NASA is funded. Now what? “With a complete budget, 2026 is off to an exciting start, but how congressional support manifests into action at NASA is yet to be seen as the political environment evolves.” The Planetary Society’s policy team breaks down what we’re watching for in the year to come, and how advocates like you might be called to action. Pictured: A team of advocates on their way to meetings at the Save NASA Science Day of Action in October 2025. Image credit: The Planetary Society.
The Planetary Society is keeping Congress engaged in space science. Last week, The Planetary Society hosted a panel discussion for congressional staff about the science questions that are driving lunar exploration efforts in the United States. Led by AAAS Policy Fellow Ari Koeppel, the panel included Planetary Society President and Director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics Bethany Ehlmann, Ben Fernando of Johns Hopkins University, Kerri Donaldson Hanna of the University of Central Florida, and Caitlin Ahrens of the University of Maryland and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
What if Europa’s seafloor isn’t active after all? Recent research suggests that the icy moon may lack the tectonic activity needed to fuel life in its subsurface oceans. Paul Byrne, lead author of that study, joins this week’s Planetary Radio to discuss how this research could reframe how scientists think about one of the Solar System’s most intriguing ocean worlds.