Articles

Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.

The Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Presses On in Perseverance, Pace Picks Up

In the west rim of Endeavour Crater, Opportunity continued her exploration of Perseverance Valley in March.

#LPSC2018: What the Moon's craters tell us about Earth's past climate

You might be surprised to learn that studying craters on the Moon can tell us about ancient Earth.

Preview of the InSight Mars launch

NASA’s next planetary launch is coming up, as soon as May 5, 2018. This post is your one-stop shop for information about InSight’s launch, cruise, and expected mission to Mars.

A new storm on Saturn!

On March 29, vigilant astronomer Maciel Bassani Sparrenberger discovered that a new bright spot had broken out in Saturn's high northern latitudes.

Moon Monday: Galileo's Galileans

This week it seems fitting to feature a portrait of the Galilean moons by Galileo.

#LPSC2018: Understanding early Mars through fluvial features

One of the ways we understand Mars' early climatic and geologic history is through preserved fluvial features.

Dawn Journal: The Final Countdown

The Dawn mission has only one revolution to go before the spacecraft begins the final campaign of its long and rewarding deep-space adventure.

Europa in color: trailing hemisphere (Galileo, 19 September 1997)

#LPSC2018: Groovy Galilean satellites

The Jovian system is a busy place. The Groovy Galilean Satellites session at last week's Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) covered analysis of past mission data, testable hypotheses for future missions, and discussion of the use of ground-based data.

Sample storage and examination laboratory for Genesis samples

#LPSC2018: Fungi in the lab, hot springs frozen cold, and exploding lakes

The first astrobiology session at last week's Lunar and Planetary Science Conference featured talks on a huge variety of interesting topics, and was one of my favorite sessions at the meeting.

ISS partners consider ambitious lunar sample return mission

The plan involves NASA's proposed Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, and a return to Earth via the Orion spacecraft.

#LPSC2018: An Apollo 17 session with moonwalker Jack Schmitt

The only geoscientist to walk on the Moon attended a conference session presenting results from the rocks he collected.

#MoonMon: Io's pretty plumes

On this Moon Monday, I'm featuring an animation processed by Gordan Ugarkovic, showing Jupiter's volcanic moon Io with its prominent plumes.

#LPSC2018: Mars mass wasting in the laboratory

Mars today is a dynamic place. One visually dramatic sign of change on Mars is

#LPSC2018: Titan Is Terrific!

Emily's first report from the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference is on the solar system's most atmospheriffic satellite, Saturn's moon Titan.

Moon Monday: Looking back at the Moon from Apollo 17

For this Moon Monday, Emily digs up a classic from the end of the Apollo program.

Automating Science on Mars

Since 2016, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has had the ability to choose its own science targets using an onboard intelligent targeting system called AEGIS.