Articles

Max Fagin

Making Mars habitable will require us to master the conversion of raw Martian materials into resources we can use to survive. Fortunately, Mars has a wealth of usable materials, making it one of the most human-habitable places in the solar system, other than Earth itself.

Donna Stevens

The Fall 2017 issue of The Planetary Report is in the mail and available online now to our members!

Anatoly Zak

A Canadian Space Agency proposal would install a solar sail on the outside of the Deep Space Gateway, a miniature space station in lunar orbit.

Jason Davis

In a review of Star Trek: Discovery, Jason Davis says he expected Discovery to be a cross between Enterprise and the new reboot movies. Instead, the show turned out to be something else entirely.

Emily Lakdawalla

Today in London, Emily Lakdawalla was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of the University by The Open University.

Larry Crumpler

Opportunity is continuing its drive down Perseverance Valley, a possible channel that was cut in the inner wall of the 22 km-diameter Endeavour impact crater on ancient Mars.

Jason Davis

Two of NASA's new astronaut candidates are particularly suited to conduct scientific research on other worlds: Zena Cardman, a geobiologist, and Jessica Watkins, a geologist.

Phil Stooke

How were the Chang'e 5 and 4 landing sites chosen? Space exploration historian Phil Stooke explains.

Donna Stevens

We at The Planetary Society are saddened to hear about the recent passing of veteran space artist Kim Poor.

Emily Lakdawalla

OSIRIS-REx launched on September 8, 2016. Now, a year later, it's returning to its home to get a second boost on to its destination, the asteroid Bennu. It'll test all its cameras on Earth and the Moon in the 10 days after the flyby.

Emily Lakdawalla

Cassini is no more. At 10:31 according to its own clock, its thrusters could no longer hold its radio antenna pointed at Earth, and it turned away. A minute later, it vaporized in Saturn’s atmosphere. Its atoms are part of Saturn now.

Emily Lakdawalla

Curiosity had a productive three months driving along the front of Vera Rubin Ridge, gathering photos and data with its arm instruments, finally driving up on to the ridge on sol 1809.

Emily Lakdawalla

A timeline of what to expect from the great mission during its final hours.

Jason Davis

The end of the Cassini mission is a harbinger for a looming gap in outer planets exploration missions.

Kate Howells

Canada's Space Advisory Board has provided a clear set of recommendations to advance the country's space program, and The Planetary Society is proud to have played a role in the process.

Paul Schenk

Planetary scientist Paul Schenk shares his story of working on the Voyager missions as a JPL intern back in 1979.

Emily Lakdawalla

Since December 1, 2016, Curiosity has been unable to drill into rocks because of a serious problem with one of the drill's motors. Emily Lakdawalla thoroughly explains the issues and the path forward for Curiosity.

Matt Renninger

This year’s International Astronautical Congress (IAC) is being held in Adelaide, Australia. Thanks to the generous support of our members, The Society’s advocacy and outreach capability is rapidly expanding, and we decided to step up our IAC advocacy this year.

Emily Lakdawalla

Today is the 40th anniversary of the launch of Voyager 1. Four decades later, both spacecraft survive, still producing science, still working on their interstellar missions. On the occasion of the anniversary, we revisit Carl Sagan's reflections on the significance of the Voyager missions.

Emily Lakdawalla

Emily Lakdawalla's first book is now available for pre-order.