Explore Worlds
Find Life
Defend Earth
All
All
Sun
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
What to look forward to in space in 2024
A total solar eclipse and the launch of Europa Clipper are on our list of cosmic events to get excited about this year.
What went wrong with Mars Sample Return
An edited transcript of an interview with Orlando Figueroa, chair of the independent review team that evaluated NASA's Mars Sample Return program.
Uranus' biggest unsolved mysteries
Distant, icy Uranus has puzzled scientists for decades. From its sideways spin to its mysterious magnetic field, the oddball world has many secrets waiting to be revealed.
Why the true colors of the planets aren't what you think
Cameras on our space probes act as proxies for our own eyes, but what they see isn't necessarily what our eyes would see.
How do we see the surface of Venus from space?
Although Venus is shrouded in a thick atmosphere, several spacecraft have been able to image its surface from space. Future missions will expand and refine the maps we already have.
Looking for long waves
Why JWST observes in the infrared.
The best pictures of Mars from space
Spacecraft have been taking pictures of Mars from space since 1965. Here are some of our favorites.
Lucy’s flyby of Dinkinesh: Everything you need to know
On Nov. 1, 2023, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft flew past Dinkinesh, a small asteroid in the main belt, and discovered a binary pair of moonlets in orbit around the asteroid.
Why aren't there more close-up images of Uranus and Neptune?
There aren't many close-up, high-resolution images of the ice giants Uranus and Neptune. The reason comes down to distance.
Psyche mission successfully launches
The spacecraft has begun its six-year journey to the same-name metal world.
How do humans try to communicate with aliens?
SETI is the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, using various techniques to look for signals from advanced alien civilizations. METI (messaging extraterrestrial intelligence) is when we send out our own signals for aliens to find.
The future of Mars Sample Return
An overview of the 2023 Independent Review Board report on the state and future of Mars Sample Return.
The Psyche launch and its journey to a metal world: What to expect
The Psyche spacecraft is scheduled to blast off on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Oct. 13.
The boy who named Bennu is now an aspiring astronaut
The Planetary Society spoke to Mike Puzio, who won our "Name that asteroid!" contest back in 2013.
OSIRIS-REx returns sample from asteroid Bennu to Earth
The sample capsule parachuted to a landing at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range southwest of Salt Lake City.
Cometary sights and sounds
Discover what causes a comet’s color and what it might be like to listen to one whiz by.
OSIRIS-REx sample return: What to expect
The spacecraft will drop off its precious samples of asteroid Bennu on Sept. 24, 2023.
See for yourself
See the month’s coolest space pictures, see planets in the night sky, and create the future in space that you want to see.
Storms and showers
Mars has storms of dust, while Saturn pours down ammonia rain. Here on Earth, we passed through a debris tail to get a special kind of shower.
Hasta la vista, baby
Terminators abound this week in space, and we’ll be back to Mars if NASA gets the budget it needs.