Planetary Science Institute

The Planetary Science Institute (PSI) is a nonprofit science research and educational organization with an established record of excellence in solar system exploration, comparative planetology, science education and public outreach. PSI has scientists in 34 states, the District of Columbia, and other locations around the world. In the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, PSI scientists operated instruments on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory and Juno missions and provided science team support for these and NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Perseverance Rover, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Psyche, New Horizons, and Europa Clipper missions and ESA's Mars Express. They are developing insights into the origin of life, discovered widespread sources of water and hydroxyl on the Moon, and found a new population of impact craters on Venus. They have explained the existence of a young underground ocean on an icy satellite of Saturn, improved our understanding of Earth's ionosphere, and discovered potential ice-rich deposits in the equatorial region of Mars.The PSI Observatory continues to be used in the study of Jupiter's Io torus, the observation of comets, exoplanets and other bodies. PSI scientists support an instrument on the International Space Station to study the climate effects of dust (particularly from North Africa).PSI scientists were awarded research grants and contracts to conduct diverse research and laboratory studies covering the Moon, Mars, asteroids, comets, meteorites, outer planet satellites, solar system dynamics, solar system origins, planets around other stars, and other areas.PSI is responsible, as part of NASA's Planetary Data System, for archiving all mission data involving asteroids, comets and interplanetary dust and making it available to the general science community and public. PSI scientists engaged in public outreach through art, writing children's books, popular science books, and public lectures and broadcast events such as Discovery Channel and BBC specials.