Articles

Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.

Have a nice flight!

Flying on Titan is easy, but not as easy as flying on Deimos. Plus, Juice takes off and Ingenuity captures a view from the air.

Rocket flight and the five dwarfs

Meet the Solar System’s five official dwarf planets, celebrate two major launches, and find out why planets sometimes seem to go backwards across the sky.

What does “Mercury in retrograde” actually mean?

"Mercury in retrograde" is one of the most searched terms relating to the planet. Astrological interpretations aside, apparent retrograde motion is an interesting phenomenon that has to do with orbital speeds and observer perspective.

Want more space? Speak up!

Detailed Mars maps, insights into the Venusian surface, and views of Uranian rings all have one thing in common: they don’t happen without public support for space.

A mission to pull back the shroud

VERITAS would peer through Venus’ clouds to study its surface like never before, but it needs your help.

What the search for aliens can learn from life on Earth

When searching for extraterrestrial life, we have to base our hunt on what we know about life on our own planet. This may seem limiting, but there's a lot we can learn from the astonishingly diverse lifeforms we have here on Earth.

Spectacularly crepuscular!

Curiosity captures crepuscular rays on Mars, a new member community launches, and solar sailing takes exploration into the future.

Red hot space

This week’s roundup of space news and exploration inspiration will leave you seeing red (in the best way possible).

What does a bear have in common with a megatsunami?

An old image of Mars drives scientific questions today, moons and mini asteroids fuel fascination, and an unexpected ursine figure shows itself.

Best space pictures of the month: January 2023

A sample depot on Mars and a stunning green comet top this month's space highlights.

Extraterrestrial frosts

Frost happens throughout the Solar System, creating beautiful views. Learn why and check out the latest in space news.

Ending a year, looking to the future

This year has been great for space exploration. With your support, we’ll make sure the future is even better.

A long night, and “so long!” to InSight

Celebrate the December solstice, be thankful you’re not on Triton, and say goodbye to the InSight Mars lander.

Capturing the Cosmos

This week we have images snapped the old-fashioned and cutting-edge ways, creative ways of thinking about exploration, and artwork that expresses the beauty of it all.