blows a Hole in Asteroid Ryugu
The Hayabusa 2 spacecraft will deploy its Small Carry-on Impactor experiment, SCI, on 5 April.
Beresheet Gears up for Lunar Rendezvous
The Israeli spacecraft is set to enter lunar orbit on 4 April at 17:57 UTC (13:57 EDT).
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Lesser-Known Luminaries
Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block shares some of his latest images highlighting some hidden gems.
OSIRIS-REx sees Bennu spewing stuff into space
The asteroid's rotation rate is also increasing, and scientists continue refining the plan to collect a regolith sample next year.
The Realm of the Ice Giants
Imagine 2 icy worlds far from the Sun. Their serene, blue atmospheres. Huge, ominous-looking storms. Tantalizing glimpses of moons with exotic, icy terrains. Delicate sets of encircling rings.
The Skies of Mini-Neptunes
A GREAT QUEST is underway to discover Earthsize worlds in their stars’ habitable zones. Along the way, astronomers have been surprised to learn that the most typical size of planet in our galaxy is one with no counterpart in our own solar system.