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.
On the launchpad
NASA launches a new plan, Artemis II returns to the launchpad, and a new rocket gets a launch with a view.
3 charts that show how Artemis compares to Apollo
How do funding, workforce, and robotic lunar exploration compare between NASA's two lunar exploration programs?
'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.
The Space Advocate Newsletter, March 2026
Artemis vis-a-vis Apollo.
Builders and boulders
Spacecraft are being built, and boulders are solving puzzles.
Meet Jennifer Vaughn
Planetary Society CEO Jennifer Vaughn answers questions about her history with the organization, her vision for its future, her love of space, 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.
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.
How do you define a planet?
As our ability to study space has improved, our definitions of planets have evolved.
The view from the top
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has a great view of the Cosmos — and of the Earth below.
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?
Stellar death and an Artemis overhaul
A planetary nebula teaches us about how stars die, and a new Artemis architecture changes our plans for Mars.
The impact of impacts
Collisions are often the reason things are the way they are in the Solar System today.
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.
That’s a first!
From the first lunar landing to a leader’s first week in a new job, there are lots of firsts to celebrate this week.
An interplanetary team effort
Although spacecraft may be isolated in space, they’re far from alone.
Setting our sights
The future of space exploration is right around the corner.
The Artemis II mission: What to expect
Artemis II will send humans back to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years, with four astronauts on a 10-day mission around the Moon and back. Here’s what to expect.
NASA is funded. Now what?
With the upheaval of 2025 behind us, here's what we're looking for in space policy this year.