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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Farewell, Kepler
NASA's Kepler space telescope helped us find our place in the cosmos.
LightSail 2 launch pushed to early 2019
An Air Force official says an ‘initial launch capability’ is being reassessed.
Collecting a sample from asteroid Ryugu is going to be dicey
Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft was scheduled to touch down on Ryugu later this month, but that has been delayed to early 2019.
Space station crew safe after failed launch
About two minutes after liftoff, the Soyuz vehicle carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin to orbit failed.
MAVEN, in orbit around Mars, snaps anniversary selfie
The spacecraft used its ultraviolet spectrograph imager for the job, and one frame shows Mars in the background.
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is getting a signal boost
It's all thanks to renewed interest from NASA and a private effort to scan the skies using an array of 64 radio telescopes.
Japan's asteroid hoppers deliver new batch of incredible images
Pics of Ryugu's surface show loose piles of gravel strewn with larger rocks and boulders.
How LightSail and a NASA study helped pave the way for Mars-bound CubeSats
Two NASA CubeSats are approaching Mars — an impressive accomplishment for a concept many people regarded with derision just 15 years ago.
Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully drops rovers on asteroid Ryugu
The two small spacecraft are the size and shape of cheese wheels, and can autonomously hop around the surface.
'Everything about this flyby is tougher': New Horizons just over 100 days from Ultima Thule
On Jan. 1, NASA's New Horizons will perform a high-risk, high-reward flyby of an ancient world on the outskirts of the solar system.
Goodbye, Delta II rocket
This Saturday, the final Delta II rocket will launch NASA's ICESat-2 spacecraft into orbit.
Orion's third flight will haul two pieces of a space station to lunar orbit
NASA is planning for a 30-day mission to lunar orbit in 2024.
Hayabusa2 prepares to collect samples, leave Planetary Society names on Ryugu
The names were collected by the Society in 2013, and are stored on target markers that will be dropped on the asteroid.
False alarm: Here's why people thought Opportunity phoned home last week
It was a signal from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, not Opportunity, that showed up on a Deep Space Network dashboard last week.
Here are some recent postcards from Jupiter
Let's check in on NASA's Juno spacecraft, which completed its 14th close flyby of Jupiter last month.
Parker Solar Probe preview: 10 hot facts about NASA's cool mission to the Sun
This weekend, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe spacecraft leaves Earth on a mission to touch the Sun.
LightSail 2 updates: Launch date slips, environmental test complete, new video released
LightSail 2's ride to space won't happen until at least November 30, as SpaceX works through a list of other payloads in line to fly first.
NASA names crews and dates for first U.S. commercial missions
Four NASA astronauts and one commercial employee are expected to launch aboard SpaceX and Boeing-operated vehicles in 2019.
LightSail 2 team completes key mission review and dress rehearsal
The LightSail 2 team gathered in Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for a Mission Readiness Review (MRR) and Operational Readiness Test (ORT).
Planetary Society asteroid hunters help find rare type of double asteroid
A global team of astronomers has found a rare type of asteroid, where two equal-mass objects circle each other in a never-ending dance as they hurtle through the solar system.