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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
The Voyager Golden Records: A cosmic love letter
How a message to aliens captured the human spirit.
Computing in space exploration history
Before artificial intelligence, there was human ingenuity.
Calendar of space events 2025
Space missions, rocket launches, and celestial events are coming our way in 2025.
The year in pictures
The sights of space from the past 12 months.
Europa Clipper launches on its journey to Jupiter’s icy moon
NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft launched today aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Europa Clipper: A mission backed by advocates
Europa Clipper will soon head for Jupiter's icy, potentially habitable moon. Without the advocacy efforts of The Planetary Society and our members, the mission may never have been possible.
Could Europa Clipper find life?
For a mission that doesn’t aim to find alien life, Europa Clipper may come surprisingly close.
The Europa Clipper launch: What to expect
NASA is preparing to launch its flagship mission to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa. Launching sometime in October 2024 and arriving in 2030, the mission will explore the icy world with a subsurface ocean that scientists think could have conditions favorable to life.
Earthlings as aliens
Looking at life on Earth from another perspective.
Why does Jupiter spin so fast?
The gas giant is the Solar System's largest planet. Here's why it's also the fastest-spinning planet.
What are competed planetary missions?
A critical part of a balanced exploration program, competed missions are scientist-led projects that cost less and occur more frequently than large, flagship-class missions.
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.
Why aren't there more close-up images of Uranus and Neptune?
There aren't many close-up, high-resolution images of the ice giants Uranus and Neptune. The reason comes down to distance.
How do humans try to communicate with aliens?
SETI is the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, using various techniques to look for signals from advanced alien civilizations. METI (messaging extraterrestrial intelligence) is when we send out our own signals for aliens to find.
The scientific truth is out there
The real science of aliens, the policy implications of ET, and new views of worlds beyond our own.
Way out there
We’re always learning more about the worlds of the outer Solar System, and even those beyond.
Moon-spying missions and a planetary evil twin
Whether they’re dedicated to it or not, planetary missions can get beautiful and informative glimpses at distant moons. And who’s the evil twin: Venus or Earth?
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.
Moonshadow, Moonshadow
The Moon casts shadows on itself and on Earth, environmental concerns overshadow a test launch’s success, and exoplanets are awesome (beyond a shadow of a doubt).