An international organization that encourages the exploration of the Solar System and the search for extraterrestrial life. The non-profit society has more than 50 000 members from over 100 countries, making it the world's largest space-interest organization. It sponsors space-related projects that are funded by its members. These have included four Optical SETI telescope projects searching for extraterrestrial life, the Mars Microphone aboard the Mars Polar Lander, which was the first privately-funded instrument aboard a NASA mission, and the Red Rover project for students.

The Planetary Society was founded in 1980 by the astronomer Carl Sagan; Bruce Murray, professor of Planetary Science at the California Institute of Technology and president of the society in 2001; and Louis Friedman, executive director of the society in 2001, who was formerly with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

http://www.planetary.org Home page of the Planetary Society, which was founded in 1980 to encourage the exploration of our Solar System and the search for extraterrestrial life. The site gives the latest news stories on space exploration and encourages visitors to get involved in one of the projects by searching for extraterrestrial life from home.