Explore Worlds
Find Life
Defend Earth
All
All
Sun
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
What could the Artemis IV astronauts discover on the Moon?
NASA is already planning what the crew will do on their lunar landing mission.
The Space Advocate Newsletter, August 2026
The Sun shines brightly until it doesn't.
The best images from the 2026 solar eclipse
Our favorite images from the total solar eclipse that passed through Europe on Aug. 12, 2026.
The Cost of a PROMISE
NASA may send an engineering copy of a Mars rover to the Moon, but at what price?
Hayabusa2’s flyby of asteroid Torifune
On Sunday, July 5, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)'s Hayabusa2 probe performed a close flyby of the asteroid Torifune.
China’s Tianwen-2 mission has (probably) arrived at a quasi-moon of Earth
The probe aims to bring back a sample from the asteroid Kamo'oalewa.
Solstices, equinoxes, and seasons
How Earth’s tilted axis causes our seasons.
What would it be like to fly through Saturn’s rings?
Saturn’s rings are one of the most beautiful sights in the Solar System, but most of us have no idea what they look like up close.
How do things in space get their names?
From a lunar feature named after a loved one to a planet named after a god, traditions and rules guide how we name things in space.
'Ignition': A new series of NASA initiatives
On March 24, 2026, NASA leadership detailed new plans for the agency, involving lunar missions, Mars, and more.
Beyond the unknown: The coming Kuiper belt revolution
Discoveries about the worlds of the Kuiper belt could revolutionize our understanding of the Solar System and its ancient past.
How do you define a planet?
As our ability to study space has improved, our definitions of planets have evolved.
Messengers of ice and time
Comets are ancient relics from the Solar System's formation that may have delivered water and the building blocks of life to early Earth.
Why do some planets have rings and others don't?
The giant planets of our Solar System all have rings, as do some dwarf planets and even asteroids. So why don’t Mercury, Venus, Earth, or Mars?
What is a "planetary alignment"?
What to expect when multiple planets appear in the sky together.
The Space Advocate Newsletter, Februrary 2026
Musk fought the Moon and the Moon won.
NASA has lost a spacecraft around Mars. Is MAVEN gone for good?
A pioneering spacecraft has gone missing around Mars, and NASA says the mission is probably unrecoverable.
Calendar of space events 2026
Space missions, rocket launches, and celestial events are coming our way in 2026.
Rogue worlds and the boundaries of planethood
Exploring rogue planets, how they form, and how they expand our conception of what counts as a planet.
Which stars could host alien life?
Every star in the Universe creates a different environment for the worlds around it.