Big Moon mission, little space rocks

There were an unusually high number of meteor reports in March. Reports of fireballs in the sky and meteorites hitting buildings were all over the news last month. The American Meteor Society, which collects data on meteor reports and observations, provided an analysis of this unusual pattern. Pictured: Maps showing 2026 fireball events in North America and Europe with 25+ witness reports and valid trajectory solutions. Marker size corresponds to witness count. Image credit: The American Meteor Society.

Perseverance radar data show signs of a buried river delta under Jezero Crater. The Mars rover’s RIMFAX (the Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment) instrument has been peering beneath the planet’s surface as Perseverance traverses Jezero Crater. Recent analysis of its data shows an ancient river delta buried 24 meters (80 feet) beneath, potentially suggesting that Mars had liquid surface water even earlier in its history than previously known.

You can help conduct lunar science with Artemis II. During their flyby, the Artemis II astronauts will be observing the Moon’s dark hemisphere to try and see impact flashes — the bright spots of light that are caused by meteoroids striking the lunar surface and vaporizing. The “Impact Flash!” project invites amateur observers with telescopes to help out by excluding false positives caused by cosmic rays or other optical phenomena. Learn more and sign up to help with the project.

Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) is heading for the Sun. Nicknamed a “sungrazer,” this comet is on a path that will bring it within 162,000 kilometers (100,000 miles) of the solar surface on April 4. If it survives that encounter, it could become one of the most spectacular comets in decades. It was discovered by Planetary Society Shoemaker Near-Earth Object Grant winner Alain Maury and his colleagues Georges Attard, Daniel Parrott, and Florian Signoret, whose initials give the name of their survey and the comet: MAPS. Maury joins this week’s Planetary Radio to chat about how his team makes discoveries like this. Plus, hear from Lisa Carnell, Director of NASA's Biological and Physical Sciences Division, about AVATAR, the experiment flying organ chips grown from astronaut cells on Artemis II. Pictured: Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) photographed on March 12, 2026, by Gerald Rhemann in Namibia. Image credit: Gerald Rhemann.

The President’s Budget Request (PBR) is expected as soon as today. Also known as the "skinny budget," the initial budget document communicates the executive branch’s top-level fiscal priorities to Congress, which is then charged with accepting, rejecting, or iterating on the proposal. Check out our Save NASA Science action center for news on the PBR and how you can take action to support NASA funding. Planetary Society members can also join a special policy briefing on Monday, April 6, where The Planetary Society's Space Policy and Advocacy team will go over everything we know about the PBR. Not yet a member? Join today.

Tell your Senators to fund NASA Science in FY2027. In March, a bipartisan group of more than 100 members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed an appropriations request letter urging Congress to fund NASA's Science Mission Directorate at $9 billion in fiscal year 2027 (higher than the $7.25 billion allocated in FY26). Now, it's the Senate's turn to act. Senator Mark Kelly is leading the effort in the Senate. Use this form to contact your Senators to encourage them to sign the congressional funding request for NASA Science in Fiscal Year 2027.

Make a gift to power our advocacy efforts at times like this when it matters most! Last year’s Save NASA Science campaign proved what we can accomplish together. This year, our work is far from over. We must be ready for the next challenge. We need your support today to make our continued advocacy work as powerful as possible. Make a gift today to support this important work.