Planetary Science Division

General
Planetary Defense
Planetary Defense Coordination Office
Planetary Science
Planetary Science Division
Science & Research
Science Mission Directorate
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 Earth. Here is what we’ve found so far. Updated: September 11, 2025
Posted September 11, 2025
Perseverance (Rover)
Mars 2020
Planetary Science Division
Science Mission Directorate
NASA will host a news conference at 11 a.m. EDT Wednesday, to discuss the analysis of a rock sampled by the agency’s Perseverance Mars rover last year, which is the subject of a forthcoming science paper. The agency previously announced this event as a teleconference.  Watch the news conference on NASA’s YouTube channel and the agency’s […]
Posted September 10, 2025
Astromaterials
Planetary Science
Planetary Science Division
The Solar System
A new NASA study reveals a surprising way planetary cores may have formed—one that could reshape how scientists understand the early evolution of rocky planets like Mars.
Posted May 22, 2025
Dragonfly
Missions
NASA Directorates
Planetary Science
Planetary Science Division
Planets
Saturn
Saturn Moons
Science Mission Directorate
The Solar System
When it descends through the thick golden haze on Saturn’s moon Titan, NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft will find eerily familiar terrain. Dunes wrap around Titan’s equator. Clouds drift across its skies. Rain drizzles. Rivers flow, forming canyons, lakes and seas.  But not everything is as familiar as it seems.
Posted May 22, 2025
General
Ice Giants
Langley Research Center
Planetary Science Division
Uranus
When a planet’s orbit brings it between Earth and a distant star, it’s more than just a cosmic game of hide and seek. It’s an opportunity for NASA to improve its understanding of that planet’s atmosphere and rings. Planetary scientists call it a stellar occultation and that’s exactly what happened with Uranus on April 7. […]
Posted April 22, 2025
Science Mission Directorate
Auroras
Heliophysics
Planetary Science Division
The Solar System
The Sun
How can I see the northern lights? To see the northern lights, you need to be in the right place at the right time. Auroras are the result of charged particles and magnetism from the Sun called space weather dancing with the Earth’s magnetic field. And they happen far above the clouds. So you need […]
Posted March 26, 2025
Astrobiology
Curiosity (Rover)
Goddard Space Flight Center
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Mars
Mars Exploration Program
Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
Missions
NASA Centers & Facilities
NASA Directorates
Planetary Science
Planetary Science Division
Planets
Science & Research
Science Mission Directorate
The Search for Life
The Solar System
The Universe
Researchers analyzing pulverized rock onboard NASA’s Curiosity rover have found the largest organic compounds on the Red Planet to date. The finding, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests prebiotic chemistry may have advanced further on Mars than previously observed.
Posted March 24, 2025
Goddard Space Flight Center
Lucy
Missions
Planetary Science
Planetary Science Division
Although NASA’s Lucy spacecraft’s upcoming encounter with the asteroid Donaldjohanson is primarily a mission rehearsal for later asteroid encounters, a new paper suggests that this small, main belt asteroid may have some surprises of its own.
Posted March 17, 2025
Investigation of Convective Updrafts (INCUS)
Earth Science
Planetary Science Division
Science & Research
Science Mission Directorate
SmallSats Program
Wallops Flight Facility
NASA has selected Firefly Aerospace Inc. of Cedar Park, Texas, to provide the launch service for the agency’s Investigation of Convective Updrafts (INCUS) mission, which aims to understand why, when, and where tropical convective storms form, and why some storms produce extreme weather.
Posted March 4, 2025
Asteroids
Goddard Space Flight Center
Jupiter
Lucy
Planetary Science Division
Science Mission Directorate
The Solar System
Trojan Asteroids
Uncategorized
NASA has selected eight participating scientists to join its Lucy mission to the Jupiter Trojan asteroids.
Posted February 27, 2025
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