Articles

Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.

What to look forward to in space in 2024

A total solar eclipse and the launch of Europa Clipper are on our list of cosmic events to get excited about this year.

Why the true colors of the planets aren't what you think

Cameras on our space probes act as proxies for our own eyes, but what they see isn't necessarily what our eyes would see.

How NASA plans to deorbit the International Space Station

The aging complex will be replaced by commercially operated space stations, and deorbited as soon as 2030.

To the moon together

An interview with Scott Pace about the Moon’s role in internationally cooperative human space exploration.

Storms and showers

Mars has storms of dust, while Saturn pours down ammonia rain. Here on Earth, we passed through a debris tail to get a special kind of shower.

Hasta la vista, baby

Terminators abound this week in space, and we’ll be back to Mars if NASA gets the budget it needs.

That’s a mare

An unusual lunar feature, Saturn’s shining rings, and Mars’ complex gullies.

Speedy spacecraft and pretty pics

Take a look at some of our favorite recent space images and learn about an express mission to Mars.

The scientific truth is out there

The real science of aliens, the policy implications of ET, and new views of worlds beyond our own.

Would you like some salty water with your space salad?

Two new grant-winning projects, a collection of awesome space imagery, a mighty plume, and much more this week in space.

Way out there

We’re always learning more about the worlds of the outer Solar System, and even those beyond.

Hard-working spacecraft and even harder-working microbes

The Soyuz spacecraft have been helping humans get to and from space for decades, but that’s nothing compared to the billions of years that microorganisms have been making life on Earth possible.

A mission to pull back the shroud

VERITAS would peer through Venus’ clouds to study its surface like never before, but it needs your help.

Asteroids worth getting psyched about

New discoveries from Ryugu, material heading our way from Bennu, and anticipation for a mission to Psyche.

Volcanic Venus, myriad moons, and space sonification

Learn all about the possible volcanic activity found on Venus, the facts about a hyped-up near-Earth asteroid, Jupiter’s newest moons, and what space images sound like.