The view from the top

ESA has lost contact with its Proba-3 Coronagraph spacecraft. The European Space Agency recently announced that there was an anomaly with the spacecraft, which flies in precise formation with another spacecraft to create artificial solar eclipses to study the Sun’s corona. The root cause of the anomaly is under investigation, and mission teams are working hard to recover contact with the spacecraft. Pictured: An artist’s impression of the two spacecraft creating an artificial eclipse. Image credit: ESA.

The Senate has cleared a new NASA spending authorization. The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved the NASA Authorization Act of 2026 last week, supporting the proposed changes to the Artemis program, extending the International Space Station through 2032, and directing NASA to establish a Moon base.

Asteroid 2024 YR4 won't hit the Moon. The asteroid, which made headlines last year for having a brief, non-zero chance of impacting Earth, has now been officially cleared of any chance of striking the Moon. New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope show that it will safely pass the Moon at a distance of more than 20,000 kilometers (over 12,000 miles).

DART changed Didymos's orbit around the Sun. New research shows that NASA's DART spacecraft, which impacted asteroid Dimorphos in 2022, also shifted the orbit of the larger companion asteroid Didymos around the Sun. This marks the first time a human-made object has measurably altered a celestial body's orbit.

Why do some planets have rings and others don’t? Our latest article answers that question, exploring what planetary rings are made of, how they form, and why only some planets (and even smaller bodies) are adorned with them. Pictured: Saturn and its rings imaged by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Image credit: NASA/JPL/SSI/Alson Wong.

This week on Planetary Radio: An interview with a space legend. After nearly five decades at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Gentry Lee has worked on every Mars landing mission, helped Carl Sagan create Cosmos, and served as Chief Engineer for Solar System Exploration. One day into retirement, he joined us to reflect on his career and the question that always motivated him: Is there life beyond Earth?

Is the United States really in a new space race with China? In the latest episode of Planetary Radio: Space Policy Edition, Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, speaks with Patrick Besha, former NASA strategic advisor on China, to explore the realities behind China’s rapidly advancing space program.

Members, meet your new CEO! On March 10, members joined Jennifer Vaughn, The Planetary Society’s new CEO, and Bill Nye, outgoing CEO and newly minted Chief Ambassador, for a live virtual Q&A. Watch the recording of the event to learn more about these new roles, the Society’s evolving mission, and how members will continue to be central to our effectiveness.