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

The End of Opportunity and the Burden of Success

The Opportunity rover and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter are both zeroed out in NASA's 2015 budget. Learn why these missions face the axe and why the White House is forcing NASA to choose between existing missions and starting new ones.

Your Europa Mission Primer of the Day

Trying to understand NASA's current efforts to explore Europa? Read this excellent piece on the recent, frustrating history to scout out this watery moon of Jupiter.

How Does NASA's Ban on Russian Contact Affect Curiosity?

Earlier this week, NASA announced that it was cutting off ties with Russia, except for activities relating to the ISS. This raised questions about Russian participation on NASA's science missions, particularly the Russian experiment on the Curiosity rover.

The NASA Budget: What Next

Now that the White House has released its 2015 NASA budget proposal, what happens next? What can you do to help?

What is NASA for?

Planetary scientist Craig Hardgrove takes a look at what NASA really does for humanity.

Mars 2020 Is No Redo

The next major mission to Mars will push the technological envelope in way that preserves its budget and fulfills the scientific goals set by the planetary community for this decade.

Continued Victories for Planetary Exploration

Pat yourself on the back. Planetary exploration will be more vibrant in 2014 thanks to you. More than fifty thousand messages were sent to Congress this year, and they listened, adding back a significant amount of money in the 2014 Omnibus spending bill.

NASA’s New Planetary Mission Woes

NASA’s planetary science program depends on regular missions to solar system bodies to gather data. A combination of budget cuts and previous commitments to develop missions currently in the pipeline means that development of follow on missions may slow to a crawl. Van Kane looks at the current situation and NASA’s plans and then look at options the agency may consider if budgets remain tight into the next decade.

Power From the Isotopes

We report on the current state of Plutonium-238 production in the United States, a crucial fuel source for planetary exploration spacecraft.

NASA's MAVEN Mission Spared from Shutdown

Launch preparations will resume for NASA's MAVEN spacecraft, due to launch to Mars on November 18th. Work had previously been suspended, potentially causing the spacecraft to miss its once-every-26-month launch opportunity.

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