ESA pictures of the Sun's south pole

 

New pictures and video taken by the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter

will hopefully help scientists to better understand 

the reversal of the polar fields on the Sun.

Link to: Article by Pallab Ghosh and Gwndaf Hughes

Space Mining Not Dead

 In a recent article for BBC Future

Josh Sims focuses on a wide range of current views and developments

in the field of prospective mining of space resources

highlighting a whole gamut of potential and inevitable challenges.

Link to: "Metals from space: The rocky future of asteroid mining"

Alternative Link:

"Are we on the verge of mining metals from the asteroids above Earth?"

Japanese moon lander heading towards a lunar flyby

 

ispace have successfully set their RESILIENCE lunar lander

on its course towards the moon

Link to: RESILIENCE Lunar Lander Completes First Orbital Maneuver

Link to: ispace-EUROPE Secures First-Ever Mission Authorization Under Luxembourg’s Space Resources Law

BLUE MOON 19 August 2024 (Luxembourg)

 

Liquid water on Mars

 

There are scientific indications that there is likely to be water in the Martian crust,

though unfortunately at a depth of 10 to 20 km below the surface of the planet.

Link to: BBC article by Victoria Gill

Taking car-sized nuclear reactors to the moon

 

Both "The Artemis Base Camp" and its rival,

"The International Lunar Research Station",

will quite possibly rely on miniature nuclear reactors

to supply themselves with an adequate power source.

Sue Nelson has produced a very thorough outline article

on this specific subject for the BBC.

Link to: "The nuclear reactors that could power bases on the moon."

Japanese touchdown on the Moon

 

JAXA's smart lander with its lunar surface robot SORA-Q

has successfully landed on the Moon.

Link to: "japantimes.co.jp"

25th January 2024 update: "Nose landing!"

Link to: bbc.com/news/science