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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
InSight has landed (UPDATED)
InSight touched down on Mars today, bringing NASA's total of successful Mars landers to 8 and total number of active NASA Mars missions to 6.
This Thanksgiving, avoid the politics and talk space instead
If you're expecting to gather with extended family on Thanksgiving, avoid the politics. Here are some conversation starters to use at the dinner table that everyone can engage in.
Here's where China is looking to land its 2020 Mars rover
NASA's Mars 2020 rover isn't the only spacecraft heading to Mars in two years.
We're going to Jezero!
NASA announced this morning the selection of Jezero crater for the landing site of the Mars 2020 mission. Jezero is a 45-kilometer-wide crater that once held a lake, and now holds a spectacular ancient river delta.
When Space Science Becomes a Political Liability
John Culberson, an 8-term Texas Republican and staunch supporter the search for life on Europa, lost his re-election bid last week. His support for Europa was attacked by opponents and could send a chilling political message about the consequences of supporting space science and exploration.
Hayabusa2 prepares for holiday break as Sun passes between Earth and asteroid Ryugu
The spacecraft will spend the end of 2018 a safe distance from Ryugu, as the Sun's position makes communications with Earth spotty.
What to Expect When InSight Lands on Mars
If all goes well, anxious space fans on Earth will learn of a successful InSight landing on Mars on Monday, 26 November 2018, at 19:53 UTC. Here's a preview of all the landing day events.
How I created a Jupiter rotation video using Hubble data
Judy Schmidt shares the technique she used to make a beautiful new animation of Jupiter.
Here's (almost) everything you need to know about Israel's Moon lander
SpaceIL, a privately funded Israeli non-profit, will attempt to land a small spacecraft on the Moon in early 2019.
The Mars Exploration Rovers Update: NASA Green-Lights Team to Continue Opportunity Recovery Plan into 2019
October came and went without a beep from Opportunity, silence that was still no surprise for some, but a little discouraging for other members of the rover team.
Farewell, Kepler
NASA's Kepler space telescope helped us find our place in the cosmos.
In search of ice and fire: Europa analog fieldwork in Iceland, 2018
The terrain of Iceland – the Land of Ice and Fire – has some very interesting similarities to Europa.
Dawn Journal: 11 Years in Space
Dawn is celebrating its 11th anniversary of spaceflight. This is the last dawnniversary the spacecraft will see.
Collecting a sample from asteroid Ryugu is going to be dicey
Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft was scheduled to touch down on Ryugu later this month, but that has been delayed to early 2019.
Looking at Io's Volcanoes Since Galileo
It’s been almost 17 years since NASA's Galileo spacecraft took meaningful data of Jupiter’s volcanic moon.
Heiligenschein Throughout the Solar System
When planetary scientist Brittney Cooper was scrolling through the downlinked images of Hayabusa2’s approach of asteroid Ryugu, a familiar sight caught her attention.
Imaging the Earth from Lunar orbit
Radio amateurs around the world worked together to take an image of the Earth and the far side of the Moon.
How to follow BepiColombo's launch
I’m thrilled to be anticipating the beginning of a new mission to Mercury. Here's a timeline for BepiColombo's planned launch on 20 October (19 October in the U.S.).
My 18-Month Affair With Titan
Ian Regan, producer of the Titan segment of In Saturn's Rings, describes the meticulous process of creating the stunning visuals of this shrouded moon.
MAVEN, in orbit around Mars, snaps anniversary selfie
The spacecraft used its ultraviolet spectrograph imager for the job, and one frame shows Mars in the background.