On June 5-6, 2012, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory collected images of one of the rarest predictable solar events: the transit of Venus across the face of the Sun.
NASA/SDO, AIA
This hot, acidic neighbor with its surface veiled in thick clouds hasn’t benefited from the attention showered on Mars and the Moon. But Venus may offer insights into the fate of the Earth.
European Space Agency astronaut Pedro Duque of Spain in the Zvezda Service Module on the International Space Station in October 2003.
NASA
For the first time, an instrument orbiting Mars and a rover on the surface have detected methane simultaneously – raising hopes for finding life on the red planet.
Rovers including ‘Rosalind Franklin’ will pick up where Opportunity left off – trying to answer the question of whether there is, or ever has been, life on Mars.
Zambezi river delta, snapped by Landsat 8 in March 2018.
NASA
Satellites hundreds of miles overheard are helping scientists to predict drought, track floods and see how climate change is changing access to water resources.
Space debris in Earth orbit creates a dangerous obstacle course for satellites and astronauts.
Dotted Yeti / Shutterstock.com
Countries developing technology that removes or blasts away space junk may appear to be doing a public service. But those same technologies can destroy military and communications satellites.
BepiColombo MPO at Mercury,
Spacecraft ESA, Mercury NASA
Dust can be instructive. The analysis of those collected around the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko provided new information on the history of the solar system.
Two spacecraft concepts for the Plato mission.
ESA
While we on Earth are familiar with our own star, the Sun, the European Space Agency’s PLATO mission will explore solar systems similar to ours as well as those that are more exotic.
The spacecraft will cruise for years before it reaches Mercury.
ESA
Changes to the benefits system delve into the pockets of the poor and will lead to more families and disabled people needing to use food banks.
A rocket carrying the NBN’s Sky Muster II satellite. Perhaps one day Australia might have more direct involvement in space activities.
AAP Image/National Broadband Network
An Australian Space Agency could capitalise on our history working with NASA and the ESA and boost our entry into the expanding commercial space industry.
Recent high-profile disappointments make it tempting to this our efforts to explore Mars are cursed. But landing anywhere in space is hard – not least on the Red Planet.
Artist’s impression of Schiaparelli landing.
ESA/ATG medialab
ESA’s second mission to Mars has become prey to the curse of the Red Planet – although the orbiter is heading for success, the Schiaparelli lander seems to have disappeared.
Comet 67P taken with a wide-angle lens from an altitude of about 15.5km above the surface during the spacecraft’s final descent on September 30.
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
ARC Laureate Fellow and Winthrop Research Professor at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, UWA., The University of Western Australia