Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Planetary Society was founded in 1980 by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman. Sagan co-led the organization until his death in 1996, using his public profile to influence space policy, including protecting SETI from congressional cancellation in 1981.
The Planetary Society has a community of over 2 million space enthusiasts and 40,000 dues-paying members from more than 80 countries. Membership is offered at tiered levels on an annual or recurring monthly basis.
LightSail 2 is a spacecraft built and crowdfunded by The Planetary Society that launched on the 25th of June 2019. It successfully used sunlight pressure to change its orbit, demonstrating solar sail propulsion in practice. TIME named it one of its 100 Best Inventions of 2019.
When Congress considered cancelling the Europa Clipper mission in 2013, The Planetary Society launched a multi-year advocacy campaign. Society members sent over 380,000 letters to their political representatives, and the organization met frequently with Congressman John Culberson, then chair of the relevant House subcommittee.
The Shoemaker NEO Grant program was founded by The Planetary Society in 1997 to fund amateur astronomers who track potentially hazardous near-Earth objects. More than 50 astronomers in over 20 countries have received grants, with over $500,000 awarded. As of 2025, recipients have helped discover nearly 500 near-Earth objects.
The Planetary Society launched its Save NASA Science campaign on the 11th of April 2025, in response to a White House proposal to cut NASA's science funding by 47% for the 2026 fiscal year. On the 6th of October 2025, CEO Bill Nye and over 300 supporters gathered on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in the largest advocacy event in the society's history. Congress passed a final budget in early 2026 that restored full funding for NASA's science directorate.