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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Earthlings off-planet
Celebrate 61 years of humans in space, and take a look at the latest news from our exploration of the cosmos.
NASA's FY 2023 Budget Stays the Course
The Biden Administration proposed $26 billion for NASA — we break down the potential impacts to human exploration and planetary science.
The value of knowledge
Space exploration comes at a cost, but the investment is always worthwhile.
Not a planet? Not a problem.
Pluto, everyone’s favorite former planet, takes center stage in this week’s Downlink.
The Space Advocate Newsletter, March 2022
A future with more of our strengths and fewer of our weaknesses.
Another Day in Action
115 members of The Planetary Society from 33 states met with 161 congressional offices to support space science and exploration in 2022.
How much does the James Webb Space Telescope cost?
Find annual expenditures, charts, and comparisons for NASA's expenditures on the James Webb Space Telescope, including contributions from the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency over the same period.
The Icy Intrigue of Enceladus
Saturn’s icy moon invites further study, and The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 spacecraft celebrates an anniversary.
Remembering Missions And Anticipating Those To Come
Reminisce about the influential Viking missions, picture seeing your all-time favorites on your wall, and get excited for what’s to come.
Spotting Rovers From Above and Asteroids From Afar
China’s Zhurong Mars rover snaps a selfie and gets a bird’s-eye-view pic from above, and asteroid hunters of all kinds look out for dangerous rocks.
Venusian Probes and UFOs
Venus is an intimidating destination for spacecraft, and we’re pretty sure Earth hasn’t yet been a destination for aliens.
Eclipses: It’s All About Perspective
Look at eclipses from the perspective of Earth, the Moon, and beyond. Plus catch up on the week’s space news.
Biden's 2022 NASA Budget Says Yes to Pretty Much Everything
This is the 2nd-largest budget proposal for the space agency in 25 years. It embraces a broad set of NASA programs, including Artemis to the Moon, important science initiatives, and a healthy space technology effort.
A galaxy that spins in more ways than one
Listen to the sounds of the Whirlpool Galaxy and look back at our earliest picture of it.
Congress Comes Through for NASA Science, But Not Artemis
Planetary Society priorities, including Mars Sample Return and the Roman Space Telescope, were funded by Congress in its NASA budget. But Project Artemis's human landing system received only a fraction of its requested amount, pushing a return to the Moon further into the 2020s.
Dive deep into the history of planetary exploration funding
This unique, comprehensive dataset includes the full budget history, by year, of every NASA planetary science mission and related activities.
Two Mars Missions Are Gutted Despite Near-Record Funding for Planetary Science
A new budget submission from the White House would continue record-high funding for planetary science, but proposes deep cuts to 2 productive Mars missions and defers funding for deep space telescope dedicated to finding hazardous near-Earth objects.
NASA Rings in the New Year with $22.6 billion
NASA's final 2020 budget rejected every major cut proposed by the Trump Administration, increased funding for popular congressional projects such as the Space Launch System, and underfunded several key administration proposals, including a human-qualified lunar lander and low-Earth orbit commercialization projects.
What the recent budget deal means for NASA
A bigger budgetary pie allows the space agency's budget to grow—for one year at least.
Reconstructing the Cost of the One Giant Leap
How much did Project Apollo cost? Planetary Society experts answered that question by revisiting primary sources and reconstructing Apollo's entire cost history from 1960 - 1973.