Setting our sights

NASA’s Perseverance rover took an AI-guided drive on Mars. This was Perseverance’s first trajectory guided by an artificial intelligence program, which analyzed terrain data to plan a safe route. This demonstration will help determine whether systems like this could enhance the efficiency of advanced autonomy on future robotic missions. Pictured: A still from an animation showing Perseverance’s AI-guided drive. Black lines snaking out in front of the rover show potential path options, and pale blue lines show the track the rover’s wheels actually took. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Juno and Galileo data are yielding insights into Europa. NASA’s Juno spacecraft recently measured the thickness of Jupiter’s icy moon’s shell, suggesting it is about 29 kilometers (18 miles) thick, with small cracks and pores in near-surface ice. In a separate study, analysis of data from NASA’s earlier Galileo mission shows ammonia-bearing compounds on Europa’s surface, suggesting there could be complex subsurface chemistry and cryovolcanism.

Axiom Space will conduct the fifth private flight to the ISS. The Ax-5 mission will send astronauts to the International Space Station as early as January 2027, supporting NASA’s strategy to expand commercial capabilities in low-Earth orbit.

Researchers have resurrected an ancient enzyme. The once-extinct enzyme nitrogenase was first used by organisms on Earth 3.2 billion years ago. By recreating it in the lab, researchers can study how it might show up as a biosignature on other worlds where alien life may look very different from modern-day Earth life.

NASA is funded. Now what? “With a complete budget, 2026 is off to an exciting start, but how congressional support manifests into action at NASA is yet to be seen as the political environment evolves.” The Planetary Society’s policy team breaks down what we’re watching for in the year to come, and how advocates like you might be called to action. Pictured: A team of advocates on their way to meetings at the Save NASA Science Day of Action in October 2025. Image credit: The Planetary Society.

The Planetary Society is keeping Congress engaged in space science. Last week, The Planetary Society hosted a panel discussion for congressional staff about the science questions that are driving lunar exploration efforts in the United States. Led by AAAS Policy Fellow Ari Koeppel, the panel included Planetary Society President and Director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics Bethany Ehlmann, Ben Fernando of Johns Hopkins University, Kerri Donaldson Hanna of the University of Central Florida, and Caitlin Ahrens of the University of Maryland and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

What if Europa’s seafloor isn’t active after all? Recent research suggests that the icy moon may lack the tectonic activity needed to fuel life in its subsurface oceans. Paul Byrne, lead author of that study, joins this week’s Planetary Radio to discuss how this research could reframe how scientists think about one of the Solar System’s most intriguing ocean worlds.