The Planetary Society

POV: you're a spacecraft getting slingshot toward Venus. 📸

The European Space Agency’s Juice mission accomplished the first-ever “double” gravity assist when it flew by both Earth and the Moon.

Juice has a long way to go before it gets to Jupiter, where it will study the moons Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa.

Learn more about the Juice mission and see the photo of Juice flying past the Moon in "The coolest new space pictures: August 2024" https://www.planetary.org/worlds/coolest-space-pictures

📸: Earth seen by ESA's Juice spacecraft as it slingshots toward Venus.
ESA / Juice / JMC

JWST has found rogue planets that may have formed like stars.

📸: The space telescope observed the young nebula NGC1333, a star-forming cluster about a thousand light-years away in the Perseus constellation, and identified six likely rogue planets.
ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Scholz, K. Muzic, A. Langeveld, R. Jayawardhana.

Learn more and stay updated with the latest space news in this week's Downlink: https://www.planetary.org/the-downlink/super-size-it

This week on Planetary Radio: Boeing Starliner updates, Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket, SpaceX's Polaris Dawn, and the Ramses mission aiming to reach asteroid Apophis before 2029.

Ramses and rockets: Commercial space adventures and the race to... Get up to speed on the latest in commercial space news and look forward to the European Space Agency's Ramses mission to Apophis with members of The...

In 2029, a skyscraper-sized asteroid named Apophis will make a close approach to Earth. Three spacecraft, known as Ramses, may be there to observe it—two in orbit around the asteroid and one on its surface.

But time is running out. With only four years to get Ramses ready for launch, ESA - European Space Agency has already begun working on the project, even before its official confirmation.

Learn more about Ramses and how it plans to observe Apophis. ⬇️

Ramses: A new mission racing to land on asteroid Apophis When a skyscraper-sized asteroid narrowly misses Earth in 2029, three spacecraft may be along for the ride.

Crickets — yes, crickets — could be the future of space food.

Learn more on this week's episode of Planetary Radio. ⬇️

Crickets and gastrodiplomacy: The future of space food We hear from Team Insecta, a group of Canadian students exploring crickets as a viable source of space food.

*Bruce Willis enters the chat.*
Find out why nuking an asteroid could actually work in some situations (and why it's our best last-resort option). ⬇️

What would happen if we nuked an asteroid? Detonating a nuclear weapon on or near an asteroid is one of several options for defending the Earth from an impact. Here's what nuking an asteroid might…

Today marks 47 years since Voyager 2 was launched! 🚀

The Voyager missions took advantage of a rare alignment of outer planets in the late 1970s and 1980s, allowing them to efficiently visit four planets with minimal fuel.

Voyager 2 was launched first, on August 20, 1977. Despite being designed for a five-year mission, both spacecraft continue to send valuable data and have crossed the heliopause (the outer edge of the Sun's magnetic field and solar wind) into interstellar space.

Learn more about the Voyager missions here: https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/voyager

In this week’s Downlink, we explore the search for life "in" other worlds, uncover new insights into the Milky Way’s age, and bid farewell to a mission that tracked potentially dangerous asteroids and comets.☄️

Life in other worlds New research suggests liquid water might be hiding under the surface of Mars. Could life be there too?

This week on Planetary Radio Mat Kaplan takes us to the Ravinia Festival in Illinois, USA, where he chats with members of the Europa Clipper, Dragonfly, and Cassini teams about the discoveries that inspired the Moons Symphony.

An Earthling’s guide to the Moons Symphony Planetary Radio takes a melodic adventure to the Ravinia Festival in Illinois, USA, for the public premiere of the Moons Symphony.

With all the new capabilities of private industry, why is it that NASA still pays for space science missions?
Learn why. ⬇️

Why NASA does space science and not the private sector With all the advances in private space exploration, why do taxpayers still pay for space science missions?

🚨 Breaking news! 🚨 Scientists have found tentative evidence of liquid water in Mars — that’s right: not on Mars, but in it.

Mars may host oceans’ worth of water deep underground The tentative discovery hints at an habitat where life could potentially thrive.

This week on Planetary Radio, Sarah talks with Caltech's Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin about the latest evidence for Planet 9 and why they believe their search might soon come to an end.

Hide and seek with Planet 9 Caltech's Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin discuss their new paper, the latest evidence for Planet 9, and why they believe their hunt may soon be over.

It's a snek. 🐍 Learn about the snake-like robot that might one day slither across alien landscapes!

How EELS could change the future of robotic exploration The snake-like robot is being designed to autonomously navigate the challenging terrain of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, including descending into fissures in…

To boldly go. But why? 🤔 Tune into this week's episode of Planetary Radio's Space Policy Edition to explore the philosophical inquiry behind space exploration.

Space Policy Edition: Do we need a philosophy of space exploration? Policy expert G. Ryan Faith argues for importance of communal engagement with our values and goals in space exploration. While easy answers may elude us,…

The discovery of possible fossilized ancient microbial life on Mars is groundbreaking, but the second discovery is subtler and equally exciting. Learn what it is. ⬇️

Eureka? Scientists’ first hints of life on other planets may not be… Knowing that you've found signs of life beyond Earth may not be as clear-cut and simple as one might think.

One of the best meteor showers of the year will peak this weekend! Will you be watching? ☄️

The Perseid meteor shower 2024: How to watch Here's everything you need to know about the annual Perseid meteor shower and how to watch it.

If this rock proves the existence of ancient microbial life on Mars, it would significantly shift our understanding of the potential for life beyond Earth in the Universe.

NASA discovers Mars rock with ancient potential for life A single 3.5 billion-year-old rock shows signs of all the conditions life needs to thrive.

From a rock that could alter our understanding of the Universe to a new micro rover set to explore the Moon, learn about the latest space news in this week's Downlink.📡

A big find on Mars A big rover makes a big find on Mars. Little rovers have their place in exploration, too.

The Perseid meteor shower, usually one of the year's best meteor showers, peaks Aug. 11/12. Don't miss it and other night sky sights this month! ⬇️

What’s up in the night sky: July 2024 Our monthly feature focuses on easy and fun things to see in the night sky, including eclipses, supermoons, meteor showers, planetary conjunctions, and…

The Senate just unveiled their NASA budget for next year. It looks great on the surface, but recent cuts have undermined the nation's pioneering space program. We need advocates to help us gear up to support space in 2025 and beyond. Learn more. ⬇️

U.S. Senate advances their FY 2025 budget proposal for NASA amid deep… An analysis of the U.S. Senate's FY 2025 budget request for NASA.

This week on Planetary Radio you'll hear from several Mars scientists about the groundbreaking discovery that's all over the news: a Martian sample that may hold evidence of ancient microbial life. 👾

Possible biomarkers: Perseverance rocks the Tenth International… NASA's Perseverance rover has made a groundbreaking discovery on Mars: a sample that may hold evidence of ancient microbial life. We visit the Tenth…

👾 Life finds a way.

The Perseverance rover discovered something never before seen on Mars—a rock with unique spots that might hint at past life. These spots, formed through chemical reactions, are often associated with microbes.

Learn more in this month's issue of "The coolest new space pictures: July 2024:" https://www.planetary.org/worlds/coolest-space-pictures

It turns out Jupiter might not be the asteroid bodyguard we thought it was.

Does Jupiter protect Earth from asteroids and comets? Jupiter has often been thought to protect the inner Solar System from asteroids and comets, but new research has shown that the giant planet may actually…

Catch the biggest space news of the week, including the mind-blowing recent discovery on Mars, in this week's Downlink newsletter. 📡

Serendipity, a super-Jupiter, and saving VIPER This was a big week in space, from Curiosity stumbling upon sulfur crystals to an exoplanet discovery and a major advocacy effort.

Jupiter spins once every nine hours and 50 minutes, the fastest of any planet in the Solar System. But why is that?

Why does Jupiter spin so fast? The gas giant is the Solar System's largest planet. Here's why it's also the fastest-spinning planet.

This week on Planetary Radio, we celebrate VERITAS with Darby Dyar, the deputy principal investigator. VERITAS is a mission to Venus that was defunded in late 2022, but with the help of space advocates from The Planetary Society, the mission is now back on. 🚀

Victory for VERITAS Darby Dyar, the deputy principal investigator for NASA’s VERITAS mission to Venus, returns triumphantly to Planetary Radio to share the story of how space…

JWST releases direct imaging of one of the coldest exoplanets - a super Jupiter 12 light-years away!

Learn more: https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2024/news-2024-127