June 26, 2025, TUCSON, Ariz. – After nearly 20 years of operations, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or MRO for short, is on a roll, performing a new maneuver to squeeze even more science out of ...

The march of the planets around the Sun may seem interminable, but new research suggests that the likelihood of another star in our galaxy passing by and disrupting our Solar System is slightly higher ...

Planetary Science Institute scientists have converged in the lab, trying to decipher the mineral composition of dust. Not just any dust, but rather a simulated sample of Mercury’s surface, created as ...

Secondary craters – you know, the kind that are created by the falling debris that follows an initial impact – are what scientists call… annoying. This is because they can muddy up crater counts, ...

Mishal K T was awarded the 2025 Pierazzo International Student Travel Award at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference at The Woodlands, Texas, along with a check for $2,000 from PSI Director and ...

NOTICE: This is a statement by Planetary Science Institute CEO Mark V. Sykes, and reflects the values and principles that guide the daily management of and planning for this Institute under his ...

A mysterious object discovered in the main asteroid belt in 2021 was determined to be a main-belt comet by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Henry Hsieh, Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie ...

Nov. 1, 2024, TUCSON, Ariz. – On a cold, ancient Mars, rivers flowed and a lake the size of the Mediterranean Sea swelled under the protection of thick ice ceilings, according to new research ...

Oct. 28, 2024, TUCSON, Ariz. – The Moon and Mars are pocked with giant impact craters acquired very long ago, while there appears to be a dearth of them on Earth and Venus. Time may have healed many ...

Sept. 16, 2024, Tucson, Ariz. – A new analysis of maps of the near and far sides of the Moon shows that there are multiple sources of water and hydroxyl in the sunlit rocks and soils, including ...

Stars that pass by our Solar System have altered the long-term orbital evolution of planets, including Earth, and by extension modified our climate.

Aug. 28, 2023, Tucson, Ariz. – A new study of lunar swirls shows evidence of highly mobile regolith on the Moon, according to a team of PSI scientists led by Deborah Domingue. Swirls are enigmatic ...