In the coming decades, governments and private companies will set up permanent bases on the Moon and Mars. And at some point, the first galactic baby will be born.
Sara Webb, Swinburne University of Technology e Rebecca Allen, Swinburne University of Technology
China has fast-tracked its way onto the red planet, almost matching NASA’s capability in a fraction of the time. Its Zhurong rover will become the first to measure Mars’s magnetic field.
The first space tourist left Earth 20 years ago aboard a Russian rocket. Now, private companies like Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are offering trips to the stars for those who can pay.
The first space tourist left Earth 20 years ago aboard a Russian rocket. Now, private companies are on the cusp of offering trips off Earth for those who can pay.
The Ingenuity is a drone-like helicopter that completed its first flight on Mars. This achievement reflects a new horizon for space exploration, as new places are discovered and studied.
Flying the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars is the equivalent of flying one at about 100,000 feet on Earth. Tricky, considering the highest helicopter flight ever recorded maxed out at 42,000 feet.
Space mining might be closer than you think. But legal issues about the ownership of space resources must be urgently addressed to avoid space wars over natural resources.
NASA’s successful Mars landing will reveal yet more secrets from the red planet. But there is much we already know from Martian fragments that found their way to Earth.
Perseverance follows in the tracks of Curiosity. The latter’s touchdown on Martian soil in 2012 marked the first successful use of several pioneering space technologies.
Of the three probes to reach Mars this month, only two will land. But they will add to our growing knowledge of the red planet, and the search for evidence of life.