Our efforts are WORKING to Save NASA Science! This is a huge step, but the work is not over. Thank you to everyone who wrote to your Reps, signed our petition, shared our updates, or spoke to a friend. Keep contacting Congress, we are almost to the finish line. www.planetary.org/press-releas...

This is a fantastic way to bring space to more people. Love it. 👏

BREAKING: The president's budget request just hit Congress, which could usher in a dark age for NASA space science. Congress has the final say, but you can help shape the outcome by adding your name to our global petition. This is just the start of our fight. Sign the petition: planet.ly/petition

On National Space Day, the Trump administration celebrates by proposing to gut the U.S.’s space science program.

Today, we're launching a dedicated action hub for the crisis threatening NASA science. Find actions, latest news and up-to-date resources at: www.planetary.org/save-nasa-sc... #ProtectNASAScience

Now this is a title.

But it is here from Earth where I dream of you all. Happy Earth Day.

Our Chief of Space Policy, Casey Dreier, shares insights in today's New York Times on NASA's budget cuts and their implications for the search for extraterrestrial life. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/o...

please don’t verify me. i wish not to be real

My New York Times essay on the potential cuts to space science at NASA is now live: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/o...

I PROMISE you if you put Spanish Flea by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass in your headphones as you prepare for the absurdity of living you’re going to do fine.

Are you a space nerd who got besieged by texts from friends and family on Wednesday night? You may be entitled to compensation.

I rarely do this, but please consider donating to The Planetary Society's advocacy program at planetary.org/takeaction We are an independent nonprofit. We don't have big industry funds or government grants (a bonus, these days!) All we have are our members and donors to enable our work.

Showmanship 🤌

The Syrian Arabic word for a hamster is أبو جراب (abu jrab), where jrab refers to a pouch/saddlebag/tote. And abu often means “father of,” but can also function as a general honorific (like “mister”). So it’s not too big a stretch to say the Syrian Arabic word for a hamster means “Mister Saddlebags”

Our lives are finite. These cuts to NASA science would take away discoveries we were due to witness in our lifetimes.

i miss the early internet. people were like “you gotta see this dude. this cat sure is long.” and they were right. it was really long. it never shoulda gotten any more complicated than that.

Für Elise and Joplin’s The Entertainer let’s gooooo

Remember that little asteroid a few months ago we thought might hit us? Here are new #JWST images of it (taken with its two IR instruments). We now know asteroid 2024 YR4 won't hit Earth, is about 60 m across, and is covered in first-size rocks. It might hit the Moon though and that would be COOL

Artist friends who have a shop, comment below with links! Folks who like to buy merch and art take a look! Your money going to an independent artist instead of a big corporate store means the world to someone and can can literally be life changing

Oh look, it’s me interacting with the fine people of the World Wide Web.

This is no April Fools’ joke: The Planetary Society has been nominated for TWO Webby awards! This is our first-ever nomination and a years-long dream of our team. Help us bring it home and cast your vote for us! vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting... and vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting...

jupiter wishes you a very happy trans day of visibility 🏳️‍⚧️

The Day of Action united over 100 passionate space enthusiasts in Washington, D.C. to champion space science and exploration — carrying forward the legacy of Carl Sagan, Louis Friedman, and Bruce Murray. Read how it went ⬇️ www.planetary.org/articles/202...

Same vibes.

I just created a Sci-Commers Starter Pack! Science Communication is CRITICAL right now, and there is more than one way to do it! Get some inspiration (+ fun!) from a variety of different sci-commers from various backgrounds (although there may be a bit of a marine bias here 💙). go.bsky.app/NMCFMcj

Been trying to get this book from the library for weeks, but it’s on hold for a million years. Good!

Using public data, I've found 40 NASA contracts totaling $42M canceled in the past few days, impacting climate science, DEI, education, and administration activities. $25.2M was already paid out, so resulting savings is $17 million. Running list of cancelations here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Today is The Planetary Society’s Day of Action. More than 100 of our members traveled to D.C. to speak with their reps and share why NASA science and exploration matter to them. You can amplify their efforts by connecting with your reps here: planet.ly/action2025

Insomniaaaart Tutti-Frutti by Helen Frankenthaler (1966)

Astronaut Returns From ISS With Annoying Space Accent theonion.com/astrona...

This is what Firefly's Blue Ghost lander saw as the Sun set on Sunday. The Sun is the bright lightsource at the horizon. At top is Earth (you can't quite tell it's gibbous). And that bright star between the two is Venus. I have never seen a photo of Venus from the surface of the Moon before.

Dolphins surrounding the Dragon spacecraft. ✨🐬✨ Fellow cosmic beings.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Robert Smith is the goth Bernie Sanders.

Planet Definitions xkcd.com/3063

Join me for a live taping of our Planetary Radio podcast in Washington, D.C. on March 24th, featuring Bill Nye, George Whitesides, and more. Free tickets: www.eventbrite.com/e/planetary-...

Saturn. Rising behind its giant icy moon Titan.

There are reports The White House is considering a 50% cut to NASA’s science programs, and 25% of its overall budget, which would be catastrophic for both current and planned missions. But, there is still time for the administration to reconsider. Read our full statement ⬇️

Catastrophic cuts to NASA science are being considered by the White House. We’ve made it easy to speak up: planet.ly/nasacuts

🎶 On the Moon, everything is fine. 🎶

Worst nightmare as a comms director. Comedy gold as a regular human being (or should I say, piece of butt dust.)

No drama on the Moon. Sparkling sun, quiet rocks. Dust and dust and dust.

Open this image up fully. Look to the top right. That's Phobos, one of the moons of Mars. And that bright point of light? Earth.

The planetary Society has up a short trivia quiz with questions submitted by readers. I knew a few, but only about half! www.planetary.org/your-space-t...

Things I’ve recently become aware of: “blinged-out” is in the AP’s style guide.

Image by Michael Carroll shows some asteroids to scale. We did NOT see the little one coming & it hit Earth above Chelyabinsk in 2013, injuring >1400 people. Asteroid 2024 YR4 is bigger than the little one, perhaps as large as the football field! JWST 🔭 data next month will help pin down the size.

Changes in NASA's workforce, by year, since 1959. Today will mark the largest involuntary reduction in staffing since the end of Apollo. The difference is that, right now, NASA is trying to spin up a Moon program instead of end one.

Apparently today is #NationalPeriodicTableDay. I had no idea such a thing existed, but I'm reposting this for all who celebrate. 🧪

In July 16-22 1994 the fragments of the comet Shoemaker/Levy 9 plunged into the atmosphere of Jupiter. I contacted experts in the field and made a digital model of the event to help compose views. One of the works I painted appeared on the August 1994 cover of Astronomy magazine. Here is that cover: