Planetary Science Division Overview by Jim Green

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has helped scientists get a better idea of the size of 'Oumuamua — the first known interstellar object to visit our solar system.

ESA's Science Programme Committee confirmed the continued operations of ten scientific missions in the agency's fleet up to 2022.

NASA's InSight lander is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet at approximately 3 p.m. EST Nov. 26, and viewers everywhere can watch coverage of the event live on NASA Television, the agency's website and social media platforms.

NASA will host a live Science Chat at 2 p.m. EST Wednesday, Nov. 7, to discuss upcoming encounters of two of the agency’s planetary missions, New Horizons and OSIRIS-REx.

Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, this week commanded the agency's Curiosity rover to switch to its second computer. The switch will enable engineers to do a detailed diagnosis of a technical issue that has prevented the rover's active computer from storing science and some key engineering data since Sept. 15.

If the InSight landing zone were ice cream, it would be vanilla.