| Type | NGO and Non-profit Foundation |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Pasadena, California |
| Staff | Bruce Murray, Louis Friedman, Carl Sagan, Bruce Betts |
| Method | Space advocacy |
| Members | +100,000 |
| Motto | Exploring New Worlds Making you a part of the new age of space exploration |
| Website | Planetary.org |
The Planetary Society is a large, publicly supported, non-government and non-profit organization that has many research projects related to astronomy. It was founded in 1980 by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman,[1] and has members from 125 countries around the world. The society's mission is "To inspire and involve the world's public in space exploration through advocacy, projects, and education."
The Society is dedicated to the exploration of Mars and the rest of the Solar System, the search for Near Earth Objects, and the search for extraterrestrial life.[2]
The Society launched the Cosmos 1 craft in June 2005 to test the feasibility of solar sailing, but the satellite's launch rocket failed shortly after liftoff.[3][4] It is now raising seed funding for the next solar sail spacecraft.
Contents |
Members
The Planetary Society's current Board of Directors includes the following:[5]
- Daniel Geraci, Chairman of the Board
- Jim Bell, President
- Bill Nye, Vice President
- Louis Friedman, Executive Director
- Heidi Hammel
- Wesley Huntress
- Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Lon Levin
- Alexis Livanos
- John Logsdon
- Christopher McKay, Advisory Council Chair
- Bruce C. Murray
- Elon Musk
- Joseph Ryan
- Steven Spielberg
- Bijal (Bee) Thakore
- George Yancopoulos
Notable members of its Advisory Council include:[6]
- Buzz Aldrin
- Ray Bradbury
- David Brin
- Franklin Chang-Diaz
- Frank Drake
- Owen Garriott
- Tom Jones
- Jon Lomberg
- Hans Mark
- Robert Picardo
- John Rhys-Davies
- Kim Stanley Robinson
- Donna Shirley
Projects
The Planetary Society sponsors projects to seed further exploration. Members privately fund these projects:
- Earthdials
- Mars Stations
- Near-Earth Objects Research and Missions
- Planetrek
- Political Action
- Red Rover Goes to Mars
- Red Rover, Red Rover
- Scholarships
- Search for Extraterrestrial Life
- Solar sailing with Cosmos 1
- Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment
The Planetary Report
The Planetary Report is the bimonthly 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.
This bimonthly magazine reaches over 100,000 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.
Planetary Radio
Members of The Planetary Society also host a weekly 30 minute radio programme and podcast.
References
- ^ Spangenburg, Ray; Moser, Diane (2004), Carl Sagan: a biography, Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 107, ISBN 9780313322655.
- ^ "The Planetary Society encourages exploration of universe to find extraterrestrial life", Los Angeles Times, May 1, 1983.
- ^ "No Signal From Solar Sail Spacecraft", Fox News, June 21, 2005, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,160214,00.html.
- ^ Asaravala, Amit (June 23, 2005), "Reality of Cosmos 1 Loss Sets In", Wired, http://www.wired.com/science/space/news/2005/06/67984.
- ^ Board of directors, The Planetary Society, retrieved 2009-07-28.
- ^ Advisory council, The Planetary Society, retrieved 2009-07-28.
External links
- The Planetary Society official site
- The Planetary Society Blog
- MarsDrive Consortium
- Planetary Society Facebook site
- Planetary Society YouTube channel
- Planetary Society Volunteer Network
- Bruce Betts' Twitter site (Random Space Facts)
- Mat Kaplan's Twitter site (Planetary Radio)
- Emily Lakdawalla's Twitter site (Planetary Society Blog)
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