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Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
LightSail 2 is about to burn up
After 3.5 years, 18,000 orbits of the Earth, and 8 million kilometers (5 million miles) traveled, The Planetary Society’s successful LightSail 2 solar sail spacecraft will burn up as it reenters the Earth’s atmosphere in the next few days.
LightSail 2 getting lower as it completes third year in space
An update on The Planetary Society's LightSail 2 mission, which launched in 2015.
Updates from our Shoemaker NEO Grant winners
Brief updates on what the latest Shoemaker NEO grant winners have been working on.
Request for Proposals for the 2022 Science and Technology Empowered by the Public (STEP) Grants
We are excited to announce a new Request for Proposals (RFP) for our Science and Technology Empowered by the Public (STEP) Grants.
Announcing the First-Ever STEP Grant Winners: Citizen Science SETI and Determining Asteroid Properties
The new STEP Grants program is designed to regularly compete a significant portion of The Planetary Society’s science and technology portfolio.
Announcing the 2021 Shoemaker NEO Grant Winners
More funds than ever before support the work of asteroid hunters from around the world.
LightSail 2 completes second year in space
Two years after launch, The Planetary Society's LightSail 2 spacecraft is still solar sailing and paving the way for future missions.
Shoemaker NEO Grant Winners Advance Their Work
We check in our last round of grant winners, who are helping to defend Earth from dangerous asteroids.
Your guide to future total solar eclipses
Bruce Betts and Sarah Al-Ahmed provided a guide to all total solar eclipses through the end of the 2020s, with dates and locations.
¿Qué es un eclipse solar? Tus preguntas, respondidas
Tu guía sobre eclipses totales, parciales y anulares: qué los causa, qué verás y cuándo ocurrirá el próximo.
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.
Qu’est-ce qu’une éclipse solaire ? Réponses à vos questions
Votre guide des éclipses totales, partielles et annulaires: leurs causes, ce que vous verrez, et la date de la prochaine.
Was ist eine Sonnenfinsternis? Ihre Fragen beantwortet
Ihr Leitfaden zu totalen, partiellen und ringförmigen Sonnenfinsternissen: Was sie verursacht, was Sie sehen werden und wann die nächste stattfindet.
Announcing the 2019 Shoemaker NEO Grant Winners
Six proposals are awarded a total of $57,906. The winners come from 4 countries on 3 continents.
The Planetary Society Announces 2019 Call for Proposals for Shoemaker NEO Grant Program
Our grants fund amateur observers, underfunded professional observers, and observers in developing countries who make vital contributions to NEO research.
A Busy Summer
Bruce Betts reports on LightSail 2’s status and looks to the future of solar sailing.
Book Announcement and Excerpt: Astronomy for Kids
For Astronomy Day, Bruce announces his new book Astronomy for Kids, provides excerpts, and gives some bonus planet observing info.
NASA Then & Now
A collection of before and after slider images showing how views of planets in our solar system have changed over the years since NASA was created.
Will an asteroid hit Earth? Your questions answered.
The Planetary Society presents a list of Frequent Asteroid Questions (FAQs).
A Planetary Vacuum Successfully Takes a Rocket Ride
Rocket science met planetary science in the California desert when PlanetVac, a new planetary surface sampling technique, was successfully tested on a Xodiac rocket.



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