09 October 2019
The first satellite servicing spacecraft launches successfully
... running low on fuel. The MEV is on a mission to intercept the fuel-hungry satellite and attempt the first-..., and it will serve multiple clients during its lifetime.” A second Mission Extension Vehicle, set for launch in 2020, is also planned. This...
22 July 2020
China's first Mars rover set to launch tomorrow
... could aid in helping humanity become a multi-planet species by exploring “the possibility of human habitation.” This ambitious mission is China’s second attempt to reach the Red Planet with a robotic probe, following the unsuccessful Yinghuo 1 Mars...
10 August 2020
Salty dwarf planet Ceres could be hiding an ocean
.... However the outlook doesn’t look particularly good. “High-resolution gravity data obtained during Dawn’s extended mission revealed an abundance of dense material — that is, salts and rock particles — in the lower crust of Ceres, suggesting that...
10 February 2021
Success for China as Tianwen-1 enters Mars' orbit
...characterise soil composition and water ice distribution, during a mission expected to last about three months. Meanwhile, high ... been busy testing equipment ready to start on its mission objectives. In September 2020 Tianwen-1 deployed the TW-1 ...
29 April 2020
NASA's new solar sail system to be tested on-board NanoAvionics' satellite
...solar sail system. The aim of the ACS3 mission is to replace conventional rocket propellants by developing ...powered propulsion system, eventually leading to more marvelous deep-space missions following the first inter-planetary CubeSats MarCO-A and B ...
March 2018
Plumes on Europa - tasting an extra-terrestrial ocean
... for such a confirmation until either JUICE or NASA’s Europa Clipper mission arrive at the ice moon in the early 2030s. Artist’s concept...detectability of Europa’s water vapour plumes from a flyby mission” 2017. Icarus, volume 289. doi:10.1016/j.icarus...
