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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
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.
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.
Other Earths
Astronomers are closing in on planets that might be like our own.
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.
Supporting asteroid defense: The 2025 Shoemaker NEO Grant winners
Meet the latest winners of The Planetary Society's Shoemaker NEO Grant program.
Updates from our asteroid-hunting Shoemaker NEO Grant winners
An overview of updates from some of our previous Shoemaker NEO Grant winners.
Announcing the 2023 Shoemaker NEO grant winners
Meet the latest round of winners in The Planetary Society's Shoemaker Near-Earth Object (NEO) grant program, which funds astronomers around the world in their efforts to find, track, and characterize near-Earth asteroids.
Space salads and salty waters
The two winning proposals in the 2023 round of STEP grants are a project that will compare different methods of growing edible plants in simulated deep-space exploration conditions, and a project that will study salty lakes on Earth that share characteristics with the past and present oceans of other planets and moons.
LightSail 2 is about to burn up
After 3.5 years, 18,000 orbits of the Earth, and 8 million kilometers (5 million miles) traveled, The Planetary Society’s successful LightSail 2 solar sail spacecraft will burn up as it reenters the Earth’s atmosphere in the next few days.
LightSail 2 getting lower as it completes third year in space
An update on The Planetary Society's LightSail 2 mission, which launched in 2015.
Updates from our Shoemaker NEO Grant winners
Brief updates on what the latest Shoemaker NEO grant winners have been working on.
Request for Proposals for the 2022 Science and Technology Empowered by the Public (STEP) Grants
We are excited to announce a new Request for Proposals (RFP) for our Science and Technology Empowered by the Public (STEP) Grants.
Announcing the First-Ever STEP Grant Winners: Citizen Science SETI and Determining Asteroid Properties
The new STEP Grants program is designed to regularly compete a significant portion of The Planetary Society’s science and technology portfolio.
Announcing the 2021 Shoemaker NEO Grant Winners
More funds than ever before support the work of asteroid hunters from around the world.
LightSail 2 completes second year in space
Two years after launch, The Planetary Society's LightSail 2 spacecraft is still solar sailing and paving the way for future missions.
Shoemaker NEO Grant Winners Advance Their Work
We check in our last round of grant winners, who are helping to defend Earth from dangerous asteroids.
Your guide to future total solar eclipses
Bruce Betts and Sarah Al-Ahmed provided a guide to all total solar eclipses through the end of the 2020s, with dates and locations.
What Is a solar eclipse? Your questions answered.
Your guide to total, partial, and annular eclipses: what causes them, what you'll see, and when the next one will happen.
Announcing the 2019 Shoemaker NEO Grant Winners
Six proposals are awarded a total of $57,906. The winners come from 4 countries on 3 continents.
The Planetary Society Announces 2019 Call for Proposals for Shoemaker NEO Grant Program
Our grants fund amateur observers, underfunded professional observers, and observers in developing countries who make vital contributions to NEO research.