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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Other Earths
Astronomers are closing in on planets that might be like our own.
The pale blue dot 35 years later
On its 35th anniversary, a reflection on what the pale blue dot means to us.
Rethinking the atoms of life
Astrobiologists aren't just looking at other worlds to search for life; they're looking back to ancient Earth and considering alternate biochemistries.
Are you ready for your close-up?
Close-ups of the Sun’s coronal loops and a tiny piece of Bennu can teach us a lot.
Rock, ice, and glass
The Solar System is full of rocky and icy bodies, but this particular galaxy is made of glass.
China eyes Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus in the hunt for habitability
China’s Deep Space Exploration Laboratory and the Shanghai Institute of Satellite Engineering have proposed an orbiter and lander mission to explore Enceladus with a key focus on the moon’s potential habitability.
All space rocks great and small
From large comets to tiny meteorites and all the asteroids in between, it’s worth finding all sizes of space rocks.
Supporting asteroid defense: The 2025 Shoemaker NEO Grant winners
Meet the latest winners of The Planetary Society's Shoemaker NEO Grant program.
Do rovers dream of electric sheep?
Rovers like Curiosity need their sleep. Meanwhile, dreams of interstellar travel are being pursued.
Eat, sleep, explore space, repeat
Astronauts may be living on the frontiers of human space exploration, but they still need to eat and sleep like the rest of us.
When space rocks get too close for comfort
Some of the best-documented encounters Earthlings have had with asteroids and meteorites.
Worlds in swirls
New research expands our understanding and observations of how planets form. And, good news in the fight for NASA funding.
Why send people back to the Moon?
What can an astronaut do on the Moon that a robot can’t?
The Space Advocate Newsletter, July 2025
Unprecedented. Unstrategic. Wasteful.
Spaceflight worth the fight
A flyby anniversary reminds us why missions of exploration are worth fighting for.
Ten years after Pluto, New Horizons faces a new threat
The newly proposed budget for NASA would shut down the spacecraft midflight.
Space sodas
Coke and Pepsi battled it out in space, and an astronaut got to enjoy another kind of sprite.
Scientists behind threatened NASA missions explain what’s at stake
Here is what they have to say, in their own words.
MRO, OMG!
NASA’s longstanding Mars orbiter is in the spotlight this week, along with some of our youngest and most passionate advocates.
How astronomers rank dangerous asteroids (and what that means for you)
A breakdown of the Torino scale, designed to give a quick sense of how worried you should be about an asteroid or comet.