The Senate is where the appropriations story gets interesting. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), who chairs the full Appropriations Committee and sits on the CJS subcommittee in an ex officio position, is running in a race rated as a toss-up. Senators Jeanne …
Sarah Al-Ahmed: Meet the winners of The Planetary Society's 2026 STEP Grants, this week on Planetary Radio. I'm Sarah Al-Ahmed of The Planetary Society with more of the human adventure across our Solar System and beyond. This week, we're …
What is the Member Community? The Member Community is The Planetary Society's members-only online community. It's where members around the world connect with each other, learn from space experts, and get updates from Planetary Society staff and …
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Bob Pappalardo has been waiting longer than most. As Europa Clipper’s project scientist, and a Planetary Society member since 2006, Bob has spent two decades bringing this mission to life. “Europa is one of the key …
Japan’s MMX mission is about to launch for the moons of Mars, carrying a sampler with deep Planetary Society roots. Asa Stahl, public outreach astronomer at The Planetary Society, and Kris Zacny, vice president and senior research scientist at Honeybee …
Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration mission, MMX, is about to set out for Phobos and Deimos, the two small moons of Mars. If all goes well, it will bring the first-ever sample from the Martian system back to Earth. Asa Stahl, public outreach astronomer at …
“When you’re in love,” said Carl Sagan, astronomer and co-founder of The Planetary Society, “You want to tell the world.” This is the impulse that leads people to bring their telescopes outside, set them up in public, and offer passersby a glimpse of the …
In September, outer space stunned us with views of a decagon on Saturn’s south pole, a new crater on the Moon, and the surreal pink and pearl-white tones of Martian frost. Check them out below, along with our other favorite space images from the past month …
Some of the most exciting science in our Solar System is hidden in places we've never been able to reach. In this episode, Sarah Al-Ahmed shares three conversations from the 2026 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC)Symposium at Wichita State …
There is more on the line for Starship than just Artemis III. The rocket is set to transform the landscape of low Earth orbit by making launches easier. What may be the first private space station, Voyager Space’s Starlab, is slated to go up on Starship in …
A quick background on NASA reauthorization NASA is a federal agency, and as such, is governed by the roles and responsibilities outlined in the U.S. Code. Specifically, Title 51 governs government and commercial space activities. Unlike agencies like the …
Breathing easy and getting home again Rather than bringing large quantities of oxygen to Mars, future astronauts could live off the land, using materials they find on the planet’s surface to survive. This concept, called in-situ resource utilization (ISRU …
Europe’s newest rocket successfully launched for the first time. On July 9, the European Space Agency’s new Ariane 6 rocket (pictured) launched its first payload into low Earth orbit. Ariane 6 builds on the longstanding success of the Ariane 5 rocket, …
The Planetary Society, along with a coalition of scientific organizations and over 40 members of Congress, supports a restoration of space science funding to $9 billion. It was a lofty goal, but one fully justified: NASA has been directed to pursue a …
China’s first planetary defense test is taking shape. An ambitious mission that aims to launch as soon as 2027 will use a single launch to observe and impact a near-Earth asteroid. The target is 2015 XF261, a roughly 30-meter-diameter (98-foot) asteroid …
First up, Alycia Weinberger spoke about the origin and importance of the Decadal Surveys as a way for the scientific community to identify key science questions, objectives, and priorities. “We stand on the threshold of new endeavors that will transform …
The new JDSE article also helpfully lays out hitherto undisclosed science goals and payloads, revealing what China hopes to learn from the mission. The main aims are, of course, conducting impact experiments and observing the entire impact process. Beyond …
From orbit, Titan is beautiful and intriguing. But what about from the ground? One of our latest articles explores what it might be like to stand (or fly, or swim) on Saturn’s moon Titan. From hydrocarbon seas to plastic sand dunes and chubby rain, there’s …
From Gonzalo Fornas of Spain: “Thanks to the new camera, we’ve reported more measurements of NEOs to the Minor Planet Center, we're on the alert list for near-Earth asteroids "Meerkat" by the ESA, we’ve measured light curves of asteroids and …
Titan is the only moon in the Solar System with a thick atmosphere, which completely obscures its surface at visible wavelengths. But unlike Venus, whose dense atmosphere creates crushing pressure at the surface, atmospheric pressure on Titan is only about …
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