Advancing Knowledge of Other Worlds

For decades, NASA’s planetary science program has advanced scientific understanding of our solar system in extraordinary ways, pushing the limits of spacecraft and robotic engineering design and operation.

NASA spacecraft have visited every planet and a variety of small bodies, and current and upcoming missions will bring back samples from exciting destinations, allowing detailed study and analysis back on Earth.

Using recommendations from the National Academies' Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032 as our guide, NASA planetary science missions and research inform us about our solar system's origin and evolution, which will enable the expansion of humanity beyond Earth.

Jupiter is in the upper right corner with moon Io to the bottom left.

Just hours before NASA's Juno mission completed its 53rd close flyby of Jupiter on July 31, 2023, the spacecraft sped past the planet's volcanic moon Io and captured this dramatic view of both bodies in the same frame.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS

Planetary Science Happenings

People gathered in control room with "Congrats Ingenuity" banner on back wall

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Team Says Goodbye … for Now

The final downlink shift by the Ingenuity team was a time to reflect on a highly successful mission — and to prepare the first aircraft on another world for its new role as a stationary testbed collecting data for future missions.

Artist’s concept of Dragonfly soaring over the dunes of Saturn’s moon Titan.

NASA’s Dragonfly Rotorcraft Mission to Saturn’s Moon Titan Confirmed

NASA has confirmed its Dragonfly rotorcraft mission to Saturn’s organic-rich moon Titan. The decision allows the mission to progress to completion of final design, followed by the construction and testing of the entire spacecraft and science instruments.

On the left of the image a Sample Transfer Arm is loading white and gold sealed sample tubes into the Orbiting Sample container on the Mars Ascent Vehicle.

NASA Sets Path to Return Mars Samples, Seeks Innovative Designs

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson shared the agency’s path forward on the Mars Sample Return program, including seeking innovative designs to return valuable samples from Mars to Earth.

Black and white image of Earth with swirling white clouds and a dark shadow over North America from the Moon eclipsing the Sun.

NASA’s LRO Observes 2024 Solar Eclipse Shadow

As the Moon blotted out the Sun to viewers across the United States during the April 8 solar eclipse, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured an image from some 223,000 miles away of the highly anticipated celestial event.

solar system exploration

Our Solar System

Join NASA's planetary science team as we explore our planetary neighborhood: The Sun, planets, moons, and millions of asteroids, and comets.

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Illustration of the Solar System.

NASA

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Inner Solar System

Exploring our solar system's inner, rocky worlds as NASA develops new missions to extend human presence beyond Earth.

A deep blue planet with wispy white clouds moving across its face.

Outer Solar System

Unlocking the secrets of distant worlds to understand more about the formation of our solar system.

Small Bodies

Revealing the foundational materials of our solar system with asteroids, comets, meteors, and objects in the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud.

Astrobiology

Looking for the origins of life on this planet and signs that it may exist elsewhere in the universe.

Planetary Science Missions

NASA’s robotic explorers gather data to help scientists understand how the planets formed, what triggered different evolutionary paths among planets, what processes have occurred and are active, and how Earth among the planets became habitable.

In searching for evidence of life beyond Earth, scientists use these data to map zones of habitability, studying the chemistry of unfamiliar worlds, and unveiling the processes that lead to conditions necessary for life. With this knowledge, NASA is enabling safe and effective human missions to destinations beyond low Earth orbit.

Blue spiral graphic against space background showing planetary science mission icons

NASA Planetary Science Division missions. (January 2024)

NASA

NASA missions continue to explore from the innermost planet, Mercury, to the outer reaches of the solar system, where Pluto orbits among many Kuiper Belt Objects. We have orbited and traversed the surface of Mars, finding evidence of liquid water and ancient habitable environments.

Closer to home, the Planetary Science Division uses Earth-orbiting telescopes and ground-based sensors in coordination with other organizations, including the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Air Force. These telescopes and sensors are used to survey space to detect, track, catalog, and characterize near-Earth objects (NEOs), which may pose hazards to Earth or provide destinations and resources for future exploration.

A robotic arm laden with science instruments extends toward a rocky outcrop on Mars.

NASA’s Perseverance rover puts its robotic arm to work around a rocky outcrop called “Skinner Ridge” in Mars’ Jezero Crater.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

An illustration shows a spacecraft in silhouette above an icy moon's surface with reddish fractures. Beyond the moon's horizon, the planet Jupiter sits in the distance.

Illustration of NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft above Jupiter's ocean moon Europa. The spacecraft will use its powerful suite of science instruments to determine if the moon has the ingredients to support life as we know it – that is, "Is Europa habitable?"

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Falcon heavy rocket carrying Psyche spacecraft emits fire and smoke as it lifts off

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Psyche spacecraft onboard is launched from Launch Complex 39A, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Psyche spacecraft will travel to a metal-rich asteroid by the same name orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter to study it’s composition. The spacecraft also carries the agency’s Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration, which will test laser communications beyond the Moon.

NASA/Aubrey Gemignani