On 13 April 2023, ESA launched JUICE, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer. It is currently on its way to Jupiter. But what is so special about Jupiter, and what have the Icy Moons to do with it? Let’s take a look at Jupiter and the Galilean moons…
What’s happening?
It’s only been 1 year on Mars
Back in 2020 three missions launched from Earth to reach or land on Mars. They have now been there for just over a Martian year. Let’s take a look at what they’ve done so far. But first, do you actually know what a Martian year is?
Artemis I – Going back to the Moon
NASA is going for another attempt at launching Orion and SLS on the Artemis I mission to the Moon on 16 November. So, when and where can you follow the activities and see the launch?
Lucy’s return to Earth
Today, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will return to Earth. But it will not stay here, instead it will only do a flyby to pick up more speed to get to its destination. So, what is its destination, and what is its mission? Let’s take a closer look at NASA’s Lucy mission.
Changing the orbit of an asteroid – NASA’s Dart mission
On 26th September 2022 NASA will intentionally crash a spacecraft into an asteroid. Why are they doing this, you ask? To test, if it is possible to change its orbit. Still not sure why this is important? Let’s take a closer look at the mission and its goals.
Preview of more missions to the Moon in 2022
With the second half of 2022 already beginning, let’s take a look at the missions targeting the Moon this year again. Have the launch dates shifted, or are we still on track? What about the mission I talked in a previous post, have they launched yet?
Let’s explore Webb’s first images
A couple of days ago, the first images of the James Webb Space Telescope were published. Have you seen Webb’s first images already? They are astonishing! Let’s take a closer look at two of them and try to understand, what we are seeing in the images.
Missions to the Moon so far in 2022 – what did go up?
In March, I wrote about missions planned to launch to the Moon this year. With almost half of the year already past, let’s take a look at them again. Have they launched on time or not? And what about the missions planned to launch in the second half of the year?
Capstone mission to the Moon
Last time I talked about all planned missions to the Moon. This time, let us take a closer look at one of them – the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE). Let’s find out how a slam satellite can get to the Moon.
7+ missions planned to go to the Moon in 2022
This time, we’ll take a look at missions planned to launch this year to the Moon. Of course, only at the end of this year, we’ll know which of them made it. Anyway, how many of them do you know? Let’s find out.