24 July 2019
LightSail 2 unfurls its sails and soars through space
... space agency’s experimental solar ‘Yacht’ called Ikaros. Launched in 2010, the craft was able to travel past Venus via nothing more than the momentum gained from the massless light particles (photons) bombarding the...
25 October 2019
Ride-sharing mission hopes to study asteroid up close
... comes close enough frequently enough." The name Milo happened to come about in planning. It refers to the famous "Venus de Milo" statue, and with the associated planet name, just seemed to suit. In addition to organising the missions...
28 October 2019
Hygiea asteroid could turn out to be the smallest dwarf planet yet
... requirements: it is not a moon or satellite of another object, it orbits around the Sun, and, unlike a planet like Earth or Venus, it has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit. This last requirement is what stops objects like...
18 November 2019
First global geological map of Titan unveiled
... of a world littered with mountains and lakes due to its active methane-based hydrologic cycle. But like Venus, the moon’s thick, hazy atmosphere has so far hindered many of its geological features at visible wavelengths. Now...
01 January 2020
What has been in 2019 and what is to come in 2020!
... Solar Orbiter is complementary to the Parker Solar Probe which is already in orbit and will make the third Venus flyby (of seven) on 11 July this year as it continues to make close passes of the Sun. Next up is the Indian Space...
27 March 2020
Mercury's crust could have had episodic habitable conditions, new study says
... in 1974, when NASA’s Mariner 10 spacecraft made three fly-by’s after it had visited its nearest planetary neighbour Venus. The pictures sent back showed the planet to be strewn with vast chaotic terrains, which for nearly...
