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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Beyond the unknown: The coming Kuiper belt revolution
Discoveries about the worlds of the Kuiper belt could revolutionize our understanding of the Solar System and its ancient past.
Why do some planets have rings and others don't?
The giant planets of our Solar System all have rings, as do some dwarf planets and even asteroids. So why don’t Mercury, Venus, Earth, or Mars?
What is a "planetary alignment"?
What to expect when multiple planets appear in the sky together.
The Artemis II mission: What to expect
Artemis II will send humans back to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years, with four astronauts on a 10-day mission around the Moon and back. Here’s what to expect.
NASA has lost a spacecraft around Mars. Is MAVEN gone for good?
A pioneering spacecraft has gone missing around Mars, and NASA says the mission is probably unrecoverable.
Calendar of space events 2026
Space missions, rocket launches, and celestial events are coming our way in 2026.
Rogue worlds and the boundaries of planethood
Exploring rogue planets, how they form, and how they expand our conception of what counts as a planet.
Which stars could host alien life?
Every star in the Universe creates a different environment for the worlds around it.
The images of the Universe put at risk by proposed NASA cuts
Cosmic views put at risk by proposed NASA cuts
“We’re made of starstuff.” What does that mean?
Carl Sagan's famous quote is more than just poetic — it's true.
ESCAPADE launch: What to expect
NASA's ESCAPADE mission will send a pair of twin probes to Mars to study how the solar wind has stripped away the planet’s atmosphere, leaving behind the desolate surface we see today.
Promoted on Sunday, Fired on Monday: Inside a NASA Office’s sudden closure
As thousands leave the space agency, two ex-NASA workers give an inside account of how their office was abruptly shut down.
4,000 gone: Inside NASA’s brain drain
In exclusive interviews, ex-NASA scientists speak out on the impact of the agency's mass departures.
Our best proof of life on Mars yet? A deep dive into Cheyava Falls
A strange rock on Mars is different from anything we’ve seen before in the search for life.
What is comet 3I/ATLAS?
A roundup of key facts and surprising discoveries about the third known interstellar object.
Where do 3I/ATLAS and other interstellar visitors come from?
Interstellar interlopers like 'Oumuamua and 3I/ATLAS could be our best bet at exploring other stars.
NASA: Perseverance found possible biosignatures in Martian rock
NASA’s Perseverance rover has identified a potential sign of past life on Mars — not a definitive detection, but perhaps the most compelling hint yet.
Rethinking the atoms of life
Astrobiologists aren't just looking at other worlds to search for life; they're looking back to ancient Earth and considering alternate biochemistries.
China eyes Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus in the hunt for habitability
China’s Deep Space Exploration Laboratory and the Shanghai Institute of Satellite Engineering have proposed an orbiter and lander mission to explore Enceladus with a key focus on the moon’s potential habitability.
Why send people back to the Moon?
What can an astronaut do on the Moon that a robot can’t?