Defend your planet

The countdown is on: we’re officially less than 100 days away from DART’s impact. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission will be the first-ever test of an asteroid deflection technique. The impact, which is scheduled for September 26, will demonstrate whether the kinetic impactor method is a viable means of asteroid deflection should the need ever arise. Pictured: An artist’s impression of DART at the binary asteroid system where it will conduct its test. Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/Steve Gribben.

China has ambitious plans for a Mars sample return mission. Sun Zezhou, chief designer of the Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter and rover mission, recently presented a new mission profile for China’s Mars sample return mission, which would launch in late 2028 and return samples of the Martian surface in July 2031. This would get samples back to Earth two years before NASA and ESA’s sample return missions.

NASA's Artemis 1 launch system has passed a crucial fueling test. The test involved running through everything up to a would-be launch, including fueling up Artemis 1's huge Space Launch System rocket with NASA's Orion capsule perched atop it, and performing a simulated countdown that took the vehicle and capsule through most of the steps they would have to successfully take leading up to engine ignition. There was a hydrogen leak during fueling, which would have caused an actual launch to be canceled. But this is why tests are valuable, since the team can now address the problem before moving on.

These planetary defenders are saving the world one observation at a time. Our Shoemaker NEO grant program supports advanced amateur astronomers in their work to find, track, and characterize near-Earth objects (NEOs). Thanks to our members and supporters, over the 25-year history of the program, we have awarded approximately $515,000 to 70 winners in 21 countries on six continents. Catch up on what the latest winners have been working on, and make your own contribution to help defend Earth today. Pictured: Members of the Shoemaker-grant-winning team Gruppo Astrofili Montelupo in Italy. Image credit: Gruppo Astrofili Montelupo.

Help get a critical asteroid-hunting mission off the ground. NASA’s NEO Surveyor space telescope would orbit between Earth and the Sun looking for near-Earth asteroids big enough to destroy a city. NASA’s latest budget would cut $130 million from the mission, a reduction that would seriously delay and disrupt this essential planetary defense mission. If you live in the United States, we urge you to contact Congress using this form to advocate in support of a mission that could really make a difference in the effort to defend Earth. If you live elsewhere, you can help by donating to our planetary defense program.

Asteroids aren’t all doom and gloom. They’re also fascinating miniature worlds unto themselves, and studying them can teach us a lot about the Solar System and our place in it. That’s why Asteroid Day is a celebration of both the study of asteroids and the efforts to defend Earth from their impacts. The Planetary Society is proud to be a partner for this exciting, international series of in-person and virtual events, taking place on June 30.