How Perseverance drove itself into the record books

NASA’s Perseverance rover has driven farther than any other vehicle on another world. On Oct. 11, 2026, its odometer reached 45.22 kilometers (28.10 miles), passing the record Opportunity spent about 15 years setting. Perseverance did it in about five and a half years. To celebrate, we’re revisitin…

Meet the Winners of The Planetary Society’s 2026 STEP Grants

Every two years, The Planetary Society funds research through our STEP Grants (Science and Technology Empowered by the Public). This year, all three winning projects focus on small bodies in our Solar System, like asteroids and trans-Neptunian objects. Each one tackles a different piece of the same…

Book Club Edition: Dinner With an Astronaut by Leroy Chiao

Leroy Chiao was one of the youngest astronauts ever selected. He would spend 229 days in low-Earth orbit, command the International Space Station, and perform three spacewalks. His book, “Dinner with an Astronaut,” chronicles his journey from Chinese American kid born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to the…

From the Mojave to Phobos: PlanetVac rides with MMX

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 The Planetary Society, explains why these str…

Space Policy Edition: What does “science as a service” really mean?

Can you buy science the way you buy a rocket launch? NASA is exploring the idea of “science as a service,” asking industry how commercial companies could provide scientific data and capabilities for Earth science, space weather, and astrophysics. But the concept isn’t new. It’s the latest chapter i…

2026 NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts Symposium: Part 2 — Solar sails and breathing beyond Earth

In this second of two episodes from the 2026 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium at Wichita State University, Sarah Al-Ahmed talks with researchers developing the propulsion and life support technologies that could open up new frontiers in deep space exploration. First, Artur Davoya…

2026 NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts Symposium: Part 1 — Nuclear sensors and cave explorers

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 University, all about the bold, early-stage concepts …

Hayabusa2 flies by asteroid Torifune

JAXA's Hayabusa2 flew within 400 meters (1,300 feet) of asteroid Torifune on July 5 and confirmed that it's a contact binary, two lobes stuck together. Paul Abell, NASA's Chief Scientist for Small Body Exploration at Johnson Space Center, walks us through the findings on the asteroid, what they mea…

Book Club Edition: Alien Oceans by Kevin Hand

Where are we most likely to find evidence of life, past or living, in the Solar System? Planetary scientist and author Kevin Hand looks to warm, salty ocean depths beneath protective layers of ice on worlds such as Europa and Enceladus. His enthralling book became a popular selection in The Planeta…

Star Trek at 60: What Vulcans and Klingons can teach us about being human (Part 2)

This is part two of our Star Trek 60th anniversary series. Robert Picardo, the Emergency Medical Hologram on Star Trek: Voyager and a member of The Planetary Society's board of directors, reads a vintage letter from Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry asking fans to join a brand new organization cal…