The Planetary Society
501(c)(3) | |
95-3423566 | |
Registration no. | C0946337 |
Location | |
Fields | Space advocacy |
Members | 60,000 |
Key people | Louis Friedman, Bill Nye, Neil deGrasse Tyson |
Website | planetary |
The Planetary Society is an American internationally-active
The Society is dedicated to the
In addition to public outreach, The Planetary Society has sponsored
Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment (LIFE), was a two-part program designed to test the ability of microorganisms to survive in space.[13] The first phase flew on STS-134, Space Shuttle Endeavour's final flight in 2011.[14] The second phase rode on Russia's Fobos-Grunt mission, which attempted to go to Mars' moon Phobos and back but failed to escape Earth orbit.[15]
History
The Planetary Society was founded in 1980 by
In addition to its political affairs, the Society has created a number of space related projects and programs. The SETI program began with
Program summary
The Planetary Society currently runs seven different program areas with a number of programs in each area:
- Advocacy and education
- Extrasolar planets
- Innovative technologies
- International mission participation
- Mars exploration
- Near-Earth objects
- Search for extraterrestrial life
Organization
The Planetary Society is currently governed by a 12-member volunteer board of directors chosen for their passion about and knowledge of space exploration. The Board has a chairman, President, and Vice President and an Executive Committee, and normally meets twice per year to set the Society's policies and future directions. Nominations are sought and considered periodically from a variety of sources, including from members of the Board and Advisory Council, Society Members, staff, and experts in the space community.[16] On June 7, 2010, the Society announced that American science educator Bill Nye would become the new executive director of the society.[17]
Members
The Planetary Society's current board of directors consists of:
- Bill Nye, chief executive officer
- Daniel Geraci, chairman of the board
- Bethany Ehlmann, President and member of executive committee
- Heidi Hammel, Vice President and member of executive committee
- Lon Levin, Treasurer of the Board and member of executive committee
- Jim Bell, Secretary and member of executive committee
- G. Scott Hubbard
- John Logsdon
- Britney Schmidt
- Bijal (Bee) Thakore
- Fillmore Wood
- Robert Picardo
The advisory council consists of:
Other well known members:
Science and technology
The Planetary Society sponsors science and technology projects to seed further exploration. All of these projects are funded by the Society's members and donors. Some projects include:
- Earthdials
- FINDS Exo-Earths
- Micro-Rovers for Assisting Humans
- Mars Climate Sounder
- Pioneer anomaly
- Near-Earth Objects Research
- Planetrek
- Laser Bees
- Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
- Solar sailing with Cosmos 1 and the LightSail project
- Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment
- SETI@home[18]
The Planetary Report
The Planetary Report is the quarterly internationally recognized flagship magazine of The Planetary Society, featuring articles and full-color photos to provide comprehensive coverage of discoveries on Earth and other planets. It went from bimonthly to quarterly with the June (summer solstice) 2011 issue.
This magazine reaches 60,000 members of The Planetary Society all over the world, with news about planetary missions, spacefaring nations, space explorers, planetary science controversies, and the latest findings in humankind's exploration of the Solar System. It will be edited beginning in September 2018 by Emily Lakdawalla, who takes over from Donna Stevens.[3]
Planetary Radio
The Planetary Society also produces Planetary Radio, a weekly 30-minute radio program and
Science and Technology Empowered by the Public program
In 2022, the Planetary Society awarded its first grants as part of its Science and Technology Empowered by the Public (STEP) program. The inaugural grant winners were a team from
UnmannedSpaceflight.com
UnmannedSpaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society, and uses the
See also
References
- ^ "About Us". The Planetary Society. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-313-32265-5
- ^ a b Lakdawalla, E. (July 23, 2018). "Hello from the new editor of The Planetary Report". planetary.org/blogs. The Planetary Society. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
- ^ "The Planetary Society encourages exploration of the universe to find extraterrestrial life", Los Angeles Times, May 1, 1983
- ^ a b The Planetary Society (2022). "About Us". planetary.org. The Planetary Society. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
- ^ "No Signal From Solar Sail Spacecraft", Fox News, June 21, 2005, archived from the original on October 23, 2012, retrieved July 28, 2009
- ^ Asaravala, Amit (June 23, 2005), "Reality of Cosmos 1 Loss Sets In", Wired
- ^ "LightSail: A Multi-Mission Project" Archived April 1, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, The Planetary Society website. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
- ^ "Liftoff! LightSail Sails into Space aboard Atlas V Rocket". The Planetary Society. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
- ^ "Deployment! LightSail Boom Motor Whirrs to Life". The Planetary Society. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
- ^ "LightSail 2 Has Launched!". The Planetary Society. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
- ^ "LightSail 2 Spacecraft Successfully Demonstrates Flight by Light". The Planetary Society. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
- ^ "LIFE Experiment: Shuttle & Phobos: FAQ", The Planetary Society website. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
- ^ "Planetary Society Welcomes Home Shuttle LIFE Passengers", press release, The Planetary Society website, June 1, 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-15.
- ^ "'January re-entry' for Phobos-Grunt Mars probe", BBC News, December 16, 2011
- ^ "Board of Directors", The Planetary Society webpage. Retrieved 2015-05-13.
- ^ "Bill Nye Signs on as Planetary Society's New Executive Director" Archived November 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, press release, The Planetary Society website, June 7, 2010. Retrieved 2011-03-15.
- ^ "Projects – SETI@home – Recent updates". Planetary Society. May 26, 2009. Archived from the original on July 15, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
- ^ Gunn, Danielle (March 16, 2022). "The Planetary Society announces first-ever winners of new STEP grant program" (Press release). The Planetary Society. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
- ^ "Search Help Topics". unmannedspaceflight.com. The_Planetary_Society. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
- ^ "Community Forum, Blog, Gallery, CMS". invisionboard.com. Invision Power Services, Inc. Archived from the original on February 20, 2010. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
- ^ "The moderating team". unmannedspaceflight.com. The_Planetary_Society. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
- ^ "Today's top 20 posters". unmannedspaceflight.com. The_Planetary_Society. Retrieved June 19, 2022.