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Jatan Mehta
Contributing Editor, The Planetary Society
Jatan Mehta is a science writer passionate about exploration of space and humanity’s future in it, and the unique role of our Moon in both. His space blog and lunar exploration newsletter can be found at blog.jatan.space.
Resource Pages Authored by Jatan Mehta
VERITAS, NASA’s Venus mapper
NASA will launch the VERITAS spacecraft in 2028 to study Venus and its past.
KPLO, South Korea’s first Moon mission
The lunar orbiter will launch South Korea’s deep space ambitions.
JUICE, exploring Jupiter’s icy moons
The European Space Agency (ESA) is launching the JUICE spacecraft to study Jupiter and its three largest icy moons.
Psyche, exploring a metal world
NASA is launching the Psyche mission to a metal asteroid by the same name in 2022.
VIPER, NASA’s Moon resource mapper
NASA is launching the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, in 2023 to map water on the Moon’s south pole.
The Sun, our solar system’s star
Our Sun is an active star, frequently bursting out storms of plasma and radiation into the solar system.
MMX, Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration mission
MMX launches in 2024 to study Mars' moons and return samples from Phobos to Earth in 2029.
Asteroids, comets and other small worlds
These leftover planet-building materials are time capsules that give us a peek into our origins.
MAVEN, studying how Mars lost its atmosphere
NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft, MAVEN, studies how Mars loses its atmosphere to space. The orbiter also relays communications between surface missions and Earth.
Neptune, planet of wind and ice
Neptune, our outermost planet, is a windy blue world with exotic ice, raging storms, rings, and a moon that could have a subsurface ocean.
Saturn, planet of rings, moons and more to explore
Saturn is the crown jewel of our solar system. It has a stunning set of rings, diverse moons, and so much more to explore.
Venus, cloudy with a chance of life
Venus may have had oceans and been habitable to life before being transformed into an inhospitable wasteland.
The Moon, preserving Earth's origin story
The Moon is the only world besides Earth ever visited by humans. By studying it, scientists can piece together Earth’s origin story.
Latest Articles
Our exploration of the solar system combined with two decades of exoplanet research tells us there are several possibilities for life to exist on starless planets and their moons.
New research says methane levels detected in the plumes of one of Saturn's moons, Enceladus, might point to a habitable world.
These are some of the most compelling ideas on how to terraform Mars into a habitable, Earth-like world for future explorers.
Latest Planetary Radio Appearances
Director Clare Lewins and NASA astronaut Cady Coleman discuss the new documentary "The Wonderful: Stories from the Space Station."