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Summer of Planetary Science 

Looking for something fun, educational, and out-of-this world to do this summer? You’re in the right place! NASA’s Summer of Planetary Science brings you weekly hands-on activities and real opportunities to do science from home. Whether you’re a student, a parent, an educator, or a lifelong space fan, this is your launchpad to explore planetary science – all you need is a screen and a little curiosity. 

Illustration of the solar system showing the Sun and eight planets in order: Mercury, Venus, Earth (with Moon), Mars, Jupiter (with asteroid belt), Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, set against a starry space background.

Discover Space with NASA!

Planetary science is the study of planets, moons, asteroids, comets and everything else that orbits the sun...including the Earth! Through the field of Planetary Science, we begin to understand how our solar system formed, what it’s made of, and whether life might exist beyond our planet.
 
NASA's Planetary Science Division explores our solar system through a fleet of amazing missions. Right now, rovers like Perseverance and Curiosity are exploring Mars, spacecraft like Lucy and Psyche are on their way to take a closer look at asteroids, and Europa Clipper recently launched to one of Jupiter’s icy moons. Recently, the OSIRIS-REx mission brought a sample of an asteroid back to Earth! Each mission brings us closer to answering big questions about how our cosmic neighborhood works, and you can be a part of it, too!

NASA's Planetary Science Division
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover took this selfie on July 23, 2024, the 1,218th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. To the left of the rover near the center of the image is the arrowhead-shaped rock nicknamed �Cheyava Falls,� which has features that may bear on the question of whether Mars was home to microscopic life in the distant past. The small dark hole in the rock is where Perseverance took a core sample, which is now in a sample tube stored in the rover�s belly. The white patch to the right of the hole is where the rover used an abrasion tool to clear away the top surface, allowing science instruments to study the rock�s composition.
Mars Perseverance Selfie
Credit: NASA

Weekly Highlights

June 21 - June Solstice

Celebrate the start of the season and launch your Summer of Planetary Science with the longest day of the year. Have you ever wondered why solstices happen, or what causes the seasons to change? It all comes down to Earth’s tilt and we’ve got the perfect way to explore it. 

Dive into the Infiniscope “Tilt our World” digital lesson, an interactive experience that helps learners of all ages understand how Earth’s axial tilt and orbit around the Sun shape our seasons.

Let’s welcome the season with curiosity and willingness to learn! our hands-on activities that connect space to life on Earth.

  • Infiniscope - “Tilt our World” - Play as Seasonal Avatar Mechanism, or S.A.M. for short, in an interactive experience where you can observe how the tilt directly impacts solar intensity, then apply those findings to predict seasons in the Southern Hemisphere.
  • Explore our webpage and check out some NASA Science Activation and Citizen Science resources!

Four black-and-white satellite images of Earth taken from space on different dates in 2010 and 2011, showing how sunlight illuminates different portions of the planet throughout the seasons: December 21, March 20, June 21, and September 20.
Earth’s changing illumination over the course of a year, shown in four satellite images taken on or near the solstices and equinoxes: December 21, 2010; March 20, 2011; June 21, 2011; and September 20, 2011.
Credit: NASA

June 23rd – Women in Engineering Day

From building Mars rovers to decoding planetary data, women play a critical role in exploring the solar system through engineering. This summer, become your own engineer by diving into hands-on, engineering focused activities. Think like an engineer and build a model rover that’s ready to roll across Mars, or test materials and experiment on space gloves with Science Activation partner PLANETS.

A group of Girl Scouts gathers around a table during a science demonstration. A woman wearing blue gloves uses tongs to handle a marshmallow over a container, likely involving liquid nitrogen, while the children observe and take notes.
Junior Girl Scouts participated in She's an Engineer! Girl Scout program on November 3, 2016. They met with female NASA engineers and tested rover models in simulated I&T stations to explore the Engineering Design process.
Credit: NASA/Debora McCallum

June 30th – Asteroid Day

Happy Asteroid Day! NASA is on the lookout for asteroids...and you can be too!

From tracking hidden space rocks to spotting comet-like activity, YOU can help NASA scientists make real discoveries from home. These Citizen Science projects are your launchpad to action. After that, take time to explore with Science Activation partners PLANETS and Infiniscope. Linked below are two incredible learning resources that dive deeper into the hazards that can come with floating objects in space.

Close-up image of asteroid 243 Ida taken in space, showing its irregular, elongated shape and heavily cratered surface against a black background.
This view of the asteroid 243 Ida is a mosaic of five image frames acquired by NASA's Galileo spacecraft solid-state imaging system at ranges of 3,057 to 3,821 kilometers 1,900 to 2,375 miles on August 28, 1993.
Credit: NASA/JPL

July 4th – Independence Day

Happy Independence Day! While getting ready to watch fireworks launch into the sky, build a rocket that you can launch with a straw! Our friends at NASA @ My Library have an incredible resource that lets you bring rocket science home.

However, tonight, fireworks aren’t the only thing lighting up the sky! Mercury will be at greatest eastern elongation, meaning it’s at its farthest point from the sun in our sky, making it one of the best times this year to spot it just after sunset! You can see Mercury just by looking in the evening sky.

After skywatching, take time to dive hands-on Mars science from home. Explore real Martian landscapes with NASA Solar Treks OR put your engineering skills to the test by designing your own Mars rover with PLANETS – no trip to space required.

Astronaut in a white space suit salutes while standing on the Moon next to an American flag. Lunar rover visible in the background, with a barren, dusty lunar surface under a black sky.
Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, Apollo 17 commander, is photographed next to the deployed United States flag during lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA) at the Taurus-Littrow landing site.
Credit: NASA

July 10th – Full Moon

Tonight’s glowing Moon is just one stop in its monthly journey around Earth. Dive into the science behind the lunar phases and uncover how the Sun, Earth, and Moon work together to create the moon cycle we see from home. Whether it’s a crescent, gibbous, or full moon, each phase tells part of the story of our closest celestial neighbor. Infiniscope’s “Phases of the Moon” is a guided, interactive experience designed to bring the Moon’s journey to life. If you’d rather explore, you can experience the Moon’s surface using real NASA data with NASA Solar Trek to the Moon.

  • Infiniscope - “Phases of the Moon” - Explore the phases of the Moon in this cool 80's retro style experience featuring a new AI friend, LuCIA!
  • NASA Solar Trek - Moon - Have fun exploring the Moon at the courtesy of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory! Make sure to follow the tutorial in order to get the most out of your mission.
Composite image showing the progression of a lunar eclipse, with the Moon transitioning from full to partial shadow, turning red at totality in the center, and then returning to full brightness.
This composite photo made up of 11 images of shows the Blood Moon and the phases of the Lunar Eclipse on March 14th, 2025 seen from Brookpark, OH at NASA Glenn Research Center.
Credit: NASA/Jordan Cochran

July 20th – National Moon Day

Celebrate the anniversary of Apollo 11 by looking back at humanity’s first steps on the Moon and forward to the future of lunar exploration here at NASA.

On July 20th, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made history by landing on the Moon. Now over 50 years later, NASA’s Artemis missions are preparing to return astronauts to the lunar surface - this time to stay. To commemorate this, make Moon Cookies at home by following Space Place’s delicious recipe. Want to make your own craters at home? NASAeClips has you covered, with a “Guide Lite” lesson on how to make a crater map with some paint and paper.

astronaut on the surface of the Moon, next to a lander leg of the lunar module
Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the moon near a leg of the Lunar Module during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA). 
Credit: NASA

July 31st – Mars Mission Feature Day

Mars isn’t just red – it's full of mysteries waiting to be explored.

Discover how scientists study its rocky surface and uncover what gives the Red Planet it’s iconic color with Infiniscope’s “Red Rocks” digital lesson. This interactive experience breaks down

Geology and chemistry behind Mars’ hues.

 Then, go from learner to researcher by joining Cloudspotting on Mars, a NASA Citizen Science project where you’ll help scientists identify high-altitude clouds in the Martian atmosphere using real data. Your participation could reveal insights into Mars’ changing climate.

Color image of Mars taken from space, showing the planet’s reddish surface, dark volcanic regions, and bright white polar ice cap at the top.
Springtime on Mars: Hubble Best View of the Red Planet
Credit: JPL/NASA/STScI

August 9th – Full Moon

What better time to explore the Moon than when it’s fully lit in the night sky?

Take advantage of the full Moon by diving into real lunar data with NASA’s Moon Trek tool. Zoom in on detailed surface maps, trace the landing sites of past missions like Apollo 11, and investigate the features that shape each phase of the Moon.

Want to know how far the Moon in from Earth? We’ve got you! NASAeClips has great lessons that goes into depth about all sorts of lunar topics.

(Wait on this until July 1st!) If you want to be apart of this mission by contributing to real NASA data, explore Lunar Melt, a Citizen Science project dedicated help scientists understand the everchanging landscape of the Moon. Your observations can help map how the Moon evolves over time and support future lunar missions.

  • NASA Solar Trek - Moon -  Have fun exploring the Moon at the courtesy of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory! Make sure to follow the tutorial in order to get the most out of your mission.
  • NASAeClips – Distance to the Moon – Learn how far the Moon is from the Earth and take time to explore other Moon related Guides!
High-resolution image of the full Moon taken from space, showing detailed surface features including craters and dark lunar maria against a black background.
This outstanding view of the whole full moon was photographed from the Apollo 11 spacecraft during its trans-Earth journey homeward. When this picture was taken, the spacecraft was already 10,000 nautical miles away.
Credit: NASA/JSC

August 13th – Perseids Meteor Shower

The Perseids light up the sky every August, but did you know they’re caused by a trail of space dust left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle?

As Earth passes through that debris, bits of comet dust burn up in our atmosphere – creating the glowing meteors you see streaking across the sky! It’s one of the brightest showers of the year.

After catching the show, you can keep learning by checking out the Infiniscope digital lesson “Dino Doom.”  Feeling more hands on? The Sungrazer Citizen Science project lets anyone search for new comets by using real data from a solar-observing spacecraft. No telescope needed for this! Just curiosity and a connection.

  • Sungrazer Citizen Science Project - Learn how to access the latest images from spacecraft missions and look for moving objects that may be comets in order to strengthen NASA’s understanding of comet orbits, composition, dust properties, evolution, and fragmentation.
  • Infiniscope - “Dino Doom” - A guided lesson on the meteor event that caused the mass extinction of nearly 75% of the plant and animal species on Earth.
  • NASAeClips – More than Just Dirty Snowballs – A lesson for those in grades 3-5 to create an ice cream comet model.
Night sky filled with stars and a visible meteor streaking across, with the silhouette of pine trees in the foreground and a faint glow of the Milky Way in the background.
In this 30 second exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, in Spruce Knob, West Virginia.
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Check out these other awesome resources:

Logo for Northwest Earth and Space Sciences Pathways (NESSP), featuring a rocket orbiting Earth with stars in the background and the acronym NESSP in bold yellow letters across the center.

Northwest Earth & Space Sciences Pathways

NESSP is an organization dedicated to help educators access tools and resources to drive and inspire underserved students in different types of learning environments. They provide educators with amazing hands-on lesson plans, supplies, professional development opportunities and summer stipends! Below is a link to their page and also their NESSP ROADS Professional Development program for both formal and informal educators in the U.S who want to explore NESSP’s NASA inspired lessons and activities.

Visit NESSP
NASA Space Place logo that includes a cartoon illustrated Earth with a rocket flying over it and the text NASA Space Place and url spaceplace.nasa.gov.

NASA Space Place

NASA Space Place is a website with the mission to inspire and enrich the learning of space and Earth science for upper-elementary-aged children. It has fun games, hands-on activities, informative articles and engaging videos that explain complex concepts in an entertaining and easy-to-understand format.

Visit Space Place
NASA@ My Library logo, with 'NASA' in blue uppercase letters, a red circle containing the '@' symbol, and 'My Library' in black title case below.

NASA @ My Library

Explore this organization that is a National Earth and Space Science initiative that connects NASA, Public Libraries and their communities! While we highlight them a few times in this webpage, they have TONS of amazing library and at-home activities to explore. Below is their STEM Activity Clearinghouse, a library of STEM resources intentionally made for Library usage. You can search and sort by audience, content level, and difficulty, making science accessible to all ages.

Visit NASA@My Library
Logo for the Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration, featuring the ASU acronym with a sunburst design and the full name of the school below.

NASA Scope

NASA SCoPE was created with the intention of creating a community between NASA Science Activation, science and engineering experts, and early career scientists. This is brought to life through the creation of educational materials that are engaging, scientifically accurate, and increase participation of NASA Science! Explore their current opportunities and projects below.

Visit NASA SCoPE