We invite elementary & middle school educators to join PSI scientists & education specialists for an engaging workshop to learn more about how scientists classify and study objects in the Solar System. Workshop is Aug 1, registration deadline is July 28 Follow the link to sign up! buff.ly/K6y01Bb

PSI in the News: Senior Scientist David Grinspoon talks Viking 1's 50th anniversary and future human exploration of Mars with AZPM

July 20 also marks the 50th anniversary of Viking 1, the first truly successful landing on Mars. It sent back our first close-up images of Mars' surface, shown here. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

This International Moon Day marks the 57th anniversary of Apollo 11, the first human landing on the Moon. Earlier this year the Moon captivated us all over again when Artemis II returned beautiful images like this one. (Image Credit: NASA)

It's July 18! Today is the day! Lakewood, CO! 1-5PM. Drop by our celebration of 10 years of the PSI Colorado office. Hope to see you there! 🚀 #psi_CO_10 #planetarysci buff.ly/5TuGkoM

This week's #PlanetaryPet is Bagel! PSI Research Associate Amanda Nonomura says that Bagel is a pretty decent research assistant but truth be told Bagel would rather be chasing squirrels.

Enjoy this stunning depiction of the Pride Flag envisioned with space imagery as created by Senior Scientist and Senior Education and Communication Specialist Pamela Gay. Read more on how this vibrant piece of #SciArt was created here buff.ly/YeyHBhr

We hope to see you at our celebration of 10 years at PSI's Colorado office! Join us for science, activities, refreshments and fun. Saturday, July 18, 1-5PM. Click here for details: buff.ly/5TuGkoM

#JunoCam: This image captures the northern jets on Jupiter. It was taken on April 10, 2020 at 6:37 a.m. PDT (9:37 a.m. EDT) as the Juno spacecraft performed its 26th close flyby of the planet. buff.ly/doweiXb

PSI in the News: Oded Aharonson and Norbert Schörghofer discover new scientific evidence showing that ice has been gradually accumulating on the Moon’s poles for at least 1.5 billion years. Read more in Weizmann Wonder Wander

PSI’s Nathan Kaib uses computer simulations to understand the formation of the Kuiper Belt and what it tells us about the past orbital evolution of the giant planets. Read the full Q&A & subscribe to our newsletter to get PSI content delivered directly to your inbox! buff.ly/i5wdHXe

PSI scientists gathered and shared science results at the Asteroids, Comets & Meteors (ACM) meeting this week in Poznań, Poland. Go Team PSI!

#JUNOCam: This image captures Jupiter's mid-northern latitudes. It was taken on May 18, 2017 at 10:50 p.m. PDT (May 19, 2017 at 1:50 a.m. EDT) as the Juno spacecraft performed its 6th close flyby of the planet. buff.ly/mEhKbH8

PSI in the News: Research Scientist Kirby Runyon has an op-ed on Meet the Future about why we need lunar geologists to make NASA's Moon Base a reality. Read more at

On July 18 we're celebrating 10 years of discovery, collaboration, and exploration in Colorado! Join PSI as we mark this special milestone with planetary science presentations and demonstrations, fun science education activities, and refreshments. More info here: buff.ly/iTMydYV

PSI in the News: Senior Scientist Kat Volk is excited to spot new trans-Neptunian objects as part of the Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space & Time (LSST). Read all about it in Sky & Telescope!

Sanlyn Buxner is interested in examining issues related to scientific literacy, how to measure it, and investigating how it is changed by education. Read the full Q&A & subscribe to our newsletter, the PSI Weekly Briefing, to get PSI content delivered directly to your inbox! buff.ly/eTyTF4S

This beautiful image of Samaniego Ridge was taken northeast of Tucson, AZ on the western fringe of the Santa Catalina mountains. The photographer is PSI Laboratory Technician, Neil Pearson. #SpaceArt #SciArt

PSI in the News: Postdoctoral Researcher Ashley Murphy is using the SHERLOC instrument on Perseverance Rover to find the building blocks of life on Mars, and the Smithsonian magazine is sharing her research with our world. Check it out at

#JunoCam: This image captures Jet N3 on April 15, 2021 as the Juno spacecraft performed its 33rd close flyby of Jupiter. Note the variety of complex storm shapes and cloud tops. North is to the upper right. Credit : NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Björn Jónsson © cc nc sa buff.ly/xEWMBZw

PSI in the News: Senior Scientist Nathan Kaib just presented new results on how the star HD 7977 trigged a shower of comets into our Solar System. This work is highlighted in IFL Science. Check it out:

Ashley Murphy is a PSI Postdoctoral Research Scientist whose interests include astrobiology, geology, and the instruments necessary to decipher the secrets of minerals. Her latest paper on organic molecules found on Mars is taking the internet by storm. Read more buff.ly/Ppxld8W

PSI is proud to share that Senior Scientist Pamela Gay was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater Westford Academy. Pamela shows it's possible to go from teenage space cadet to professional space scientist. Read more: buff.ly/GpOQuFx

Stay cool in Tucson this weekend! Come on by the PSI office Saturday and take in some thought-provoking art by PSI co-founder Bill Hartmann... hope to see you there!

Happy Friday! This week's #PlanetaryPet is Fable. She is sweet and cuddly unless she is on patrol of her royal domain where she barks at coyotes, off-leash dogs, and noisy children. Fable lives with PSI Senior Scientist Jamie Molaro, who ranks Fable’s barking as “top of her class.”

PSI in the News: Shocked rocks mean something like an asteroid hit a world. As highlighted in Astrobiology, Shawn Wright's work finds these rocks may be rare on Earth, but abundant on Mars. Check it out

PSI Making News: PSI Sr Scientist Nathan Kaib & collaborator Sean Raymond present new results that predict star HD 7977 triggered a rain of long period comets with its nearby passage 2.5 million years ago. We are still seeing the excess comets it triggered today! Learn more:

Making News: PSI's Ashley Murphy, Aileen Yingst, & collaborators unambiguously confirm the detection of organic carbon, one of the building blocks of life, in two rocks from the Bright Angel formation on Mars. This research used the SHERLOC instrument on Perseverance Rover.

PSI's Jeff Morgenthaler created and oversees the Io Input/Output observatory (IoIO), a small telescope designed to study how gas from Jupiter’s moon Io moves into and out of the space around Jupiter (Jupiter’s magnetosphere). Full the story & comic: buff.ly/2fTXK2J

John Goodge is a PSI Sr Scientists interested in geology, mineralogy, & tectonics. His current research focuses on Antarctica. Read the full Q&A & subscribe to our newsletter, the PSI Weekly Briefing, to get PSI content delivered directly to your inbox! buff.ly/Vi8fVov

Happy Friday! 🪐🎨 This week's #SciArt feature is an art installation by PSI's Jamie Molaro. It depicts familiar constellations and challenges viewers to experience what the star grouping might look like from somewhere other than Earth. View installation: buff.ly/nIO90KY

PSI in the News: Gizmodo highlights commentary by PSI's John Goodge on new research that finds a surprisingly complex geologic region hiding beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Check it out:

#JunoCam: This collage titled "In every object, its previous forms must live on in some rudimentary way" was created by a citizen scientist. Interested in processing your own JunoCam images? Visit: buff.ly/D8xuRCP 📸: NASA / SwRI / MSSS / Jackie Branc

PSI in the News: Live Science highlights work by PSI Senior Scientist Nathan Kaib and his collaborators that shows our solar system once had more ice giant planets than we see today. Check it out (no subscription required):

“Some glassy samples were fluffy and light, like popcorn. It had a really low density, it was airy, and it crumbled in my fingers....I aimed to find out what it was by trying to figure out what it used to be.” Read the full story: buff.ly/9HU9xqZ

David at Craters of the Moon geothermal field near Lake Taupo, New Zealand. Read the full Q&A and subscribe to our newsletter, the PSI Weekly Briefing, to get PSI content delivered directly to your inbox! buff.ly/vcKmjJZ

Happy Friday! 🪐 🐾 This week's #PlanetaryPet is playful Stella who is NOT going to give up her pink stuffed toy! Adorable and stubborn Stella lives and plays with PSI’s Senior Scientist Pamela Gay.

PSI in the News: PSI's Shawn Wright discussed his recent publication on shocked soil on the Geology Letter Substack. Watch/listen here:

This morning, PSI's Amanda Hendrix, Roger Clark, Morgan Cable and Tom McCord snapped a picture at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

#JunoCam: This rendering of the Juno spacecraft flying over Jupiter and it's Great Red Spot was rendered using actual mission data. Interested in processing your own images? Visit: buff.ly/puVFvXq Data and image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/SwRI/Kevin M. Gill Juno Model: NASA/JPL-Caltech

We love answering questions about the mysteries of our Solar System! This week Astronomy Magazine called on PSI's William Hartmann to help answer the question "Why does 1 side of the Moon have a lot of craters, while the other side does not?" Click through to read his answer!

"I am extremely excited to be working on the science team for the first landed Artemis mission... I anticipate spending much of the next year analyzing potential landing sites & taking a deeper dive into lunar highlands regolith structure." More: buff.ly/V7DDrTp

PSI's Kirby Runyon was featured on the HELLO FUTURE podcast! Catch it here: buff.ly/IqWsx8b

Happy Friday! 🌌 🎨 This week's #SciArt features a painting from our art collection. This piece, Coronagraph from the Moon, was painted by PSI cofounder William K. Hartmann in 2025. A coronagraph is a device that blocks out direct light from the Sun so the corona can be studied.

#ClarkVision: The Milky Way Rises Over Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park The center of the Milky Way and the constellation of Sagittarius are on the right side of the arch, and the Constellation Cygnus is above the left side of the arch, with the red North America Nebula. By PSI's Roger Clark

We never know where PSI scientists will be next. For David Grinspoon, the answer was London for SWSX where he talked with Dune's production designer building worlds at the junction of science and fiction. Learn more in this @thr.com article.

#JunoCam: The many textures of Jupiter. Swipe through. This never gets old! These images were processed by citizen scientists. Interested in processing your own JunoCam images? Visit: buff.ly/iFVvCkA 📸: NASA / SwRI / MSSS / Navaneeth Krishnan / Emma Wälimäki / Björn Jónsson / Tracy Prell

Jawin’s research focuses on how the surfaces of rocky planets, asteroids & moons in our Solar System evolve, specifically focusing on several themes including resurfacing on rubble pile asteroids, Martian polar surface variability & explosive volcanism on the Moon & Mercury. More: buff.ly/FbRVR6U

Learn more about the award and how you can support this work inspired by Betty: buff.ly/1DSkFcW This story was featured in this week's newsletter. Read and subscribe: buff.ly/E0tvqzs

Happy Friday! 🪐 🐾 This week’s #PlanetaryPet is the award-winning 10-year-old Jax, a Belgian Malinois who cleared the field in ONE weekend to win all of these awards in Estes Park, CO. Jax lives with PSI Senior Scientist Robert Tokar.