June 2017
Automated or human-operated systems?
... and imagination. System reliability is essential to the success of a mission but the external environment is a source of continuous discovery and surprises – otherwise why would we call it ‘exploration? – and to cope with this the system requires...
July 2018
The rise of interplanetary CubeSats
... less than 50 m/s delta-v to perform minor course corrections as it is dropped off on a flyby trajectory to Mars. Science and exploration missions are possible with flybys, as in the recent Deep Horizons flyby of Pluto. However, in the inner solar...
November 2018
Connecting and collaborating for innovation
...(ISS), and which could be used by crews to help diagnose disease and infection as we look to further and longer exploration missions. The set-up of the University of Southampton’s M-Mark system. The wireless sleeve is intended to help people who have...
May 2019
Cold comfort for astronauts
... volume-space. This design philosophy is also driven by resource limitations and sustainability. Today’s human exploration missions primarily revolve around the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS was designed as an international laboratory...
June 2019
The challenge of planetary protection
... made recommendations on the Phobos/Deimos sample return categorisation regarding the International JAXA-led Martian Moons eXploration mission (MMX). This is an ambitious project that will travel to Mars and survey the red planet’s two moons...
November 2019
PROSPECTing for lunar polar volatiles
... ESA Ministerial conference in November 2019, where new budgets for European space activities – including lunar exploration missions – will be allocated. Maximum temperatures of Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs) at the Lunar South Pole. Areas never...
