04 May 2018
NASA's InSight mission gears up for tomorrow's launch
... in turn should expose the depth at which Mars’s core becomes solid, and what other minerals, besides iron, may be present. These insights (ahem) into how the Red Planet works will not just benefit...
14 May 2018
Best evidence yet for plumes on Europa
... the plumes exist, it is the best evidence yet that they are a real feature say the team. Ironically Galileo ended its mission by plunging into Jupiter's atmosphere in September, 2003 to prevent an unwanted impact with Europa...
18 June 2018
ESA Council backs Lunar gateway venture
... the first lunar space station. Placed farther from Earth than the current Space Station – but ironically not in a lunar orbit – the gateway will offer a staging post for missions to the Moon and Mars...
08 August 2018
The most reusable and reliable rocket ever?
... our design assumptions to be confident that it is indeed able to be reused without taking it apart,” Musk said at the time. “Ironically, we need to take it apart to confirm it does not need to be taken apart.” Even so, with a quicker turnaround time...
20 September 2018
TESS finds its first exoplanet – a super-Earth 60 light years away
... and contains a substantial portion of lighter materials — such as water, methane, hydrogen, and helium — in addition to a rocky/iron core. Not a lot is known about systems such as these, i.e. a giant planet on a long-period, highly eccentric orbit...
19 October 2018
Countdown begins for the launch of BepiColombo
... propulsion driven thrust and the gravity of the inner planets in its nine billion kilometre journey to the iron-laden, rocky inner planet. “Mission teams have spent months simulating BepiColombo’s unique and complex journey...
