Space: the final frontier. It’s such an endless source of inspiration and imagination in today’s world that it’s hard to imagine we only just set foot on the moon in 1969! In the years since, we’ve launched the International Space Station, taken magnificent images and made incredible discoveries about planet composition with the Hubble Space Telescope, and sent rovers to Mars that have even gathered evidence of water. But if it feels like mind-blowing space missions like these have slowed down in recent years despite technological advances, it’s because they have. The good news is that The Planetary Society is looking for ways to change that.
Planning space missions and then building, launching, and operating a spacecraft can take decades of government funding that is harder to come by now than ever before. But The Planetary Society is on a mission to secure consistent funding for innovative and exciting new space technologies! They’re the world’s largest and most influential nonprofit space organization fighting for progress that accomplishes 3 goals: explores worlds, finds life, and defends Earth.
Explore worlds
Space exploration can’t happen overnight. Planning the mission and then building, launching, and operating a spacecraft can take decades of sustained government funding that isn’t easy to come by. The Planetary Society urges elected representatives to encourage the investments needed in cutting-edge technology so we can continue to make incredible discoveries.
Find life
If there’s life out there somewhere, its discovery would change the course of human history. As we create new technologies that are capable of deep space exploration, our ability to widen the search grows (and our chance of a major discovery grows with it). It’s just a matter of keeping funding alive for these projects.
Defend Earth
We share our solar system with billions of asteroids and comets, most of which are harmless to Earth. However, there’s always a chance that one will come along that poses a threat. The Planetary Society helps observers find, track, and assess these asteroids and comets in addition to supporting the development of response and mitigation technologies.
