Planetary Science Stories

The NASA Science Activation program’s PLANETS (Planetary Learning that Advances the Nexus of Engineering, Technology, and Science) project, led by Northern Arizona University (NAU), is pleased to announce the official launch of three free out-of-school (OST) time units that give…

Results from an enhanced radar technique have demonstrated improvement to sub-surface observations of Mars. NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has revisited and raised new questions about a mysterious feature buried beneath thousands of feet of ice at the Red Planet’s…
This article was updated to include the full range of dates from the SOHO image. Lee esta historia en español aquí. NASA is in the midst of an unprecedented solar system-wide observation campaign, turning its spacecraft and space telescopes to…

Researchers dove deep into information gathered from the ice grains that were collected during a close and super-fast flyby through a plume of Saturn’s icy moon. A new analysis of data from NASA’s Cassini mission found evidence of previously undetected…

When you think about national park and public land astronomy programs, you might picture remote locations far from city lights. But a recent NASA Earth to Sky training, funded by NASA’s Science Activation Program, challenges that assumption, demonstrating how urban…

The NASA Community College Network (NCCN) and the American Astronomical Society (AAS) have teamed up to provide an exciting and impactful program that brings top astronomy researchers into the classrooms of community colleges around the United States. The Harlow Shapley…

When asteroids hit the Moon, the impacts carve out craters and with enough energy and pressure, melt parts of the rocky surface. Often, the white hot, gooey melt (it’s like lava, except that it doesn’t erupt from underground) sloshes around…

The milestone highlights the accelerating rate of discoveries, just over three decades since the first exoplanets were found. The official number of exoplanets — planets outside our solar system — tracked by NASA has reached 6,000. Confirmed planets are added…

The NASA STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Enhancement in Earth and Space Science (SEES) Internship Program at the University of Texas Center for Space Research is a national high school research experience that provides students with direct access to…

Each month, NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office releases a monthly update featuring the most recent figures on NASA’s planetary defense efforts, near-Earth object close approaches, and other timely facts about comets and asteroids that could pose an impact hazard with…


