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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
The Artemis II mission: What to expect
NASA is preparing to send humans back to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years. The Artemis II mission will send a crew of four astronauts on a 10-day mission around the Moon and back to Earth. Here’s what to expect from the upcoming mission.
Calendar of space events 2026
Space missions, rocket launches, and celestial events are coming our way in 2026.
Why send people back to the Moon?
What can an astronaut do on the Moon that a robot can’t?
How space explorers could grow habitats from fungus
A NASA-funded project is exploring the possibility of using mycelium — the root-like structure in fungi — to grow habitats on the Moon or Mars.
Calendar of space events 2025
Space missions, rocket launches, and celestial events are coming our way in 2025.
How soon will Starship fly?
One rocket could decide how soon humanity returns to the Moon — and maybe one day sets foot on Mars.
Challenges facing the human exploration of Mars
From the dangers of radiation to the complications of landing a crewed spacecraft, there are myriad technical challenges facing human exploration of Mars.
How to spot the ISS
Seeing the ISS is easy and amazing stargazing.
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.
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 NASA plans to deorbit the International Space Station
The aging complex will be replaced by commercially operated space stations, and deorbited as soon as 2030.
To the moon together
An interview with Scott Pace about the Moon’s role in internationally cooperative human space exploration.
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.
That’s a mare
An unusual lunar feature, Saturn’s shining rings, and Mars’ complex gullies.
Speedy spacecraft and pretty pics
Take a look at some of our favorite recent space images and learn about an express mission to Mars.
The scientific truth is out there
The real science of aliens, the policy implications of ET, and new views of worlds beyond our own.
Would you like some salty water with your space salad?
Two new grant-winning projects, a collection of awesome space imagery, a mighty plume, and much more this week in space.
Way out there
We’re always learning more about the worlds of the outer Solar System, and even those beyond.
Hard-working spacecraft and even harder-working microbes
The Soyuz spacecraft have been helping humans get to and from space for decades, but that’s nothing compared to the billions of years that microorganisms have been making life on Earth possible.