The Planetary Society

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The Planetary Society Champion a future full of space exploration! Become a member today at planetary.org We encourage discussion about the cosmos and our place within it.

In 1980, Carl Sagan, Louis Friedman, and Bruce Murray founded The Planetary Society. They saw that there was enormous public interest in space, but that this was not reflected in government, as NASA’s budget was cut again and again. Today, The Planetary Society continues this work, under the leadership of CEO Bill Nye, as the world’s largest and most influential non-profit space organization. The organization is supported by over 50,000 members in over 100 countries, and by hundreds of volunteers around the world. Our mission is to empower the world’s citizens to advance space science and exploration. We advocate for space and planetary science funding in government, inspire and educate people around the world, and develop and fund groundbreaking space science and technology. We introduce people to the wonders of the cosmos, bridging the gap between the scientific community and the general public to inspire and educate people from all walks of life. We give every citizen of the planet the opportunity to make their voices heard in government and effect real change in support of space exploration. And we bring ordinary people directly to the frontier of exploration as we crowdfund innovative and exciting space technologies. Commenting Policy:

This page is intended to inspire the world's citizens to advance space science and exploration. We hope you share your thoughts and ideas with us. That said, we reserve the right to delete posts or ban users that are in violation of our community standards, including, but not limited to spam, profanity and personal attacks.

10/12/2026

Consider becoming a member and keep Carl Sagan’s vision of the Cosmos alive 🪐

Link in bio!

10/09/2026

Reusable rockets ftw 🚀

What would it take to reach interstellar space within a human lifetime? Or keep astronauts breathing on a years-long tri...
10/07/2026

What would it take to reach interstellar space within a human lifetime? Or keep astronauts breathing on a years-long trip to Mars?

At the 2026 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium at Wichita State University, Planetary Radio host Sarah Al-Ahmed sat down with the researchers tackling those questions. Part 2 of our NIAC coverage is live:

☀️ Artur Davoyan (UCLA) on Coilable Stacked Solar Sails, a new architecture that stacks multiple smaller sails instead of deploying one enormous membrane. The goal: fast missions to the outer planets and interstellar space.

☢️ James Bickford (Draper) on TFINER, the Thin Film Isotope Nuclear Engine Rocket, which generates thrust from the natural decay of radioactive thin films. Possible destinations include interstellar objects and the solar gravitational focus, more than 500 times farther from the Sun than Earth.

🫁 Alvaro Romero-Calvo and Theo St. Francis (Georgia Tech) on Breathing Beyond Earth, a pump-free oxygen production system for long-duration missions to Mars.

🎧Listen now:

More conversations from the 2026 NIAC Symposium, this time about the propulsion and life support breakthroughs that could carry us to the outer Solar…

Have a telescope and want to share the Cosmos with your neighbors? We wrote a practical guide to sidewalk astronomy that...
10/05/2026

Have a telescope and want to share the Cosmos with your neighbors? We wrote a practical guide to sidewalk astronomy that shows you how to:

🔭 Pick the perfect place and time
👧 Prep for curious kids (and grown-ups)
🧻 Pack the not-so-obvious gear you'll need
✨ And more!

Tag a friend who's been thinking about sharing the sky with others! ⬇️

Our top tips on hosting your own sidewalk astronomy event.

10/03/2026

Venus is in retrograde! Here’s what that really means 😌

It's International Podcast Day, so here's what we're listening to 🎧Planetary Radio's latest episode is all about mission...
09/30/2026

It's International Podcast Day, so here's what we're listening to 🎧

Planetary Radio's latest episode is all about missions that sound like sci-fi: a laser-powered drone that could be the first to explore a cave on another world, tiny nuclear-powered probes built to survive the Moon's darkest craters, and flying robots for the caves of Titan.

Sarah Al-Ahmed talks with the teams behind these bold NASA-funded concepts for reaching places we've never been.

Listen now ⬇️

Researchers at the 2026 NIAC Symposium share their bold concepts for exploring the most inaccessible places in our Solar System, from the Moon's…

Got downtime? Why not marvel at the beauty of our Universe? Check out the best space images of the month. ⬇️
09/30/2026

Got downtime? Why not marvel at the beauty of our Universe? Check out the best space images of the month. ⬇️

All of our favorite space photos from the past month.

09/29/2026

How did Orion’s heat shield hold up after this fix for Artemis II? NASA released the results of the investigation!

JAXA's Hayabusa2 flew within 400 meters (1,300 feet) of asteroid Torifune on July 5 and confirmed that it's a contact bi...
09/24/2026

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. Tune in to Planetary Radio to hear what this extended mission flyby revealed about this rare contact binary and what it means for planetary defense.☄️

NASA Chief Scientist for Small Body Exploration at Johnson Space Center, Paul Abell, takes us inside Hayabusa2's flyby of asteroid Torifune and the…

09/24/2026

Will the European Space Agency move forward without NASA on their mission to Venus?

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60 S Los Robles Avenue
Pasadena, CA
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