Planetary protection is a major challenge to avoid extraterrestrial contamination – News of February 3, 2019 – We hope to find traces of life on the planet Mars, on Europe the moon of Jupiter, or on some other bodies of the solar system. To achieve this, we send robots to the surface of these bodies.…
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Simulations fail to fully explain the inclination of Uranus – News of February 3, 2019 – The axis of rotation of Uranus is quite unique in the solar system. This is most likely the result of a collision very early in the planet’s history, or several collisions. But it is difficult to explain that not…
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The EnVision mission will scrutinize the movements of the surface of Venus – News from February 3, 2019 – At the end of the year, ESA will launch the Cosmic Vision program with the launch of the CHEOPS mission dedicated to the characterization of exoplanets. Cosmic Vision brings together all the future missions of the…
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The development of JUICE continues without problems – News of January 6, 2019 – The development of the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) space probe is progressing well. The launch of the ESA space probe is scheduled for the summer of 2022, to go into Jupiter’s orbit in 2030. This is one of the most…
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BepiColombo successfully tests its ion engines – News of December 11, 2018 – The Euro-Japanese mission BepiColombo has just successfully started up its ionic engines, the most powerful to have been deployed in space. This first ignition follows a period of intensive testing that demonstrated that the four engines used by the propulsion module work…
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The Lucy mission will study the Trojan asteroids of Jupiter – News of November 13, 2018 – NASA has approved the development of the Lucy mission as part of the Discovery program. The mission now has a budget and a development schedule. Lucy will leave Earth in October 2021 for a 12-year trip. This will…
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Dawn mission comes to an end, 11 years after launch – News of November 6, 2018 – The Dawn space probe did not respond to a planned communication attempt on October 31st. NASA concluded that Dawn has exhausted the hydrazine reserves of its micro-propellants. The space probe is therefore unable to point its communication antennas…
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Hubble continues mission with backup gyroscope – News of November 6, 2018 – In early October, the Hubble space telescope lost one of its gyroscopes. It needs three gyroscopes to work at full capacity, and it now has only three left. The calibration of the backup gyroscope has been more complicated than expected, but the…
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Farewell Kepler ! – News of November 6, 2018 – The Kepler space telescope officially comes to the end of its mission. It has been several months since Kepler used up his propellant reserves. After almost ten years of mission, the exoplanets hunter retires with a nice list of 2600 exoplanets discovered and more than…
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The Mars Express mission benefits from the Mars 96 probe experience – News of October 28, 2018 – The Mars 96 mission was an extremely ambitious and exciting mission. The mission consists of over forty experiments, half a ton of scientific payloads, an orbiter, two landers and two penetrators. This would get huge amounts of…
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2019 : a start for the Lunar Orbital Platform Gateway (LOP-G) ? – News of March 3, 2018 – The year 2019 should mark the departure of the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway project, NASA’s next space station and the first beyond the low orbit. Indeed the first contract for the construction of modules of the Lunar…
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Orion, Apollo lookalike One of the main missions of the SLS, NASA’s future monster launcher, is to launch the Orion spacecraft, a little different from the capsules that Microsoft Boeing and SpaceX have created for NASA. Indeed, Orion is primarily thought for the missions beyond the low orbit, which is new since the Apollo program.…
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Breakthrough Starshot develops an interstellar solar sail powered by laser – News of June 27, 2017 – Breakthrough Starshot is a laser propulsion system project to send micro-probes to our stellar neighborhood at 20% of the speed of light. Huge technological challenges arise, which is why the research plan is spread over 30 years. A…
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Voyager 1 thrusters reignited after 37 years of inactivity – News of December 5, 2017 – The Voyager 1 space probe is the farthest object a man has created. The space probe used its thrusters to orient its antenna towards the Earth. These thrusters had not been used for 37 years ! This is another…
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