US defense spending would rise $445bn under Trump budget plan, with steep cuts elsewhere Democrats rebuke White House’s ‘bleak and unacceptable’ view of priorities after 10% cuts proposed to other programs

Aaaaaand the pendulum swings!
With Artemis II half way to the moon, Trump proposes a 23% cut to NASA to fund his new war economy. The ink on the NASA bills and Isaacman's statements isn't even dry! 🧪🔭 #planetsci
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

History and mystery surround NASA’s 2028 nuclear Mars mission Fission-powered space flight, a 60-year dream, would supercharge outer Solar System exploration

New story with details about the ‘SR-1 Freedom’ nuclear propulsion mission to Mars. How would it work, and where did the idea come from? Is there any chance of meeting the timeline?
🧪🔭⚛️🛰️ #planetsci
www.science.org/content/arti...

It was pretty indescribable to actually watch a rocket carrying humans launch to the Moon in person. It’s not hyperbole for me to say that for my entire life I have hoped that I would actually see this happen. #PlanetSci #Artemis2

The Moon belongs to all of us — not just countries that can afford to reach it As humanity blasts off into a new space race, we need a model of exploration that emphasizes stewardship of other worlds, not exploitation.

http://dlvr.it/TRr6jr #astronomy #planetsci

Getting ready to head to KSC with the combined UF/UCF/USF delegation!!!
#PlanetSci #Artemis #Artemis2 #Moon

Moon - UPDATED - Jack Harvatt NEW UPDATED VERSION. A spacey rounded display typeface. Free for personal use, commercial use licence available on my site here: Harvatt.house/storeCheers for making this number 1 on Behance!

I just downloaded a font called Moon to my computer. #PlanetSci

C/2025 R3 using a S50

#C2025R3 #PANSTARRS TODAY looking extraordinary, an unique target for astrofotography these nights because of the geometry it approaches to the Earth & Sun: here a 10 min. exp.
More and location details in:
theconversation.com/el-cometa-20...
Pay attention to Moon interference in few days
#PlanetSci

Declaration of the Rights of the Moon – Australian Earth Laws Alliance

As the Artemis II mission prepares to go round the Moon, it's a good time to remember that people have been thinking about how to ensure the Moon has the right to its own ecological integrity. 🧪 #PlanetSci

#PlanetSci

#PlanetSci

PARTICIPANT EN EL #MEMEnginy de la @UAB per a explicar la nostra recerca puntera a @ice_csic @IEEC_space sobre asteroides, cometes i meteorits. Encantat de seguir formant estudiants en les diverses tècniques per afrontar els reptes de l'exploració espacial

#PlanetSci
www.ice.csic.es/research?vie...

The K2-18b saga continues... K2-18b has become a very popular exoplanet, both within the scientific community and beyond.

Ever wonder where the science landed on bio-signatures on exoplanets? Our @oxfordphysics.bsky.social colleague @astrojake.bsky.social has written up a succinct summary of the drama and what the latest paper adds.
It's a good read!
astrojake.substack.com/p/the-k2-18b...
🔭🧪 #planetsci

NASA Unveils Initiatives to Achieve America’s National Space Policy - NASA As part of its “Ignition” event on Tuesday, NASA announced a series of transformative agencywide initiatives designed to achieve President Donald J. Trump’s

The Dec 2028 timeline for an entirely new mission, using untried technology, seems completely implausible. It appears to be driven by the end of Trump's presidential term, not science or engineering. 🧪🔭🛰️ #planetsci

The quotes in the NASA press release are eye opening.
www.nasa.gov/news-release...

NASA plans to send a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars in 2028 Spacecraft would release helicopters to explore martian surface

NASA's new leadership has plans:
- A nuclear propulsion spacecraft (a technology that has never been implemented) delivering multiple helicopters to Mars in 2028.
- A surface base on the Moon (no orbiting Gateway), and expanded commercial launches.
🧪🔭🛰️ #planetsci
www.science.org/content/arti...

NASA's '1st nuclear powered interplanetary spacecraft' will send Skyfall helicopters to Mars in 2028 Skyfall will fly on Space Reactor-1 Freedom, which will demonstrate "advanced nuclear electric propulsion in deep space."

Skyfall is happening, and it will get to Mars in a totally new way.

Last summer, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Virginia company AeroVironment unveiled their Skyfall mission concept, which would send a fleet of tiny helicopters to explore the skies of Mars. 🧪 #PlanetSci

NASA Unveils Initiatives to Achieve America’s National Space Policy - NASA As part of its “Ignition” event on Tuesday, NASA announced a series of transformative agencywide initiatives designed to achieve President Donald J. Trump’s

Things are moving quickly and taking shape. The ugly part is said aloud: gateway is paused. But the moon base will go fast!
www.nasa.gov/news-release...
#moon #planetsci 🧪🔭

Looking for an updated list of the number of moons in our solar system. My usual reference is missing the recent additions from Jupiter, and while Wikipedia seems up-to-date, I’d prefer a verified scientific source to share with students. Thanks in advance for feedback! #planetsci #astro

Artemis II: Inside the Moon mission to fly humans further than ever - BBC News Find out about the astronauts and spacecraft involved in Nasa's Artemis II mission - the first time humans have flown to the Moon for fifty years.

Really great piece from the BBC here on the return of humans to the Moon on Artemis 2!!! Launch is currently scheduled for April 1st!!!
#planetsci

📷 ESO/C. Lawlor, R. F. van Capelleveen et al.

#exoplanets #planetsci

This image features the tiny moon S/2025 U1 (circled) and 13 of the 28 other known moons orbiting the planet Uranus. Due to the drastic differences in brightness levels, the image is a composite of three different treatments of the data, showing details about the planetary atmosphere, the surrounding rings and the orbiting moons. The Uranian system, appearing in shades of very light turquoise for the planet's globe and light turquoise for the rings, stands out sharply against the black background of the image.

🧵 1/4
Update March 2026: In August 2025, the discovery of a faint new moon around #Uranus, was announced.

That pushed the known count of its moons to 29.

SwRI release➡️ swri.org/newsroom/pre...

🔭 🧪 ⚛️ #planetsci #science #astronomy

Canadian Space Agency cancels lunar rover mission | CBC News As part of its 2026-2027 departmental plan, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has cancelled its ambitious lunar rover that would have landed at the moon's south polar region.

RIP Canada Lunar Rover 😥
Sad to see you go, but excited to see what will come next!
www.cbc.ca/news/science...
🔭🧪 #planetsci

☄️ #planetsci

In Other Journals Editors’ selections from the current scientific literature

Editor's choice: the search for life on Mars must avoid contamination by life transported from Earth. Bischof et al. investigate the micro-organisms on and within spacecraft that landed on Mars. How long can they survive on the red planet? 🧪☄️🔭 #planetsci
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Montage of various plates of hearty looking Austrian food on a table.

A small red car sits inside a restaurant.

Lots of people sit at three large tables in a traditional looking Austrian restaurant.

Nighttime view of a river, church tower, and distant castle on a hill .

Final day of the #Rosetta #DustWorkshop. Very nice social dinner (and drinks) last night, but today is going to be a struggle!
I will be presenting my #67P thermal modelling results just before lunch, and then leading a spinoff discussion this afternoon - hopefully I can stay awake!
#PlanetSci

One of two huge #bolides imaged yesterday over Spain by our fireball network. Enjoy it in full screen! 🤩😄
#planetsci

"Each time I understand slightly more about what you are doing 😂" - my mum

Give this a read if you, too, would like to understand slightly more about what I am doing - and perhaps more importantly, *why* 🔭⚒️🧪 #planetsci

buff.ly/J2mNECo

C/2026A1 on March 17th (J.M. Trigo-Rodríguez)

#Comet #C2026A1 #MAPS every night a bit more brilliant despite of being low near W horizon. Here is tonight image from #MontsenyObservatory, on #S50. Now it is +8.5 V magn., into the expectations for a bright comet in early April approach to perihelion
theconversation.com/el-cometa-ma...
#PlanetSci

View of Saturn and its bright icy rings captured from a distance by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft on October 28, 2016. The planet’s northern hemisphere is fully illuminated in summer sunlight.

🧵 1/7
Great! Saturn keeps collecting more moons.

The Minor Planet Center quietly released MPEC 2026-F14 on March 16, 2026, confirming eleven additional small satellites.

That brings Saturn’s total to 285, leaving Jupiter well behind in the rankings.

🔭 🧪 ⚛️ #planetsci #science #universe #astronomy

Really interesting discussions throughout!
In the picture, I'm on a panel to discuss why we explore following a presentation by Carly Howett
#planetsci

Cool terms and/or writing prompts from the latest issue of Advances in Space Research:

super-twisting sliding mode
arbitrarily shaped spacecraft
self-shape consideration
plasmapause expansion
single geophone
segmented hybrid
water-doped lunar simulant

🧪 🔭 #PlanetSci @cospar.bsky.social