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Voyagerprogramma
1977-08-20 - 2030-12-31
Het Voyagerprogramma is een Amerikaans ruimtevaartprogramma van twee onbemande ruimtevaartschepen.
In 1961 werkte de toen 25-jarige wiskundestudent Michael Minovitch als vakantiewerker bij het Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Hij berekende dat het zwaartekrachtveld van een planeet niet het eind van een missie betekent, maar een ruimtetuig kon versnellen. Versnellen in het zonnestelsel betekent verder van de zon af en dat betekende dat missies naar de buitenste planeten mogelijk waren door het enorme zwaartekrachtveld van Jupiter te gebruiken. In 1965 ontdekte Gary Flandro dat Jupiter, Saturnus, Uranus en Neptunus eens in de 176 jaar zo aan de hemel stonden dat het met één missie mogelijk was alle vier de planeten te bezoeken. De eerstvolgende keer dat deze planeetstand zou voorkomen was in 1977. Men begreep onmiddellijk dat deze kans niet gemist kon worden en ging aan de slag. De Pioneer 10-missie testte of het mogelijk was voorbij Jupiter te geraken, de Pioneer 11 testte of het mogelijk was voorbij Saturnus te geraken. Vervolgens werden twee ruimtesondes die gebouwd waren voor het Marinerprogramma omgedoopt tot Voyager 1 en Voyager 2. Voor het communiceren met de Voyager-sondes was niet voldoende infrastructuur aanwezig. Dit leidde tot de bouw van het Deep Space Network, bestaande uit schotelparken in Goldstone in Californië, Madrid en Canberra in Australië. De locaties zijn zorgvuldig gekozen opdat altijd een van de stations de Voyager-sondes in ontvangst kon hebben. Het was de bedoeling meerdere ruimtetuigen met het Deep Space Network te bedienen dus werden op de locaties 34-meter- en 70-meterradiotelescopen neergezet, waarbij de 34-metertelescopen voornamelijk dienen voor communicatie tot aan Jupiter en de 70-metertelescopen gebruikt worden voor communicatie met verder weg gelegen sondes. Vandaag de dag is het Deep Space Network sterk uitgebreid.
Naarmate de lanceerdatum dichterbij kwam werd NASA flink gekort in haar budgetten. Aldus werd de missie flink ingekort. Van de oorspronkelijke vier trajecten die men met een Voyager-sonde wilde verkennen, werden er twee geschrapt. Van de twee overgebleven trajecten ging er een langs de maan Titan, wat betekende dat de Voyager 1-sonde na Titan uit het planetaire vlak zou worden geduwd en de missie ten einde zou brengen. Ook de Voyager-2-missie zou na Saturnus ten einde zijn; echter er werd een traject gekozen dat een reis naar Uranus en Neptunus mogelijk zou maken, mocht het tij keren. Op 20 augustus 1977 de Voyager 2 gelanceerd, kort daarop gevolgd door de Voyager 1 op 5 september 1977. De Voyagers hadden een voor die tijd geavanceerde fotocamera aan boord en stuurden foto’s terug naar de aarde. Toen Saturnus bereikt zou worden trokken grote mensenmassa’s naar het Jet Propulsion Laboratory om als eerste de foto’s van Saturnus te kunnen zien. Omdat zowel publiek als wetenschappers bijzonder enthousiast en vooral ook verrast waren over de foto’s die teruggestuurd werden, werd de toestemming om de Voyager 2 verder te laten vliegen uiteindelijk een formaliteit. De slinkende brandstofvoorraad en afnemende elektrische vermogen begon echter zijn weerslag te krijgen. Langzaam maar zeker moet NASA steeds meer wetenschappelijke instrumenten uitschakelen, om stroom voor de hoofdsystemen te garanderen. NASA schatte in, dat ze het radiocontact met de sondes ergens tussen 2020 en 2025 gaan verliezen. Of dit uiteindelijk gebeurt door gebrek aan brandstof of elektriciteit blijft ongewis.

Links:
NASA Voyager
NASA Voyager Twitter
NASA Voyager 2 spacecraft extends its interstellar science mission for 3 more years
NASA Turns Off 2 Voyager-2 Science Instruments to Extend Mission

Discovery Program
1990-01-01 - 2030-01-01
The Discovery Program is a series of Solar System exploration missions funded by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through its Planetary Missions Program Office.
Each mission has a cost cap, at a lower level than a mission from NASA’s New Frontiers or Flagship Programs. As a result, Discovery missions tend to be more focused on a specific scientific goal (rather than serving a general purpose).

The Discovery Program was founded in 1990 to implement then-NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin‘s policy of “faster, better, cheaper” planetary science missions. Existing NASA programs had specified mission targets and objectives in advance, then sought bidders to construct and operate them. In contrast, Discovery missions are solicited through a call for proposals on any science topic, and assessed through peer review. Selected missions are led by a scientist called the Principal Investigator (PI) and may include contributions from industry, universities, or government laboratories. The Discovery Program also includes Missions of Opportunity, which fund US participation in spacecraft operated by other space agencies (e.g. by contributing a single scientific instrument). It can also be used to re-purpose an existing NASA spacecraft for a new mission.
Psyche:
Lucy:
Links:
Discovery Program
NASA Selects 2 Missions to Study ‘Lost Habitable’ World of Venus
Nasa has just rejected missions to moons of Jupiter and Neptune – here’s what we would have found out
Lucy Mission : launch
New wave of missions to reignite Venus exploration
Psyche
Journey to a Metal-Rich World: NASA’s Psyche Is Ready to Launch
Digging Deeper to Find Life on Ocean Worlds

Ruimtetelescoop Hubble
1990-04-24 - 2031-01-01
De ruimtetelescoop Hubble (Hubble Space Telescope, HST) bestaat uit een aantal precisie-instrumenten voor astronomische waarnemingen.
Hij is genoemd naar de Amerikaanse astronoom Edwin Hubble en draait sinds de lancering door NASA en ESA op 24 april 1990 als een kunstmatige satelliet rond de aarde. De Hubble wordt gebruikt voor optische waarnemingen. De telescoop bezit ook een infraroodcamera. Het was de eerste telescoop van het Great Observatories-programma. Voor observaties in het röntgengolflengtegebied wordt nog gebruikgemaakt van het Chandra X-ray Observatory. De andere 2 telescopen functioneren niet meer. Door het ontbreken van een atmosfeer in de ruimte is een ongekend scherpe afbeelding van verre astronomische objecten mogelijk. Een van de bekendste foto‘s die door de Hubble genomen zijn is van de Pilaren der Creatie in de Adelaarsnevel (M16).
Klik op afbeelding voor origineel (203MB)
Links:
Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Captures Giant Star on the Edge of Destruction
Hubble Space Telescope program : new science announcement – press conference
Stunning new panorama of Andromeda galaxy took 10 years to make
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope released this panoramic view of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy
Hubble Telescope – 35th Anniversary Observing Challenge
Celebrating 35 years of the Hubble Space Telescope
Fotoalbum Hubble Space Telescope

Missions to the #Moon #Mars #Moon2Mars #JournyToMars
1996-01-01 - 2032-12-31
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, being only larger than Mercury.
In English, Mars carries the name of the Roman god of war and is often referred to as the “Red Planet”. The latter refers to the effect of the iron oxide prevalent on Mars’ surface, which gives it a reddish appearance distinctive among the astronomical bodies visible to the naked eye. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, with surface features reminiscent of the impact craters of the Moon and the valleys, deserts and polar ice caps of Earth.
The days and seasons are comparable to those of Earth, because the rotational period as well as the tilt of the rotational axis relative to the ecliptic plane are similar. Mars is the site of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano and highest known mountain on any planet in the Solar System and of Valles Marineris, one of the largest canyons in the Solar System. The smooth Borealis basin in the northern hemisphere covers 40% of the planet and may be a giant impact feature. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are small and irregularly shaped. These may be captured asteroids, similar to 5261 Eureka, a Mars trojan.
In December 2017, on the 45th anniversary of the last manned mission to the Lunar surface, President Donald Trump approved Space Policy Directive-1 that includes a lunar mission on the pathway to Mars and beyond. The directive calls for NASA to “lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system and to bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities.” With this direction NASA will put astronauts on the Moon in the next decade, and lay the foundation for human exploration of Mars.
Links:
Moon2Mars
NASA’s Moon to Mars Plans – Youtube playlist
NASA Mars Exploration Program
Drie Marsmissies staan in de startblokken

List of Missions to Mars
Summer of Mars Webinar (TV YouTube webcast)
Artemisprogramma / Artemis program
30 days until NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover touch down on Mars
Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover – landing (TV NASAtv)
Seismic ripples reveal size of Mars’s core
Chinese verkenner maakt geslaagde landing op Mars

Agenda 29-08-2022 – Artemis I : launch

Solar System Exploration program
1996-10-10 - 2030-04-10
In late 2014, the Solar System Exploration program was established alongside the Planetary Missions Program Office to “execute prioritized planetary science.”
The first mission of the program is DART, an asteroid deflection test targeting 65803 Didymos that launched in 2021. Originally a component of AIDA, DART‘s impact was intended to be observed by ESA’s AIM orbiter, which would continue to study Didymos from orbit. However, the ESA Council at ministerial level cancelled the AIM mission in favour of funding for the ExoMars 2020 rover, citing budget concerns. Despite the cancellation of AIM, NASA committed to their original plan, opting to continue solely with DART. DART successfully impacted Dimorphos, the moon of asteroid 65803 Didymos, on 26 September 2022. Two Europa astrobiology missions are scheduled in the Solar System Exploration program. The Europa Clipper is scheduled to launch in October 2024 on a Spacex Falcon Heavy. The ESA JUICE mission to study Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto will utilize the NASA-built, Solar System Exploration Program-funded Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) and parts of the Particle Environment Package (PEP) and Radar for Icy Moons Exploration (RIME) instruments.
Missions:
LICIACube, Deployed 2022, Operational – impact technology demonstration on 65803 Didymos’s satellite.
JUICE, launched 2023, Operational – astrobiology study of Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
Europa Clipper, launching 2024, future – subsurface ocean and habitability study of Europa.
Links:
Solar System Exploration program
Planetary Missions Program Office
NASA Planetary Missions Program
JUpiter ICy moons Explorer
Message in a Bottle

Internationaal ruimtestation / International Space Station (ISS)
1998-11-20 - 2031-01-31
Het internationaal ruimtestation (afgekort ISS naar de Engelse naam International Space Station) is een ruimtestation dat in een baan om de Aarde draait en door verschillende landen wordt gebouwd, bemenst en bekostigd.
Op 20 november 1998 werd de eerste module gelanceerd en sinds 2 november 2000 is het station permanent bewoond. Gedurende de eerste twee decennia van de 21e eeuw is het station continu uitgebreid. In maart 2009 bevond het ruimtestation zich op een hoogte van ongeveer 355 km. Alle reeds geplaatste modules samen hebben een massa van 262,2 ton en een inhoud van ongeveer 574 m³. De maximale maten zijn 52 m lang (van Zvezda tot Harmony/PMA-2), 92,7 meter breed (van S6 tot P6) en 27,4 m hoog. De zonnepanelen hebben een maximale spanwijdte van 73,2 meter. De bemanning bestaat uit drie vaste bemanningsleden. Elke dag daalt het vaartuig ongeveer honderd meter, waardoor continu moet worden gecorrigeerd. De gemiddelde snelheid bedraagt 27 744 km/h (7700 m/s). In ongeveer 91,2 minuten draait het ISS om de Aarde (de baanlengte is ongeveer 42 000 km). Overdag is de temperatuur aan boord van de woon- en werkvertrekken 26,9 °C.
In januari 2022 werd bekendgemaakt dat de regering Biden-Harris het doorgaan tot in 2031 van de activiteiten van het ruimtestation ISS zal blijven ondersteunen. Het ruimtestation zal dan uit zijn baan om de Aarde worden gehaald om het gecontroleerd neer te kunnen laten storten in de South Pacific Oceanic Uninhabited Area, bij Point Nemo. Als belangrijkste reden wordt het tegengaan van de vorming van ruimteschroot genoemd. Op 30 april 2022 maakte Roskosmos bekend zich in 2024 terug te trekken uit het ISS. Ze verlengen hun aandeel niet naar aanleiding van de sancties tegen Rusland en een lijst Russische individuen die door westerse landen werden opgelegd na de invasie van Rusland in Oekraïne. Op 26 juli 2022 werd de terugtrekking per 2024 bevestigd door Borisov, de nieuwe directeur van Roskosmos.
Al enkele jaren van tevoren zal begonnen worden de hoogte door afremmen geleidelijk te verminderen in plaats van deze door boosts op peil te houden. Er plannen om het ISS in de resterende tijd te commercialiseren. NASA heeft het Amerikaanse deel van het ISS in 2019 opengesteld voor betalende ruimtetoeristen en commerciële ruimtevaarders. Daarvoor worden ook nieuwe commerciële modules toegevoegd, zoals die van Axiom Space, die tezijnertijd zelfstandig verder gaan. Commerciële klanten moeten zelf de reis naar het ISS organiseren.
Links:
Website van het Amerikaanse ruimtelabaratorium
ISS op de website van NASA
ISS op de website van ESA
ISS rondleiding met Sunita Williams
Space Flight Destroys Your Red Blood Cells / Hemolysis contributes to anemia during long-duration space flight – publication
The Russia-Ukraine War Has Put Many Space Missions at Risk | Putin | World War 3 | NATO / Has Putin Doomed The International Space Station?
International Space Station – afspeellijst
Starlab Space Station
Internationaal ruimtestation 25 jaar / International Space Station (ISS) 25 years
Will the International Space Station’s 2031 death dive cause pollution problems?

New Frontiers-programma / New Frontiers Program
2006-01-19 - 2037-01-19
Het New Frontiers-programma is een serie onbemande ruimtemissies die ondernomen worden door de Amerikaanse ruimtevaartorganisatie NASA.
Deze missies hebben als doel om verschillende planeten in het zonnestelsel te onderzoeken. Alleen de planeet Mars is hiervan uitgesloten, hiervoor was het Mars Scout Program in het leven geroepen. Kosten technisch zitten de missies van dit programma tussen die van het goedkopere Discoveryprogramma en die van het duurste programma Flagship in. Er zijn onder het New Frontiers-programma drie Missies onderweg of zeker van uitvoering:

New Horizons: een ruimtesonde die op 19 januari 2006 gelanceerd werd om onderzoek te doen naar de dwergplaneet Pluto en de Kuipergordel. New Horizons vloog in de zomer van 2015 langs Pluto en nam een groot aantal foto’s dat in het jaar daarop naar de aarde werd verzonden. Op 1 januari 2019 werd een flyby van kuipergordelobject Arrokoth uitgevoerd.
Juno-ruimtesonde: deze werd op vrijdag 5 augustus 2011 gelanceerd en doet sinds juli 2016 onderzoek naar de planeet Jupiter.
OSIRIS-REx: een ruimtesonde waarvan de lancering 8 september 2016 plaatsvond. OSIRIS-REx heeft planetoïde (101955) Bennu bestudeerd en in 2020 regoliet van de planetoïde verzameld om naar de aarde brengen (sample return-missie). De terugkeermodule met regoliet zal in 2023 landen.
Dragonfly: Op 27 juni 2019 werd een missie naar Titan aangekondigd. Dragonfly is een autonoom vliegende nucleaire drone die in 2026 wordt gelanceerd om vanaf 2034 op Titan foto’s te maken en metingen te uit te voeren.

Voor een vierde New Frontiers-missie waren er in 2013 een zestal missies of doelen voorgesteld:

Venus In-Situ Explorer: deze wordt op z’n vroegst in 2022 gelanceerd en zal na een landing op de planeet Venus onderzoek doen naar de samenstelling van de bodem.
Ocean exploratie op de manen Titan en/of Enceladus.
Een sondelanding en “sample return-missie” naar het Zuidpool-Aitken-bekken van de Maan..
Een missie waarbij een sonde de atmosfeer van Saturnus binnengaat.
Een ruimtesonde die de Trojanen van Jupiter bezoekt en onderzoekt.
Een “sample return-missie” van de kern van een komeet.

OSIRIS-REx:
De Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer oftewel OSIRIS-REx is de derde ruimtesonde van NASA‘s New Frontiers-programma. Deze werd gelanceerd op 8 september 2016, en heeft op 3 december 2018 een baan rond de planetoïde (101955) Bennu bereikt. Ze is na een periode van bijna twee jaar bestudering op 20 oktober 2020 om 22:13 UTC erop geland om er materiaal af te blazen en op te vangen en heeft dat op 24 september 2023 terug naar aarde gebracht. Met wetenschappelijk onderzoek van het buitenaards materiaal wil men meer te weten te komen van het ontstaan van ons zonnestelsel en van het leven op aarde. Na het loskoppelen van de terugkeermodule in de nabijheid van de Aarde zal de ruimtesonde verder gaan als OSIRIS-APEX en de planetoïde Apophis bezoeken. Deze nieuwe missie werd op 25 april 2022 bekendgemaakt. In 2029 zal Apophis vlak langs de Aarde scheren. Gedurende een periode van 18 maanden rond die passage zal de planetoïde en de invloed van de Aarde erop worden bestudeerd.
Links:
New Frontiers Program website
Of Titan and Methane
OSIRIS-REx mission – launch
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return capsule landing / To Bennu and Back: Journey’s End
New Horizons / NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington decided that it was best to extend operations for New Horizons
Agenda – Asteroid (101955) Bennu in the laboratory: Properties of the sample collected by OSIRIS-REx – publication
NASA’s Juno Is Getting Ever Closer to Jupiter’s Moon Io

ESA Cosmic Vision
2015-01-01 - 2025-12-31
Cosmic Vision is the third campaign of space science and space exploration missions in the Science Programme of the European Space Agency (ESA).
Formulated in 2005 as Cosmic Vision: Space Science for Europe 2015–2025, the campaign succeeded the Horizon 2000 Plus campaign and envisioned a number of missions in the fields of astronomy and solar system exploration beyond 2015. Ten missions across four funding categories are planned to be launched under Cosmic Vision, with the first being CHEOPS in December 2019. A mission to the Galilean moons (JUICE), the first deep space mission with an opportunistic target (Comet Interceptor), and one of the first gravitational-wave space observatories (LISA), are planned for launch as part of the Cosmic Vision campaign.
Links:
Cosmic Vision
ESA Cosmic Vision
Solar Orbiter / Solar Orbiter (ESA) / Solar Orbiter (YouTube playlist)
Strange alien planet has weird orbit and scorching temperatures

Comet Interceptor approved for construction

Horizon 2000 Plus – GAIA / ESA GAIA
Siena Galaxy Atlas 2020
Gaia FPR papers / Gaia Data Release Scenario
Cosmic Vision : Euclid space telescope / Euclides

ExoMars
2016-03-14 - 2036-03-26
ExoMars (Exobiology on Mars) is an astrobiology programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
The goals of ExoMars are to search for signs of past life on Mars, investigate how the Martian water and geochemical environment varies, investigate atmospheric trace gases and their sources and by doing so demonstrate the technologies for a future Mars sample-return mission. The first part of the programme is a mission launched in 2016 that placed the Trace Gas Orbiter into Mars orbit and released the Schiaparelli EDM lander. The orbiter is operational but the lander crashed on the planet’s surface. The second part of the programme was planned to launch in July 2020, when the Kazachok lander would have delivered the Rosalind Franklin rover on the surface, supporting a science mission that was expected to last into 2022 or beyond. On 12 March 2020, it was announced that the second mission was being delayed to 2022 as a result of problems with the parachutes, which could not be resolved in time for the launch window.
The Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and a test stationary lander called Schiaparelli were launched on 14 March 2016. TGO entered Mars orbit on 19 October 2016 and proceeded to map the sources of methane (CH4) and other trace gases present in the Martian atmosphere that could be evidence for possible biological or geological activity. The TGO features four instruments and will also act as a communications relay satellite. The Schiaparelli experimental lander separated from TGO on 16 October and was maneuvered to land in Meridiani Planum, but it crashed on the surface of Mars. The landing was designed to test new key technologies to safely deliver the subsequent rover mission.
In June 2023, a Roscosmos lander named Kazachok (refers to “little Cossack” as well as a folk dance), was due to deliver the ESA Rosalind Franklin rover to the Martian surface. The rover would also include some Roscosmos built instruments. The second mission operations and communications would be led by ALTEC‘s Rover Control Centre in Italy. The ExoMars 2022 mission was planned for launch during a twelve-day launch window starting on 20 September 2022, and scheduled to land on Mars on 10 June 2023. It would have included a German-built cruise stage and Russian descent module. On 28 February 2022, the ESA announced that, as a result of sanctions related to the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis, a 2022 launch is “very unlikely.” The next launch window will open in late 2024.
Links:
ExoMars
ExoMars Space Research Institute of Russian Academy of Science site
The ExoMars project at RussianSpaceWeb.com
Arrival at Mars (The New York Times; 16 October 2016)
Animated video of ExoMars

Parker Solar Probe
2018-08-12 - 2025-08-12
De Parker Solar Probe, eerder bekend als Solar Probe+ of Solar Probe Plus, is een Amerikaanse missie naar de Zon door een onbemand ruimtevaartuig.

Deze ruimtesonde werd op 12 augustus 2018 in opdracht van NASA door United Launch Alliance gelanceerd, en zal in de loop van zeven jaar 24 maal langs de Zon vliegen, deels dichterbij dan ooit gedaan is, en daarbij de corona van de Zon observeren. De Parker Solar Probe is onderdeel van het HELEX (Heliophysics Explorers)-onderzoeksprogramma, samen met de Solar Orbiter van de Europese Ruimtevaartorganisatie die naar verwachting in 2019 gelanceerd zal worden. De missie werd eerder “Solar Probe Plus” genoemd omdat het ontwerp is gebaseerd op een eerder ontwerp uit 2005 dat kortweg “Solar Probe” heette. Op 31 mei 2017 werd de ruimtesonde hernoemd naar Eugene Parker, een astrofysicus van de Universiteit van Chicago.
Links:
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe

NASA spacecraft hopes to catch a solar flare as it zips past the sun
International SUNday 2018
Solar cycle 25
Zon

Solar cycle 25
2019-12-01 - 2029-12-01
Solar cycle 25 is a solar cycle pattern of sunspot activity, it began in December 2019, with a smoothed minimum sunspot number of 1.8 and is expected to continue until about 2030.
Links:
“Solar Cycle Prediction”. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
“Solar Cycle Progression”. NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
“Solar Cycle Prediction”. Solar Cycle Science
NOAA / NWS Space Weather Prediction Center

GEOS imager

Zon

Giant solar eruption seen by Solar Orbiter / Gigantische Eruption auf der Sonne – Mindestens 3.5 Millionen Kilometer Ausdehnung

Minor R1 radio blackout in progress (≥M1 – current: M1.58)

Moderate M2.3 flare from sunspot region 12964

Solar Cycle 25: The Overachiever

Solar cycle: What is it and why does it matter?
Gigantische Struktur auf der Sonne entstanden – Steht ein Sonnensturm bevor?
Parker Solar Probe
Zonnekijkdag
Solar Cycle 25 Progression
Coronal hole faces Earth
Solar Cycle 25 – NASA
Sunspot Detectives – Zooniverse
Solar maximum: What is it and when will it occur?
NOAA Forecasts Severe Solar Storm; Media Availability Scheduled for Friday, May 10 [2024]
NASA, NOAA Announce That the Sun Has Reached the Solar Maximum Period
Solar Cycle 25 – NASA Science
Agenda – Geomagnetic Storm G4 (Severe)
X-class Flare Activity Observed – 18 January 2026

Solar Orbiter
2020-02-10 - 2027-02-10
De Solar Orbiter (SOLO) is een ruimtemissie van de Europese Ruimtevaartorganisatie (ESA) en de Amerikaanse Ruimtevaartorganisatie (NASA), het doel is om een observatiesatelliet in een baan rond de Zon te brengen.
De onbemande ruimtesonde werd op 10 februari 2020, om 4:03 (UTC) met een Atlas V-411-raket vanaf lanceercomplex SLC-41 op Cape Canaveral AFS gelanceerd. Vanaf een elliptische baan observeert de Solar Orbiter de Zon op dichte afstand, tot maar 0,22 AU (ongeveer een vijfde van de afstand tussen de zon en de Aarde), ofwel 48 keer de straal van de Zon. Dit maakt het mogelijk om foto’s te nemen van de zon op hogere resolutie dan ooit tevoren. Vooral de poolregio’s van de Zon zijn met de satelliet veel beter te zien dan vanaf de Aarde. Naast het fotograferen, observeren en beter in kaart brengen van de Zon doet de ruimtesonde ook onderzoek naar de heliosfeer, het gebied rond de Zon waar de zonnewind overheerst. De ruimtesonde wordt voortgedreven door een ionenmotor (Solar Electric Primary Propulsion). Deze zet met behulp van zonnepanelen zonlicht om in elektriciteit. Hiermee worden gasatomen elektrisch geladen. Als deze het ruimtevaartuig verlaten stuwen ze door hun reactiekracht het ruimtevaartuig voort. Dit betrekkelijk nieuwe type aandrijving werd met succes getest door de SMART-1, een observatiesatelliet van ESA die van 2003 tot 2006 in een baan rond de Maan draaide. De Solar Orbiter is de opvolger van twee eerdere ruimtesondes naar de Zon, de Ulysses (gelanceerd in 1990) en de SOHO (gelanceerd in 1995). Het oorspronkelijke besluit tot de Solar Orbiter-missie werd in 2001 genomen.[2] Na enkele jaren van voorbereidend onderzoek kreeg het programma in 2007 het groene licht voor de formele definitiefase. De Solar Orbiter is onderdeel van het HELEX (Heliophysics Explorers)-onderzoeksprogramma, samen met de Parker Solar Probe van NASA die in augustus 2018 gelanceerd is en de Zon nog veel dichter benadert dan de Solar Orbiter, tot maar 9 keer de straal van de Zon. NASA werkt ook mee aan de Solar Orbiter: de organisatie was verantwoordelijk voor de boeking van de Atlas V-lanceerraket en leverde daarnaast ook instrumenten.
Why Solar Orbiter is angling towards the Sun’s poles, klik op afbeelding voor vergroting of hier voor info

Links:
Solar Orbiter
Solar Orbiter gets world-first views of the Sun’s poles

#UnfoldTheUniverse #JWST James Webb Space Telescope / Henrietta Leavitt Teleskop
2021-12-25 13:20 - 2031-12-25 17:00 (Europe/Amsterdam)
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST or “Webb” / called Henrietta Leavitt Teleskop by german scientists Harald Lesch and Josef M. Gaßner) is a space telescope to succeed the Hubble Space Telescope as NASA‘s flagship astrophysics mission.
The JWST will provide improved infrared resolution and sensitivity over Hubble, and will enable a broad range of investigations across the fields of astronomy and cosmology, including observing some of the most distant events and objects in the universe, such as the formation of the first galaxies. The primary mirror of the JWST, the Optical Telescope Element, is composed of eighteen 1.32 metres hexagonal mirror segments made of gold-plated beryllium which combine to create a 6.5 metres diameter mirror that is considerably larger than the Hubble’s 2.4 metres mirror. Unlike the Hubble, which observes in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared (0.1 to 1 μm) spectra, the JWST will observe in a lower frequency range, from long-wavelength visible light through mid-infrared (0.6 to 28.3 μm), which will allow it to observe high redshift objects that are too old and too distant for the Hubble to observe.
The telescope must be kept very cold in order to observe in the infrared without interference, so it will be deployed in space near the Earth–Sun L2 Lagrangian point, and a large sunshield made of silicon-coated and aluminium-coated Kapton will keep its mirror and instruments below 50 Kelvin (K). The JWST is being developed by NASA — with significant contributions from the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency — and is named for James E. Webb, who was the administrator of NASA from 1961 to 1968 and played an integral role in the Apollo program. The prime contractor is Northrop Grumman. Development began in 1996 for a launch that was initially planned for 2007 and a 500-million-dollar budget, but the project has had numerous delays and cost overruns, and underwent a major redesign in 2005. The JWST’s construction was completed in late 2016, after which its extensive testing phase began. The launch date was Dec. 25, 2021.

Links:
James Webb Space Telescope
James Webb Space Telescope -ESA
Webb Home
Webb Space Telescope
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope – Flickr
JADES will go deeper than the Hubble Deep Fields
James Webb Space Telescope / Henrietta Leavitt Teleskop – playlist
NASA’s Webb In Full Focus, Ready for Instrument Commissioning
Nieuwe ruimtetelescoop kijkt naar het begin van de tijd – of net ietsje later
Webb is now orbiting L2
Photons Received: Webb Sees Its First Star – 18 Times
NASA emails reveal internal discussions over calls to rename James Webb Space Telescope: report
First Images From NASA’s Webb Space Telescope Coming Soon
No, the Big Bang theory is not ‘broken.’ Here’s how we know
Webb Looks for Fomalhaut’s Asteroid Belt and Finds Much More
James Webb spot monsterachtige waterpluim op Enceladus
Webb Space Telescope’s First Year of Science Celebration
Webb Discovers Methane, Carbon Dioxide in Atmosphere of K2-18 b
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (Flickr)
The (Unofficial) JWST Exoplanet Dashboard
JWST facing potential cuts to its operational budget
Strongest hints yet of biological activity outside the solar system / New Constraints on DMS and DMDS in the Atmosphere of K2-18 b from JWST MIRI – publication

Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission
2022-12-16 - 2025-12-16
The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission is a satellite altimeter jointly developed and operated by NASA and CNES, the French space agency, in partnership with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and UK Space Agency (UKSA).
The objectives of the mission are to make the first global survey of the Earth’s surface water, to observe the fine details of the ocean surface topography, and to measure how terrestrial surface water bodies change over time. While past satellite missions like the Jason series altimeters (TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, Jason-2, Jason-3) have provided variation in river and lake water surface elevations at select locations, SWOT will provide the first truly global observations of changing water levels, stream slopes, and inundation extents in rivers, lakes, and floodplains. In the world’s oceans, SWOT will observe ocean circulation at unprecedented scales of 15–25 km (9.3–15.5 mi), approximately an order of magnitude finer than current satellites. Because it uses wide-swath altimetry technology, SWOT will almost completely observe the world’s oceans and freshwater bodies with repeated high-resolution elevation measurements, allowing observations of variations.
Links:
Surface Water and Ocean Topography at NASA.gov
Ocean Surface Topography from Space at NASA.gov
Cnes project Library at CNES.fr
AVISO+ portal for SWOT

JUpiter ICy moons Explorer
2023-04-13 14:15 - 2035-12-13 17:00
The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) is an interplanetary spacecraft in development by the European Space Agency (ESA) with Airbus Defence and Space as the main contractor.
The mission will study three of Jupiter‘s Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa, all of which are thought to have significant bodies of liquid water beneath their surfaces, making them potentially habitable environments. The mission is not focused on volcanically active Io, a non-icy moon. The spacecraft launched on 14 April 2023 at 12:14 UTC and will reach Jupiter in July 2031 after four gravity assists and eight years of travel. In December 2034, the spacecraft will enter orbit around Ganymede for its close up science mission, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit a moon other than the Moon of Earth. The selection of this mission for the L1 launch slot of ESA’s Cosmic Vision science programme was announced on 2 May 2012. Its period of operations will overlap with NASA‘s Europa Clipper mission, launching in 2024.

NASA’s Juno Is Getting Ever Closer to Jupiter’s Moon Io Links:
ESA’s JUICE
Juice
Agenda – JUpiter ICy moons Explorer : launch / Agenda – JUpiter ICy moons Explorer : launch 2nd attempt
Juice pre-launch press briefing
How to follow the Juice launch live

Cosmic Vision : Euclid space telescope / Euclides
2023-07-01 17:11 - 2029-07-01 17:11
Euclid is a visible to near-infrared space telescope developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Euclid Consortium, the objective of the Euclid mission is to better understand dark energy and dark matter by accurately measuring the acceleration of the universe.
To achieve this, the Korsch-type telescope will measure the shapes of galaxies at varying distances from Earth and investigate the relationship between distance and redshift. Dark energy is generally accepted as contributing to the increased acceleration of the expanding universe, so understanding this relationship will help to refine how physicists and astrophysicists understand it. Euclid’s mission advances and complements ESA’s Planck telescope (2009 to 2013). The mission is named after the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid. Euclid is a medium-class (“M-class”) mission and is part of the Cosmic Vision campaign of ESA’s Science Programme. This class of missions have an ESA budget cap at around €500 million. Euclid was chosen in October 2011 together with Solar Orbiter, out of several competing missions. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the launch was scheduled on a Soyuz ST-B in 2023; following the invasion, Euclid will instead be launched on a Falcon 9 Block 5 on 1 July 2023.
Links:
Euclid
How to follow the Euclid launch live
Ruimtetelescoop Euclid wil uitvinden waar het heelal van gemaakt is
Euclid test images tease of riches to come
Euclid ‘dark universe’ telescope team will unveil new full-color images today (May 23)
Zoom into the first page of ESA Euclid’s great cosmic atlas
Space Warps – ESA Euclid / Euclid Galaxy Zoo – help us classify the shapes of galaxies

Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem
2024-02-08 07:33 - 2027-02-08 17:00
Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) is a NASA Earth-observing satellite mission that will continue and advance observations of global ocean color, biogeochemistry, and ecology, as well as the carbon cycle, aerosols and clouds.
PACE will be used to identify the extent and duration of phytoplankton blooms and improve understanding of air quality. These and other uses of PACE data will benefit the economy and society, especially sectors that rely on water quality, fisheries and food security. After being proposed for cancellation under President Trump’s FY 2018 budget, it was restored by Congress. The PACE project is managed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The main instrument and bus were designed and built at Goddard Space Flight Center. On 4 February 2020, NASA announced the selection of SpaceX to launch PACE on a Falcon 9, at a total cost to NASA of US$80.4 million, including the launch service and other mission-related costs. The total cost of the mission is $964 million, which includes spacecraft construction, launch, and operations. PACE successfully launched on 8 February 2024 at 07:33.
Links:
PACE

GOES-19
2024-06-25 23:26 - 2039-10-25 00:00
GOES-19 (designated GOES-U prior to reaching geostationary orbit) is a weather satellite, the fourth and last of the GOES-R series of satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The GOES-R series will extend the availability of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system until 2036. The satellite is built by Lockheed Martin, based on the A2100 platform. The satellite was successfully launched into space atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on 25 June 2024 at 21:26 UTC from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United States. The redesign of the loop heat pipe to prevent an anomaly, as seen in GOES-17, is not expected to delay the launch as it did with GOES-T. GOES-U also carries a copy of the Naval Research Laboratory‘s Compact CORonagraph (CCOR) instrument which, along with the CCOR planned for Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1), will allow continued monitoring of solar wind after the retirement of the NASA–ESA SOHO satellite in 2025. GOES-U has a dry mass of 2,925 kg and a fueled mass of 5,000 kg.
Links:
GEOS – R

GOES-U Mission Overview
Satellite: GOES-19
Watch sun erupt in 1st images from NOAA’s groundbreaking new satellite (photos)

Proba-3 Missie / Proba-3 Mission
2024-09-01 - 2029-09-01
By ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo
Proba-3 zijn twee minisatellieten van de Europese Ruimtevaartorganisatie (ESA), ze zullen samen gelanceerd worden in een langgerekte ellipsvormige baan met een perigeum van 600 km en apogeum van 60.000 km.
Proba-3 wordt gerealiseerd door een consortium van vijftien ESA-lidstaten met als hoofdaannemer het Spaanse SENER, het Belgische Centre Spatial uit Luik als hoofdaannemer voor de coronagraaf en het Belgische Redwire Space voor assemblage en testen. Tijdens de missie zullen twee satellieten in formatie vliegen en samen een 144 meter lange zonnecoronagraaf vormen om de corona van de zon bij de zonnerand te bestuderen. Eén ruimtevaartuig zal de optische telescoop dragen en het tweede ruimtevaartuig zal een deel van de coronagraaf dragen. Tevens worden tijdens deze missie metingen uitgevoerd voor de positionering van twee ruimtevaartuigen.
Links:
Proba-3 Mission

Hera space mission
2024-10-07 16:52 - 2026-12-31 23:59
Hera is a space mission in development at the European Space Agency in its Space Safety program, its primary objective is to study the Didymos binary asteroid system that was impacted by DART and contribute to validation of the kinetic impact method to deviate a near-Earth asteroid in a colliding trajectory with Earth.
It will measure the size and the morphology of the crater created by and momentum transferred by an artificial projectile impacting an asteroid, which will allow measuring the efficiency of the deflection produced by the impact. It will also analyze the expanding debris cloud caused by the impact. The spacecraft was launched on 7 October 2024 and will also study the results of DART impactor, four years after NASA’s mission. DART impacted the asteroid Dimorphos, the smaller of two objects forming the binary asteroid 65803 Didymos, on 27 September 2022. Hera has a mass of 1128 kilograms and carries a payload of cameras, an altimeter, and a spectrometer. It will also carry two nano-satellite CubeSats, called Milani and Juventas. Hera will fully characterise the composition and physical properties of the binary asteroid system including, for the first time, the sub-surface and internal structures. It will also perform technological demonstrations linked to operations in the vicinity of a small body and the deployment and the communication with CubeSats in interplanetary space.
Hera’s launch kit, click picture to read
Links:
ESA Hera
Thermophysical Modelling of Eclipse and Occultation Events in Binary Asteroid Systems
Planetary defence mission Hera heading for deflected asteroid
SpaceX rocket launches Europe’s Hera planetary defense probe to visit asteroid smacked by NASA

NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission
2024-10-14 12:06 - 2030-10-14 23:59
Europa Clipper (previously known as Europa Multiple Flyby Mission) is a space probe in development by NASA.
Planned for launch aboard a Falcon Heavy in October 2024 (the 21-day launch window period opens on October 10, 2024), the spacecraft is being developed to study the Galilean moon Europa through a series of flybys while in orbit around Jupiter, it is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission. This mission is a scheduled flight of the Planetary Science Division, designated a Large Strategic Science Mission, and funded under the Planetary Missions Program Office‘s Solar System Exploration program as its second flight. It is also supported by the new Ocean Worlds Exploration Program. Europa Clipper will perform follow-up studies to those made by the Galileo spacecraft during its eight years (1995 – 2003) in Jupiter orbit, which indicated the existence of a subsurface ocean underneath Europa’s ice crust. Plans to send a spacecraft to Europa were initially conceived with projects such as Europa Orbiter and Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, in which a spacecraft would be injected into orbit around Europa. However, due to the adverse effects of radiation from Jupiter’s magnetosphere in Europa orbit, it was decided that it would be safer to inject a spacecraft into an elliptical orbit around Jupiter and make 44 close flybys of the moon instead. The mission began as a joint investigation between the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), and will be built with a scientific payload of nine instruments contributed by JPL, APL, Southwest Research Institute, University of Texas at Austin, Arizona State University and University of Colorado Boulder. The upcoming mission complements ESA‘s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer launched in 2023, which will fly-by Europa twice and Callisto multiple times before moving into orbit around Ganymede. The spacecraft will use gravity assists from Mars in February 2025 and Earth in December 2026, before arriving at Europa in April 2030. NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch and launch activities for Europa Clipper, the agency’s mission to explore Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. NASA now is targeting launch no earlier than 18:06 CEST, Monday, Oct. 14, on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Links:
NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission
Europa Clipper
The search for life on Jupiter’s moon Europa – the Europa Clipper Mission
8 Things to Know About NASA’s Mission to an Ocean Moon of Jupiter
NASA, SpaceX Secure Europa Clipper Ahead of Hurricane (Milton)

#Hubble35 Hubble Telescope – 35th Anniversary Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge
2025-01-01 - 2025-12-31
Hubble is working with The Astronomical League to coordinate the “Hubble’s Night Sky Observing Challenge” program, providing successful observers with recognition of their achievements.
The challenge includes two levels and observers do not need to be an Astronomical League member to participate. Do you have a telescope? Would you like to see some of the same night sky objects from the ground that Hubble has from space? You are invited to commemorate Hubble’s 35th anniversary by accepting our year-long stargazing challenge. New challenge objects will be featured weekly. On a clear night, find a safe location with a dark sky away from bright lights, point your telescope skyward, and with the help of star and finder charts, gaze upon some of the same iconic nebulae and galaxies Hubble has observed. How many of them can you find? For amateur astronomy clubs, science centers, museums, and other astronomy enthusiasts, use these monthly lists as a guide to conduct star parties that provide an opportunity for the public to see some amazing astronomical objects in person.
Links:
Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge

Save the Observatory Science Centre Herstmonceux - petition
2025-01-10 - 2026-12-31
The Observatory Science Centre is an educational charity which has called the Grade II listed, former home of the Royal Greenwich Observatory at Herstmonceux, East Sussex, home for the last 30 years.
The Canadian landlords, Queen’s University, who also own Herstmonceux Castle, are not renewing the Science Centre’s lease, so come the end of the 2026 season the Science Centre will be homeless. Over the years the science centre have worked tirelessly to fund and restore the site and the telescopes back to their former glory. The centre is a major venue for exhibitions, lectures and educational programmes. The renovated telescopes provide a unique setting for the general public, schools, colleges, and brownie and scout groups to learn about science, space and the world around them. Whilst the Science Centre is in search for a new site to continue operations beyond 2026, they should not have to leave the Observatory site at all and the historic site should be preserved for future generations as a great educational tool of significant historical importance. Please sign this petition for someone to step in and prevent the Science Centre from having to leave the Observatory site.
Links:
Save the Observatory Science Centre Herstmonceux
Herstmonceux Observatory Campaign Group

#GAM2025 Global Astronomy Month 2025
2025-04-01 - 2025-04-30
Inspired by the 100 hours of astronomy, this annual offshoot began upon the inception of Astronomers Without Borders and remains one of its flagship programs.
A mix of various programs ranging from Astro Arts to Observational Programs, this festival runs the whole month of April and features partners that creates a larger community of astronomy enthusiasts that span the globe.
Links:
Global Astronomy Month 2025

Biomass : ESA's forest mission
2025-04-29 - 2030-04-29
Biomass is an Earth observing satellite planned for launch by the European Space Agency (ESA) on 29 April 2025 from Kourou, French Guiana on a Vega C launch vehicle, the mission will provide the first comprehensive measurements of global forest biomass.
It is meant to last for five years, monitoring at least eight growth cycles in the world’s forests. The Biomass satellite is part of ESA’s Living Planet Programme, which consists of Earth observation missions. Its initial launch date was set to 2020, but that has since been delayed to 2025. The entire cost of the mission was placed at around 400 million euros. The main scientific instrument aboard Biomass will be a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) operating at 435 MHz. The satellite will measure 10 x 12 x 20m, weigh around 1.2 tonnes and it is set to orbit the Earth at an altitude of 666 km. All devices for assembly of the satellite structure, including vertical transport equipment, assembly and disassembly of satellite panels, assembly and disassembly of the Synthetic Aperture Radar are done by the Spanish company SENER.
Links:
Biomass – ESA
#ForestDay #IntlForestDay Day of Forests / Dag van het Bos 2025 (TV FAO webcast)

Cosmos 482 lander probe is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere
2025-05-07 - 2025-05-13
The orbit of the Kosmos 482 (Russian: Космос 482 meaning Cosmos 482) lander probe is decaying and it is expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere some time from May 9 to May 10, 2025, centered on roughly May 10 at 09:30 (07:30 UTC).
Because the probe was designed to withstand entry into the Venus atmosphere, it is possible the probe (or parts of it) will survive reentry at Earth and reach the surface. Kosmos 482, launched March 31, 1972, at 04:02:33 UTC, was an attempted Venus probe which failed to escape low Earth orbit. Its landing module, which weighs 495 kilograms, is highly likely to reach the surface of Earth in one piece as it was designed to withstand 300 G’s of acceleration and 100 atmospheres of pressure. Beginning in 1962, the name Kosmos was given to Soviet spacecraft which remained in Earth orbit, regardless of whether that was their intended final destination. The designation of this mission as an intended planetary probe is based on evidence from Soviet and non-Soviet sources and historical documents. Typically Soviet planetary missions were initially put into an Earth parking orbit as a launch platform with a rocket engine and attached probe. The probes were then launched toward their targets with an engine burn with a duration of roughly four minutes. If the engine misfired or the burn was not completed, the probes would be left in Earth orbit and given a Kosmos designation. Kosmos 482 was launched by a Molniya booster on March 31, 1972, four days after the Venera 8 atmospheric probe and may have been similar in design and mission plan. After achieving an Earth parking orbit, the spacecraft made an apparent attempt to launch into a Venus transfer trajectory. It separated into four pieces, two of which remained in low Earth orbit and decayed within 48 hours into south New Zealand and two pieces (presumably the payload and detached engine unit) went into a higher 210 km × 9,800 km, 52 deg inclination orbit.
An incorrectly set timer caused the Blok L stage to cut off prematurely, preventing the probe from escaping Earth orbit. The first of these pieces, four red-hot 13.6-kilogram titanium alloy spheres, with a diameter of 38 centimetres, landed within a 16-kilometre (10 mi) radius of each other just outside Ashburton, New Zealand at 1:00 AM on April 3, 1972. The spheres scorched holes in crops and made deep indentations in the soil, but no one was injured. A similarly shaped object was discovered near Eiffelton, New Zealand, in 1978. Space law required that the space junk be returned to its national owner, but the Soviets denied knowledge or ownership of the satellite. Ownership therefore fell to the farmer upon whose property the satellite fell. The pieces were thoroughly analyzed by New Zealand scientists which determined that they were Soviet in origin because of manufacturing marks and the high-tech welding of the titanium. The scientists concluded that they were probably gas pressure vessels of a kind used in the launching rocket for a satellite or space vehicle and had decayed in the atmosphere. The last remaining piece in orbit, the descent craft, reentered on 10 May, somewhere between 51.95 degrees north or south latitude. As of 10 May 2025, the European Space Agency reported that the descent craft was not detected by radar during a predicted pass over Germany at 07:32 UTC (09:32 CEST). Based on this, ESA concluded that reentry most likely already occurred earlier that morning. Later that day, the Russian space agency Roscosmos stated that the lander had harmlessly impacted the eastern Indian Ocean at 06:24 UTC west of Jakarta, Indonesia. The impact time and location given by Roscosmos may not be fully accurate.
Links:
Cosmos 482 – NASA NSSDCA Master Catalog
Old Soviet spacecraft to fall to Earth in early May 2025
Cosmos 482 landing module – Zichtbare passages
Objekt Live Tracking
More than 50 years after trying to reach Venus, a failed Soviet spacecraft is about to return to Earth
Kosmos 482 Descent Craft reentry forecasts

The Sky at Night – Secrets of the Red Planet (TV BBC Four)
2025-05-12 23:00 - 23:29
The Sky at Night is a monthly documentary television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC.
The show had the same permanent presenter, Patrick Moore, from its first broadcast on 24 April 1957 until 7 January 2013. The latter date was a posthumous broadcast, which followed Moore’s death on 9 December 2012. This made it the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history. Many early episodes are missing, either because the tapes were wiped, thrown out, or because the episode was broadcast live and never recorded in the first place. Beginning with the 3 February 2013 edition, the show was co-presented by Lucie Green and Chris Lintott. Since December 2013 Maggie Aderin-Pocock has been a presenter. The programme’s opening and closing theme music is “At the Castle Gate”, from the incidental music to Pelléas et Mélisande, written in 1905 by Jean Sibelius, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham.
This episode:
The team explores what the latest research is revealing about Mars. Could life have once thrived on Mars? What mysterious force is moving large boulders across its dusty surface today? And will a return trip to our neighbouring planet ever be possible? In this exciting episode, we’re blasting off to uncover what the latest research is revealing about the Red Planet.
It’s been 60 years since Mariner 4 sent back the very first images of another world from space. Since then, a fleet of orbiters and rovers have been exploring Mars, uncovering a dramatic history that may not be so different from our own planet Earth.
In the water-rich landscapes of Scotland, Maggie Aderin-Pocock meets Lonneke Roelofs from Utrecht University, who’s been investigating the puzzling movement of enormous Martian boulders. On Earth, such motion would usually be connected with water – but on Mars, something entirely unexpected is at play. And in studying it, scientists have discovered a brand new geological phenomenon.
Maggie also visits the University of St Andrews to meet Dr Claire Cousins, who is looking at ancient Scottish rocks to help future Mars rovers identify and analyse similar formations – ones that might contain microscopic evidence that life once existed on the Red Planet.
While Maggie has journeyed north, Chris Lintott is on a virtual field trip to Mars itself with Professor Sanjeev Gupta at the Data Observatory at Imperial College London. Dr Gupta takes us on a tour with NASA’s Perseverance rover, and the incredible insights the modern rovers are providing about Mars’s history and surface today.
Meanwhile, guest presenter Dr Mekhi Dhesi talks with Dr James Lambert from Pulsar Fusion about the current propulsion options used for space travel. They discuss a possible alternative approach that could reduce travel times and costs, making a mission to Mars, and back again, one step closer. Return missions to Mars could deliver samples from the Martian surface back to Earth laboratories for in-depth analysis and maybe even permit human travel to Mars one day.
Pete Lawrence is at the Milton Keynes Astronomical Society to talk us through Mars observations and what other cosmic wonders to look out for in the lighter summer night skies.
Take a trip with us to discover the secrets of the Red Planet and how we are getting closer and closer to discovering evidence of life on Mars.
Links:
The Sky at Night

Babelsberger Sternennächte – Keine Dunkle Materie? MOND: Bullet Cluster, Rotationskurven & Zwerggalaxien | Marcel Pawlowski (TV webcast)
2025-05-15 19:15 - 20:15
Die Leibniz-Instituts für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP) Babelsberger Sternennächte finden online statt, in der Regel gibt es immer am 3. Donnerstag im Monat einen neuen Vortrag einer Wissenschaftlerin oder eines Wissenschaftlers des AIP, der ab 20 Uhr auf dem YouTube-Kanal von Urknall, Weltall und das Leben ausgestrahlt wird.
Kann die Gravitation wirklich anders funktionieren als gedacht? In diesem Beitrag spricht Marcel Pawlowski über MOND – die modifizierte Newtonsche Dynamik – als mögliche Alternative zur dunklen Materie. Er erklärt, warum es im Sonnensystem keine Hinweise auf dunkle Materie gibt, diskutiert die Herausforderungen durch Zwerggalaxien und beleuchtet den Bullet Cluster als Kontra-Argument. Auch neue Beobachtungen mit dem James-Webb-Teleskop und deren Einfluss auf das kosmologische Standardmodell werden eingeordnet.
Links:
Babelsberger Sternennächte
Babelsberger Sternennächte – playlist

#DrakeAwards2025
2025-05-20
The Drake Awards is a one-of-a-kind celebration at the SETI Institute. Together, we explore one of humanity’s biggest questions—are we alone?
This special hybrid event brings together a vibrant community of scientists, students, industry leaders, and space enthusiasts to celebrate groundbreaking discoveries and spark new ideas. Celebrates exemplary contributions to SETI or astrobiology through scientific research and space exploration. The award honors Frank Drake, whose Drake Equation first identified the specific factors necessary for the emergence of life in the Universe and the evolution of technological civilizations. This honor is given at the discretion of the Board of Trustees of the SETI Institute, based on nominations from its Science Advisory Board. The honoree is presented a cash award and trophy, and is invited to describe their research at a public ceremony. The Award was initially presented to Frank Drake in 2001.
The SETI Institute announced two recipients for the 2025 Drake Award: Dr. David Deamer (University of California, Santa Cruz) and Dr. John Baross (University of Washington, Seattle). Deamer and Baross are known for their pioneering work in astrobiology, focused on understanding the origins of life. However, each approaches the question from a different perspective. Deamer, a biomolecular engineer who focuses on membranes and RNA formation in shallow water environments, is recognized for advancing new theories on the origins and processes of life in the Universe. Baross, a microbiologist, focuses on hydrothermal vents and deep-sea chemistry as the cradle of life and has pioneered research on extremophiles to decipher life’s origins on Earth and beyond.
The Carl Sagan Center Director’s Award is awarded to an outstanding SETI Institute scientist who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in their field. This award honors the impact of SETI Institute former Trustee, Carl Sagan, whose innovation, invention, leadership and collaboration in space science continues to inspire scientists and the public alike. The SETI Institute will recognize Dr. Joseph Twicken, Senior Data Scientist at the SETI Institute, with its 2025 Carl Sagan Center (CSC) Director’s Award. Now serving as the Lead Data Scientist in the TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) Science Processing Center, Twicken’s contributions to the Kepler Mission included designing, implementing, operating, maintaining and documenting the mission’s Data Processing Pipeline. Kepler revolutionized exoplanet science, discovering and confirming nearly 3,000 exoplanets and fundamentally changing our understanding of planets beyond our solar system.
The SETI Institute, with its partners, particularly Berkeley SETI Research Center, have created an endowment, called SETI Forward Fund, that will support and encourage the next generation of SETI scientists. SETI Forward will increase pathways for undergraduates interested in careers pursuing SETI research. Gabriella Rizzo and Pritvik Sinhadc will be officially honored at this Drake Awards ceremony in 2025
Links:
Drake Awards
SETI Institute’s 2025 Drake Award Recognizes Origins Of Life Research

Very-wide-orbit planets from dynamical instabilities during the stellar birth cluster phase - publication
2025-05-27
There could be a ninth planet in our Solar System after all and it’s not Pluto; instead, it’s the theoretical Planet X, also called Planet Nine, a wide-orbit planet that would circle the Sun from far beyond Neptune and Pluto.
Planet X has been hypothesized for years, but how such a planet could have appeared in the outer Solar System has long stumped scientists. The study in Nature Astronomy ‘Very-wide-orbit planets from dynamical instabilities during the stellar birth cluster phase’ reveals a novel theory, however. The research suggests that wide-orbit planets (such as Planet X) arise in the early evolution of their planetary systems, when these systems are still inside their stars’ crowded birth clusters. In these tight, chaotic settings, stars and their planets are fighting for space, and sometimes planets are sent flying.
Links:
‘Pinballs in a cosmic arcade’: New study suggests how wide-orbit planets form, supporting existence of Planet Nine
Chaos in Our Solar System Could’ve Caused Planet X’s Theoretically Wide Orbit
